Review
The Israeli-Syrian Peace Failure
"Diplomatic objectives must fully reflect the desires and priorities of the president. I took for granted Obama’s commitment to comprehensive peace without the benefit of due diligence — a major error on my part."
Demise of a Syrian TV Series
While Arabs in the West occupy themselves with Hollywood’s depictions of Arab history and culture, one of the Arab world’s most popular series has arguably done as bad a job — if not worse — in capturing the true spirit of a bygone era in Syria.
A New French Film Hints at Unity
The left and right have all but disintegrated in France, and most topics have been pushed aside since the war in Ukraine. It is against this backdrop that Alice Diop’s beautiful and profoundly sociopolitical documentary, “Nous” (We), portrays France with clarity and even-handedness.
The Film ‘Network’ Darkly Predicted Our Paranoid Politics
In the 1976 film “Network,” a struggling TV company exploits the paranoia of one of its anchors to create a hit show, thus manipulating the American public in the tumult of the 1970s and foreshadowing our own polarized era.
How an Anti-Muslim Conspiracy Thrives in the UK
Responses to a recent podcast series, The Trojan Horse Affair, vary from lackluster to defensive and show that the U.K. is failing to address its problems with Islamophobia — the very issues the podcast explores.
Heaven and Earth: Jerusalem the Enigma
"It didn’t matter that the city had no river, no strategic value and no natural sources of commercial wealth. It had God." Despite the odd choice location for a great city, Jerusalem has for centuries meant so much to so many people.
Chomsky Is No Friend of the Syrian Revolution
In prison, Chomsky’s writings convinced Yassin al-Haj Saleh that Syrian dissidents had partners in the world. But the American linguist has betrayed those early hopes by refusing to take seriously the reality of the Syrian revolution.