Logo
Hisham Melhem

Hisham Melhem

Hisham Melhem writes a weekly column for the al-Hurra television website.

Latest from Hisham Melhem

Mariana’s Son

Mariana’s Son

The first Americans I met were the Marines. On July 15, 1958, hundreds of U.S. Marines landed on the beaches of Beirut. They did not storm any fortification, and no hostile force fired at them. They were greeted by curious, mostly happy onlookers, enterprising vendors eager to sell them American cigarettes, familiar nonalcoholic beverages and Lebanese food, and scores of children clamoring for candy, chewing gum and chocolate. I was one of those children. I was barely eight-and-a-half years old.

Hisham Melhem
The trail of blood connecting 9/11 and 1/6

The trail of blood connecting 9/11 and 1/6

Nineteen men, driven by the manufactured rage of a whole generation of preachers of violence and armed with a budget of less than half a million dollars, shattered the thin veneer of our civilization and the brittle foundations of our democracy. We flailed violently.

Hisham Melhem
America’s Middle East Allies Are Free Riders No More

America’s Middle East Allies Are Free Riders No More

We are witnessing an intense scramble for control of the Middle East among mostly autocratic, disparate regimes, creating new alignments where the fabulous wealth of small states is conjugated with countries boasting larger armies, with proxies and mercenaries as expendable cannon fodder in tow.

Hisham Melhem
Ten Years After the Arab Spring, Tyranny Lingers On

Ten Years After the Arab Spring, Tyranny Lingers On

These scarred and broken societies, ruled or controlled by merciless men, will remain in constant ferment for the foreseeable future.

Hisham Melhem