T.
@levantophile
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Lebanese Druze 🇱🇧🧉 // Pro-human, liberty-minded civilizationist 🗽🏛️ // Curious about history, politics, religion, and the Levant 🏺🍇
Mare Nostrum
Joined December 2017
A curated thread, in chronological order, of some of my reactions, commentary, analyses, and other posts about Suwayda since the deadly assault began in mid-July. It also includes broader reflections on the Druze, celebrating their history, culture, and heritage. This thread
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Fatimid craftsmanship from the 12th century — a huntsman with a sword and detailed belt on earthenware. Arabic Kufic script along the rim
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Bosnia, I love you
In terms of scenery, Bosnia might be the place I’ve visited, wow
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🖋️ كان الأجدر بوزير خارجية السلطة، السيد أسعد الشيباني، أن يتحلّى بالدقّة قبل أن يُطلق عبارته : "فخ وقعنا به جميعا". فمن وقع بالفخ والتيه في محادثات أذربيجان مع الجانب الإسرائيلي هي السلطة التي ينتمي إليها الشيباني، ولا علاقة ل " نا الجمع " بما حدث. لقد وجّهنا عشرات الرسائل إلى
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Big news: Election result in Turkish controlled northern Cyprus mirrors shift in Turkey. Left wing opposition party favoring reunification with Greek Cypriots creams Ankara backed anti reunification ruling party.
#SONDKAİKA YSK'YE GÖRE SEÇİM SONUÇLARI Tufan Erhürman %63,78 Ersin Tatar %35,27 #seçim #kıbrıs #ersintatar #kktc #kktcseçim
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P.S. If you do not speak Arabic, you can watch the video statement with English subtitles below 👇 https://t.co/fZcK3g8U9A
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The AC unit, lmao. 😂
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Note that I have previously expressed my admiration for how Turkey built a modern state and industrialized, and once thought it might serve as the most suitable hegemon, given its shared faith with the region’s largest community (Sunni Arabs), which could have reduced opposition
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I share that pro-peace sentiment as well. While I do have my reservations about Israel’s increasingly ultranationalist state ideology and its actions, above all in Gaza, Lebanon has been a battleground for non-state actors waging war against Israel since the Cairo Agreement of
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The most tangible consequence of Hezbollah’s weakening grip on Lebanese politics has been the emergence of an outspoken “pro-peace” current, most visible among prominent Lebanese Christian politicians and journalists. Marcel Ghanem, Lebanon’s most prominent talk show host, may
Lebanese are breaking the taboo and uttering the “peace with Israel” word. Video shows most watched weekly talk show host Marcel Ghanem doing his bit.
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Congratulations to Mark Savaya for this important appointment. Mark played an instrumental role in setting me free after 903 days in captivity by Kataeb Hezbollah, an Iraqi militia serving Iran, without anything given in return. This is terrible news for anyone serving Iran's
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Most adventurous German 😆
Immanuel Kant never left his home town, Koenigsberg (today's Kaliningrad), never married, never changed his daily schedule or his diet, and died, presumably happy and mildly bored, at the age of 80. His last words were: "It's fine."
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The Mycenaean settlement of Aigeira, overlooking the Gulf of Corinth. Peloponnese Greece. 📷me
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The regime clearly does not like this reputational blow, so it sent out its propagandists like Omar Madaniah to mislead the public, claiming that the Consul-General was fired after the fall of Assad. He wasn’t. There is ample evidence online showing that he continued to serve as
@abou_ahmad_lb You should know by now that Omar Madaniah and his ilk are propagandists whose only purpose is to mislead the masses of sheep and keep them with a false sense of security and confidence, while Syria slowly falls apart. They’re spinning this to reduce what may otherwise be a major
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It’s easy to dismiss such defections, especially when they come from a Druze official - and one who was initially appointed by Assad - but career diplomats are not exactly known for taking risks. His announcement likely came only after receiving assurances about asylum for
The Syrian Consul-General in Dubai, Dr. Ziad Zahreddine, released a video statement earlier today announcing his defection from the Syrian Transitional Government. He did not mince words: he stated that Suwayda faced a “barbaric” assault in July and accused the government of
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The child in the photo on the Consul’s desk is Saleh Akwan, a thirteen-year-old Druze boy whose name has become synonymous with courage and resistance in Suwayda since the assault in July. Security footage recovered from his home after the attack shows him charging unarmed at
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The Syrian Consul-General in Dubai, Dr. Ziad Zahreddine, released a video statement earlier today announcing his defection from the Syrian Transitional Government. He did not mince words: he stated that Suwayda faced a “barbaric” assault in July and accused the government of
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On Lebanon’s long, shared history with the Armenian Catholic Church - and with the Armenian people more broadly👇
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Lebanon is home to the largest Armenian Catholic community in the world, and today one of their martyred Archbishops was canonized by the Vatican. His story is a reminder of the deep spiritual heritage shared by Lebanon and Armenia, and of what true faith, courage, and sacrifice
A martyr from the Armenian Genocide today became a saint. Meet Bishop Ignatius Maloyan, born in Mardin and trained in Lebanon. He was executed with his parish in 1915 for refusing to deny Christ, and his canonization honors his faith, courage, and devotion. #ArmenianGenocide
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‘One of the oldest urban centres on the planet’: Gaza’s rich history in ruins. My @guardian piece on the erasure of Gaza's past. As we mourn incalculable human losses, learning about its past can help us better understand the present https://t.co/Hrsx3klOkz
theguardian.com
The territory’s ancient heritage has too often been ignored. As we mourn incalculable human losses, learning about its past can help us better understand the present
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Hauge’s point is closer to the truth about why the US supported China’s rise and how it benefited from it, but his conclusion is off: the US, as the incumbent power, simply cannot accept China charting its own path and jeopardizing its position. The clash is inevitable, though
This utter bullshit by the CTO of Palantir, Shyam Sankar, needs to be called out. The US never offered China “peaceful coexistence.” The US wanted China subordinated. They wanted China’s cheap labour inserted into their supply chains and its cheap goods to flow into the US
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