Eyad Abu Shakra

Lebanon marked Army Day on August 1. On this day in 1945, France - the mandatory power over Syria and Lebanon since 1920 - handed the military units under its control in the Levant to the national government of independent Lebanon. Yet, the occasion falls this year under abnormal circumstances. One…

Most Lebanese hope to escape their difficult circumstances, and they can hardly be blamed for that. They have every right to build on any glimmer of hope and to wager on any opportunity, however risky. They have lived through harsh conditions since the October 7, 2023 war in the Gaza Strip,…

The hopes of British Labour Party members and supporters are mixed following the end of outgoing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s era. While realists are holding back from over-optimism regarding the future under new leader Andy Burnham, many everyday citizens prefer to wait and see what he will…

It is a paradox of the highest order that real politics is now far more evident on playing fields and running tracks than in the world of official politics itself. Any form of competition inevitably creates winners, losers, and competing loyalties, which in many cases can give way to conspiracy and…

Leading figures of the Israeli far-right have made striking statements in recent days. I firmly believe that if anyone other than an Israeli had made them, the scales of judgment would have been brought down immediately, and threats of doom and severe consequences would have followed. But it seems…

While a large part of the world is preoccupied with the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Israel continues, through fire and blood, to draw new realities on the ground in the Middle East and impose them as established facts. Forget the saying that "religion is the opium of the people," as Karl Marx claimed…

I remember how we learned of Imruu al-Qais’s response to the news that Banu Asad had killed his father, the king of Kindah at school: “Today, wine; tomorrow, serious matters...” In a sense, there is a parallel, though not identical, saying in the Levant: “The drunken stupor is gone, and now the…

Yesterday, Israel rejected Lebanon’s request for a ceasefire during the period of direct negotiations currently underway in the US capital, Washington. With this position, Israel clearly has no fear whatsoever of provoking American anger. That is because the nature of US-Israeli relations differs…

As I followed the state of regional and international politics with sorrow, I was reminded of the saying attributed to Imam al-Shaabi. Speaking about the four “masterminds of the Arabs,” he said that “The masterminds of the Arabs are four: Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan for patience and deliberation; Amr…

Once again, Itamar Ben-Gvir staged his extremism at the Al-Aqsa compound, surrounded by a crowd of his fascist supporters, repeating his claim of Israel’s “exclusive ownership” over the site. At the very same moment, while some sought to convince the Lebanese public that their leadership was…