The claims and realities of Ramadan are very different

"From my experience and from non-Muslims’ experiences around me, how Ramadan is portrayed is exactly like how any product is portrayed prior to its market debut: Phenomenally spiritual, wonderful, enchanting — and ultimately falls short on these promises.

People have come to see Ramadan as a symbol that encompasses everything negative about Arab Muslims living in the Middle East: lazy, impolite, excessive in consumption (of edibles and non-edibles), and discriminating against non-Muslims."

"Al-Akhbar has published an article of mine about the Assad regime’s relations with the West and its foreign policy objectives, as revealed by the original WikiLeaks cache of US diplomatic cables.

Needless to say, this article is a response of sorts to Amal Saad-Ghorayeb’s multi-part series which argues that Arab intellectuals should support Assad because of his anti-imperialist credentials. "

"There is nothing to write, and nothing to say. Now we watch, as spectators, and wait."

"The Free Syrian Army has declared the battle to "liberate" Damascus as having officially commenced amid heavy fire in the capital.

Tuesday's announcement came as the FSA claimed to have shot down a helicopter in Damascus."