Category: History

Book review: The Faith

 My suspicion, somewhat validated by the more critical articles I’ve read, is that Colson’s alarmist worldview stems in large part from what he sees as an Islamic encroachment on his prison ministry.  He has become a darling of the right-wing “news” entertainment circuit — Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, etc. — by bashing gays, espousing unregulated capitalism, and hawking Bush’s …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2009/02/25/book-review-the-faith/

Gideon Levy: Waltz with Bashir

 Since this movie has been much talked about, on this list and among Oscar buzzers, today’s review by Gideon Levy in Haaretz offers a perspective I’ve not seen elsewhere: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1065552.html  “…the film is infuriating, disturbing, outrageous and deceptive. It deserves an Oscar for the illustrations and animation – but a badge of shame for its …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2009/02/21/gideon-levy-waltz-with-bashir/

A prayer for Israel

 Friends,  Yesterday, Al Staggs sent me the poem-prayer below; he has today given permission to share it so please feel free to pass it along.  Al is a former pastor and presently a performer and a poet.  He is probably best known for his portrayals of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Clarence Jordan and just recently published a book …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2009/01/08/a-prayer-for-israel/

2 of 2: Katyusha, Katyusha

 Here’s an interesting response from my Irish bard-friend, a linguist (and Russian-language expert) in Dublin… Sent: Friday, January 02, 2009 1:54 PM Subject: Re: AA/ACS Katyusha, Katyusha O’Brien is apparently not aware that the Russian nickname for the small and highly unsophisticated rockets (launched en masse in barrages) that Hamas and Hizbullah use comes from a …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2009/01/02/2-of-2-katyusha-katyusha/

Lebanese-ness and Phoenician genetic markers

 There is an important section in Friedman’s “From Beirut to Jerusalem” that talks about the Phoenician-descent myth that Lebanese Christians invented for themselves, and how the Israelis bought into it hook-line-and-sinker as they were preparing for their first Lebanese invasion and occupation (circa 1980).  I continue to be dismayed by how much residual resentment still …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2008/12/23/lebanese-ness-and-phoenician-genetic-markers/

My mother’s kid brother

 From Ray Close: Eddy and the Mideast Joseph C. Goulden  OP-ED:  Middle East veterans of a certain era – the World War II era into the 1950s – speak with respectful awe of William A. Eddy. Soldier, scholar, statesman, spy, Arabist – of him a colleague said, “Bill Eddy was probably the nearest thing that …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2008/10/28/my-mothers-kid-brother/

POW

Labor Day has always had a double meaning for my family. Twenty-four years ago and two weeks earlier than expected, my wife went into labor on Labor Day, and the next day Jennifer was born. It was the last time my children were ever early for anything… We just spent the Labor Day weekend visiting my daughter …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2008/09/04/pow/