Alex Rowell
@alexjrowell.bsky.social
Senior editor at @newlinesmag.bsky.social. Author of "We Are Your Soldiers: How Gamal Abdel Nasser Remade the Arab World" (2023) and "Vintage Humour: The Islamic Wine Poetry of Abu Nuwas" (2018). https://linktr.ee/alexrowell
An immense honour to be awarded the Lokman Slim Prize in Beirut on Sunday.
If Lebanon's new leaders are serious about change, they must bring Lokman's killers to justice.
If Lebanon's new leaders are serious about change, they must bring Lokman's killers to justice.
February 4, 2025 at 2:09 PM
An immense honour to be awarded the Lokman Slim Prize in Beirut on Sunday.
If Lebanon's new leaders are serious about change, they must bring Lokman's killers to justice.
If Lebanon's new leaders are serious about change, they must bring Lokman's killers to justice.
The @economist.com kindly suggests my book as one of four "to help understand the [Middle East] region".
"An engaging tome ... provides many lessons for understanding the Middle East today."
"An engaging tome ... provides many lessons for understanding the Middle East today."
January 4, 2025 at 11:02 AM
The @economist.com kindly suggests my book as one of four "to help understand the [Middle East] region".
"An engaging tome ... provides many lessons for understanding the Middle East today."
"An engaging tome ... provides many lessons for understanding the Middle East today."
On the occasion of World Arabic Day, no better time to revisit the verse of the 8th-century poet, libertine and Umayyad Caliph al-Walid ibn Yazid:
December 18, 2024 at 1:49 PM
On the occasion of World Arabic Day, no better time to revisit the verse of the 8th-century poet, libertine and Umayyad Caliph al-Walid ibn Yazid:
Syria's "new" flag today, then, is actually its old flag - its first flag as an independent republic. Richly symbolic to see it once again replace the UAR flag, as it did in 1961.
Hoping parliamentary democracy once again replaces dictatorship - and that, this time, it lasts.
Hoping parliamentary democracy once again replaces dictatorship - and that, this time, it lasts.
December 11, 2024 at 12:50 PM
Syria's "new" flag today, then, is actually its old flag - its first flag as an independent republic. Richly symbolic to see it once again replace the UAR flag, as it did in 1961.
Hoping parliamentary democracy once again replaces dictatorship - and that, this time, it lasts.
Hoping parliamentary democracy once again replaces dictatorship - and that, this time, it lasts.
When the authoritarian union led by Nasser collapsed in 1961, and Syria became an independent parliamentary democracy once again, it reverted to its previous flag (below), adopted by the Syrian Republic since independence in 1946, up until the union in 1958.
December 11, 2024 at 12:50 PM
When the authoritarian union led by Nasser collapsed in 1961, and Syria became an independent parliamentary democracy once again, it reverted to its previous flag (below), adopted by the Syrian Republic since independence in 1946, up until the union in 1958.
A short thread on Syrian vexillology: The below was not (as many are calling it) the "Baathist" flag, nor an invention of the Assads. It was the flag of the United Arab Republic, the union between Nasser's Egypt and Syria (represented by the two green stars) from 1958-61.
December 11, 2024 at 12:50 PM
A short thread on Syrian vexillology: The below was not (as many are calling it) the "Baathist" flag, nor an invention of the Assads. It was the flag of the United Arab Republic, the union between Nasser's Egypt and Syria (represented by the two green stars) from 1958-61.
Hizbullah officially declares it has attacked an Israeli military position in the Kfar Shouba hills, calling it an "initial defensive response" to Israel's "repeated violations" of the ceasefire.
(Pic from al-Manar website.)
(Pic from al-Manar website.)
December 2, 2024 at 3:41 PM
Hizbullah officially declares it has attacked an Israeli military position in the Kfar Shouba hills, calling it an "initial defensive response" to Israel's "repeated violations" of the ceasefire.
(Pic from al-Manar website.)
(Pic from al-Manar website.)
Some quick thoughts on the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire deal:
November 26, 2024 at 7:16 PM
Some quick thoughts on the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire deal: