Essays and Features

Rest in Peace Mai Skaf: Death of Exiled Artist Mirrors Syria’s Dying Revolution

By Elie Chalala

As an editor of an arts and cultural magazine, I could not help but closely follow the views and activities of two Syrian activist artists, actress Mai Skaf and poet Fadwa Suleiman, since the onset of the Syrian revolution. Both passing away while living in exile in France, Suleiman lost her battle with cancer on August 17, 2017 at the age of 47 years, and Skaf passed away by an acute brain hemorrhage on July 23 of this year at the age of 49 years.

Essays and Features

On Hips and Heritage: Cairo Nativists Object to Invasion of Foreign Belly Dancers!

By

Naomi Pham

The recent arrest of Russian belly dancer Ekaterina Andreeva, who goes by her stage name Johara, has sparked questions about how to view foreigners participating in this dance career. In his article for the New York Times, Declan Walsh discusses this supposed “sullying” of the Egyptian ancient art form. In Egypt’s current belly-dancing scene, foreigners -- the majority of whom come from America, the United Kingdom, Brazil, and Eastern Europe – dominate the ranks and appear among the most well-known dancers in their field. According to Walsh, “The foreigners bring an athletic, high-energy sensibility to the dance, more disco than Arabian Nights. Their sweeping routines contrast with the languid, subtly suggestive style of classic Egyptian stars. Some are overtly sexual.”

Lasting Legacy of Egyptian-American Musician Who Composed Ballet on Greek Myths and Musical Inspired by Political Protest

By

Naomi Pham

Jalal Khoury (1933-2017): Brechtian Realist Forged by 1967 War, and the Birth of Modern Lebanese Theater

By Elie Chalala

While the Lebanese theater traces back to the 1800s, specifically to 1848 and to Maroun Nakash, it has evolved in stages. Jalal Khoury helped to pioneer the realist, or modernist, movement from the mid-1960s until his death last December at the age of 84.

Essays and Features

Setting the Standards for Arabic Translation: Denys Johnson-Davies (1922-2017)

By

the Editors

Without the contributions of the legendary translator Denys Johnson-Davies, who passed away in Cairo at the age of 94, on May 22, 2017, much of the West might not have known of Naguib Mahfouz, who won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1988, or of several other renowned Arab writers.

The Syrian War Has Taken Us Prematurely to Hell!

By

Father George Massouh

From the Archives of Al Jadid: 'The Lebanese Abroad'

By

Emily Nasrallah

Lebanese Christian Cleric Debunks Myth of Rejectionist Moral Outrage over Jerusalem

By Elie Chalala

Among the many vocal condemnations of this moral hypocrisy, Father Massouh’s voice remains one of the strongest. In an article written in Arabic, published in An Nahar newspaper, on social media, and then translated into English in the forthcoming issue of Al Jadid, Father Massouh punctures the rejectionist myth of supporting the Palestinian cause while also debunking their hypocritical decision process when choosing which causes to support.

Essays and Features

Former Lebanese Prisoners of ‘Tadmor’ Reenact Dark Days Within Assads’s Dungeons

By

Elie Chalala

Neither Idol nor Symbol: Fadwa Sulayman (1970-2017), Syria’s Artist Rebel

By Elie Chalala & Naomi Pham

Of the many elegies for Fadwa Sulayman, those which associate the Syrian stage and TV actress’s death with the defeat of the Syrian revolution have proven the most heart-wrenching and painful. The pain stems not only from witnessing the anguish of many Syrians over the fate of their revolution, but also from the physical and the psychological torment the exiled Sulayman experienced when, her body riddled with cancer, she witnessed the hard-won victory slipping away.

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