Sunday 8 April 2024 Beyoğlu, İstanbul, Türkiye “What are the odds so long as the fire of soul is kindled at the taper of conviviality and the wing of friendship never moults a feather? What are the odds so long as the spirit is expanded by means of rosy wine and the present moment is… Continue reading Along the avenue
Tag: Terrorism
Fear Itself
Landschlacht, Switzerland, 28 March 2017 And the madness continues…. London, England, 22 March 2017 (1440 hours) Just another day, business as usual. Tourists take selfies outside the Houses of Parliament while inside the politicians buzz about on the business of Brexit and schoolchildren view the spectacle of Prime Minister’s Questions. On Wednesday, exactly one year… Continue reading Fear Itself
Behind the veil: Islam(ophobia) for dummies
Landschlacht, Switzerland, 1 March 2017 There are moments when the well runs dry, the fire is out, the spirit extinguished. Moments when I look at this blank screen and ask myself: What should I write about? Regular readers of my blog (both of them?!) patiently wait for some blog series to continue and/or conclude –… Continue reading Behind the veil: Islam(ophobia) for dummies
The sons of Karbala
St. Gallen, Switzerland, 9 January 2017 “Turkey seems to be falling to pieces, the fall will be a great misfortune. It is very important that England and Russia should come to a perfectly good understanding… and that neither should take any decisive step of which the other is not apprized.” “We have a sick man on… Continue reading The sons of Karbala
Raising Cain
Many a magazine and newspaper I see in the shops, almost every post I see on Facebook, much of what I hear and see on the TV, all seem convinced that the Friday 13 November attack on Paris demands a response. Fighting fever and fervor has swept the West and much of the message is not whether the Islamic State should… Continue reading Raising Cain
We´ll always have Paris (2): Some thoughts
Since the summer of 2014, ISIS has transformed the politics of the Middle East. These jihad fighters combine fanaticism with military expertise and have won spectacular and unexpected victories against Iraqi, Syrian and Kurdish forces. ISIS has spread from Iraq’s border with Iran to Iraqi Kurdistan and to the outskirts of Aleppo, the largest city… Continue reading We´ll always have Paris (2): Some thoughts
We´ll always have Paris (1): The official record
On 12 November 2015, two suicide bombers detonated explosives in Bourj el-Barajneh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, that is inhabited mostly by Shia Muslims and is controlled by Hezbollah. Reports of the number of deaths range from 37 to 41 to 43. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks. Two suicide bombings occurred in commercial… Continue reading We´ll always have Paris (1): The official record