The mere narration of these stories reflects the Palestinians’ rigid persistence of memory -to re-call and to remember- given that the past can conceal the present and disregard the future. Elias Khoury’s stories explain why Palestinians have either the need or are forced to remember; for some Palestinians, Palestine is more the actual memory of it rather than the land. So keeping Palestine alive in their memory is keeping themselves alive. The stories unfold the part of history which has never been written, trapped with emotions that conflict creates which encapsulate and explain today’s’ tart reality. Reminiscence is a bittersweet comfort and nostalgia has become part of the Palestinian identity in a struggle to survive.
In this book, Norton, introduces "Hezbollah" and its course through time. It is a thorough and comprehensive analysis about the formation, the evolution and the current political role of the Lebanese Islamic movement.
Both pro-Iranian and anti-Iranian camps have been taken in by the drama surrounding Iranian President Ahmedinejad’s visit to Lebanon. The idea of Ahmedinejad, who is considered to be Hizbullah’s chaperone, overlooking the northern border of Israel – the closest he has ever been to a country he does not recognize and utterly despises - is as ever in Lebanon one person’s nightmare and another one’s paradise. However, instead of indulging ourselves in images of glory and warfare scenarios, exploring the interests of the various ‘talented divas’, who have been keeping Lebanese politics busy for years and are equipped with a long-time performance experience – seems to be more reasonable. In other words, this visit is far too complex to be analyzed in a one-sided manner.
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