Son and Heir

April 17, 2004 – 9:06 pm

It was lovely for a while
I thought he had it in him
To do somersaults in the sky
And land with a jubilant whoosh
In a field of marshmallows pink and white Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in Arts & Literature | Comments (0)

An Open Letter to the American People

April 14, 2004 – 9:54 pm

To all Americans who have been horrified by the dreadful scenes of the charred and mutilated bodies of their fellow countrymen and women dragged through the streets and hung from bridges in Iraq , I would like to say a few indispensable words.

First, you must know and believe that such abominable acts are absolute anathema to everything the Arab culture and the religion of Islam stand for.

When prophet Mohammad entered Mecca as a conqueror after long years of forced exile, he didn’t shed a drop of blood. On the contrary, the legendary forgiveness bestowed upon those very people who drove him from his home and were bent on killing him was immortalised when he declared, upon entering the holy city, that those who take shelter in the house of Abu Sufian, his defeated arch enemy, shall be safe. The prophet then addressed the leaders of the vanquished city and their followers, absolving them: “Go, for you are free”. Read More »

By Zaid Nabulsi | Posted in Columnist, Current Affairs | Comments (0)

On Virginity

April 7, 2004 – 6:45 pm

“What IS virginity?”

I first knew that different people would answer this question differently as I rode down an escalator in a German shopping mall a few years ago; my friend turned toward me and delivered this peculiar line:

“I could de-virginize you right now.”

“What?” I wasn’t surprised he had brought up the subject of my virginity. We had, after all, been arguing about whether or not it was “healthy” for me to be a virgin (he claimed – surprise, surprise – that it was not). But his proposed method seemed all wrong. “You can’t take my virginity on an escalator!”

“I can break your, um, [a furious search for the word "hymen" yielded no result]… uh, thing!” He stated triumphantly.

“Uh, but that wouldn’t be sex,” I said. “You can’t take my virginity without having sex with me.”

An argument on what is and isn’t virginity ensued. Having suddenly realized that the “traditional” notions of intercourse weren’t always applicable, I was entering a brave nude world of possibilities. Read More »

By Natalia Antonova | Posted in Columnist, Society | Comments (0)