Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Media ID: 55312941
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Palestinian youths walk past Israel’s controversial separation barrier at the Qalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem, in the occupied West Bank, where thousands of Muslim worshippers queued to cross into Jerusalem on August 4, 2013 on their way to attend the Lailat al-Qadr night prayers at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the last week of the holy month of Ramadan. (AFP PHOTO/ABBAS MOMANI.)

Opinion: The Secret Life of Palestine

by Bakir Oweida | Aug 9, 2013 | Opinion

Happy Eid? I have to admit that I have borrowed the word “pessoptimism” from the title of the tragicomic novel The Secret Life of Saeed: The Pessoptimist (1974) by the late Palestinian novelist Emile Habibi. Were the author alive, he would immediately ask me to be...

Media ID: 55312977
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Supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi hold balloons and national flags as they celebrate the first day of the Eid al-Fitr feast, marking the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan that is traditionally celebrated with special cookies, presents and new clothes outside Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque, where protesters have installed a camp and hold daily rallies at Nasr City in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2013. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Politics to fore as Egyptian rivals celebrate Eid

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Aug 8, 2013 | Lifestyle & Culture

Cairo, Reuters—Bitterly divided Egyptians prayed in public and children played as they celebrated the Eid al-Fitr holiday on Thursday. But the barbed wire and armored vehicles in the streets of downtown Cairo and the barricades around Islamist protest camps attested...