“If I forget thee, Oh Jerusalem!” Jerusalem, The Golden. The Arabs call the city ‘Al Quds’, “The Holy’. It was deemed sacred from pre-history. Iconoclast scholars suggest that Jerusalem was actually the holiest place in Islam, and that like Islam itself and the Prophet, Mecca and Medina were retrofitted to suit the conqueror’s narrative. A … Continue reading Amazing Grace : There’s Magic In The Air
2013 was the sixtieth anniversary of the death peerless Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, one of the many famous artists who departed this planet in New York’s Chelsea Hotel. The following piece by Peter Craven is a beautiful tribute, illustrating the magic of Dylan Thomas’ poetry. And listen, pray, to the man himself reciting his poems. … Continue reading The Magic of Dylan Thomas
These are the lands of testament and prophecy, of sacrifice and sacrament, of seers and sages, of vision and vicissitude, of warriors and holy men. The spiritual and the temporal have melded here since time immemorial. We still see the remnants of ancient empires and the echoes of their faiths. We can chart their decline … Continue reading A Middle East Miscellany قصص الشرق الأوسط
And it’s oh, what a beautiful, Oh, Oh Lord, what a beautiful city Twelve gates to the city, hallelujah! Reverend Gary Davis We all have a city or, if we are fortunate, cities of our heart. A place you see for the first time and say “I am home”. It is … Continue reading Rocky Road to Heaven’s Gate
“If I forget thee, Oh Jerusalem!” Jerusalem, The Golden. The Arabs call the city ‘Al Quds’, “The Holy’. It was deemed sacred from pre-history. Iconoclast scholars suggest that Jerusalem was actually the holiest place in Islam, and that like Islam itself and the Prophet, Mecca and Medina were retrofitted to suit the conqueror’s narrative. A … Continue reading Oh, Jerusalem
As I relate in my earlier post, ‘Amazing Grace – There’s Magic In The Air‘ : “from the Jaffa Gate, we look out from our balcony in the Imperial Hotel, a late 19th Century mix of trash and treasure, five-star history, and ten-star views”. Planning our recent visit to Jerusalem (we were there in May 2014, … Continue reading The Grand Old New Imperial Hotel
Never in modern times – since the Second World War – have there been so many refugees. There are over sixty nine million people around the world on the move today – people who have been forcibly displaced from their homes and are fleeing from persecution or conflict. Forty million people have been internally displaced within … Continue reading Ghayath al Madhoun – the agony of an exiled poet
The National Museum in Damascus is a magical place. It’s most amazing exhibits are its smallest, the tiny alphabet of the bronze age city of Ugarit from the 4th Century BC, said to be the world’s first alphabet, and its largest, the interior of second century synagogue from the Greco-Roman city of Dar Europa on … Continue reading The tears of Zenobia – will Palmyra rise again?
There was a checkpoint Charlie He didn’t crack a smile But it’s no laughing party When you’ve been on the murder mile Only takes one itchy trigger One more widow, one less white nigger Oliver’s army is here to stay Oliver’s army are on their way And I would rather be anywhere else But here … Continue reading Free Derry and the battle of the Bogside
