Saturday, November 29, 2008

Comrade Pierre responds to Ilyas Khuri's defamation of me on Hariri TV. I have not been talking about Lebanese novelist, Ilyas Khuri, because there was a famous fight (or heated argument) between me and him some 7 years ago at his home. It was the first and last time that we meet. He invited me to dinner at his house (and there were other people): and I had read his column in Mulhaq An-Nahar that day. And as I was about to sit down, I told him what I thought about this lousy article that day (yes, I can be that obnoxious), and this started a heated argument for the entire evening (for several hours). He is rude and impolite and I can be rude and impolite. I believe that he has turned Mulhaq An-Nahar into a bulletin for racist anti-Syrian (people) and anti-Palestinian (people) sentiments. Suffice to say that he publishes for the blatantly racist anti-Palestinian, Raymond Jbara, who once said that there are no Palestinian civilians. (Fellow writer in Mulhaq An-Nahar, Muhammad `Ali Atais (a talented writer among the untalented bunch there) was outraged and he wrote a response to Jbarah--who once called me a "barking dog".) I don't agree on anything with Khuri and he represents that Lebanonese mentality that I so abhor. He once ran into a graduate student from Stanford at a literary conference. So he asked her what she does: and she said that she was at Stanford. He said (literally as Joe Biden would say): Stanford? We (at New York University where he spends one semester a year) consdider Stanford to be "zbalah" (garbash or trash). This week, a reporter for Hariri media, `Umar Harqus, was beaten up by people from the Syrian Social National Party. Khuri appeared on Hariri TV (I am sure it is known for its liberal leanings, as Thomas Friedman once said), and said that a "pseudo academic" at an important newspaper had attacked Harqus as if my criticisms of Harqus (whom I had merely called "former leftist") are related to his beating by SSNP crowd. Khuri was offended by my reference to Harqus as "former leftist" but not offended by Jbarah calling me a "barking dog" at his weekly supplement which carries his name as editor. Furthermore, Hariri media did not mention that Harqus wrote an entire column to attack me (purely in personal terms saying that I use cheap gel on my hair: and those who know me know that I have never ever used gel on my hair).
PS A comrade also reminded me that Khuri also enthusiastically supported the attack on Nahr Al-Barid. Also, see the criticisms of Khuri's rightistism (parading as leftism) in this article by dear Joseph.