Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

Yehia Jaber the Lebanese poet celebrated for the bitter comedic work he often performs like stand-up comedy has been profiled by filmmaker Roxana Vilk on Aljazeera. In the profile titled ‘Yehia Jaber: Laughter is My Exit’, takes us on a journey across Lebanon, and into his past, to explain why this former fighter of Lebanon’s long civil war now battles for change with nothing but words. Vilk states “There is something very enticing about filming poets. Here are these characters, reflective and questioning by nature, living through a truly historic time of change in the Middle East. …when I first met him, it was his laughter that immediately drew me in: it is warm, infectious, and cannot help but gather you up in its path. …he is everything you imagine a poet to be, questioning society and politics around him, and spot on with his sharp, funny observations of life. …Lebanon’s history is complicated. The country has been ravaged by so many wars, and Yehia with his own complex past seemed like the perfect quirky character to guide us. “In this comedy that is Lebanon,” as he sees it, “we are always re-building and re-war-ing.” …[he] become a communist fighter during the civil war and the consequent invasion by Israel. It was the horror and disillusionment of his fighting years that finally led him to pick up his pen. “Now this violence inside me, it will be by words, because there is no blood. Perhaps this is now my play yard to fight by words,” he says.”

Inspired by Roxana Vilk ow.ly/dPbDA image source Twitter ow.ly/dPbvX

Saif al-Adel also known as Muhamad Ibrahim Makkawi, the 50 year old Egyptian explosives expert and former Egyptian Special Forces officer is reported to have been chosen as the interim leader of al-Qaeda after the death of Osama bin Laden in a dramatic US Navy Seals commando raid in Pakistan. Al-Adel is considered a leading strategist and military leader, is currently under indictment in the US for bombings of embassies in Africa. He has been credited with masterminding the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Al Sadat, the repelling of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and training Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Bin Laden’s long-time deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri had been considered the likely successor, although not popular within the organization. Al-Adel’s interim appointment may well be to gauge reaction for someone outside the Muslim holy region of the Arabian Peninsula.

Inspired by Max Read ow.ly/50B4y image source france24 ow.ly/50BpG