Comments on: Beirut – Damascus – Kuwait

By: Mounir

Mounir — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 15:09:00 +0000

I had the same experience went to Egypt via Syria and Jordan.. got stuck 11 days in Jordan bcuz no flights were availabe from Egypt to Prague….never never never ever again in my life i step into those countries… Syria is a fucking trash can, i feel sorry for the ppl there.. after all this i concluded i should have just stayed in Lebanon, I would have enjoyed it more under the bombing than going through syria and jordan i regret it… on the Leb-Syrian border I had to drag my luggage for like a km and the taxi dropped me in the middle of fucking nowhere in syria bcuz he wanted more money which i gave him bcuz his other taxi friend was there and no ppl were around it was a messed up situation and then i ended up taking another taxi luckily i found one which tried to rip me off too with prices but gave him no chance.. i was really close to taking a taxi back to lebanon which i think i should have done rather than going through all that shit experience.. it was the worst experience ever.. but i guess i can’t complain much since alot of were stuck in lebanon and couldn’t leave including alot of my friends, i thank God i made it safely out of there…last but not least, i won’t visit any arab country other than Lebanon…

By: asmaa

asmaa — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 21:23:09 +0000

el7mdallah 3la el slamah..
hope your family is safe back in lebanon, sorry that u have to live that nightmare with the stupid syrian airport! >.

By: Pétalo

Pétalo — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 20:37:49 +0000

Hey, I’ll join the bandwagon and welcome you, Nat, back home safe!

Also, I’d like to suggest the following video titled
Peace, Propaganda & The Promised Land
U.S. Media & the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (2004)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7828123714384920696

It’s around 1 hr 20 min long, but worth every second!

Quoted from the video Description:
Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land provides a striking comparison of U.S. and international media coverage of the crisis in the Middle East, zeroing in on how structural distortions in U.S. coverage have reinforced false perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This pivotal documentary exposes how the foreign policy interests of American political elites–oil, and a need to have a secure military base in the region, among others–work in combination with Israeli public relations strategies to exercise a powerful influence over how news from the region is reported.
Through the voices of scholars, media critics, peace activists, religious figures, and Middle East experts, Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land carefully analyzes and explains how–through the use of language, framing and context–the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza remains hidden in the news media, and Israeli colonization of the occupied terrorities appears to be a defensive move rather than an offensive one. The documentary also explores the ways that U.S. journalists, for reasons ranging from intimidation to a lack of thorough investigation, have become complicit in carrying out Israel’s PR campaign. At its core, the documentary raises questions about the ethics and role of journalism, and the relationship between media and politics.

By: Lebi

Lebi — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 12:49:12 +0000

Syria sucks, i hate it.

By: Tini

Tini — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 12:47:16 +0000

Nat I am really glad you made it back safe. I am a really big fan of this blog and am glad you are back posting.

By: Nat

Nat — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 09:18:43 +0000

Hey hiba soo sorry to hear that :S
I emailed you..

By: Hiba

Hiba — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 07:40:03 +0000

I am a Lebanese friend of Nat, living in Lebanon (sadly enough). In reference to Nat’s experience in the Syrian airport, I would like to tell a greatly similar story about my experience with the LEBANESE UNIVERSITY. I just finished my BA in Anthropology, and I applied for the MA at AUB. I got a call from AUB yesterday asking me for my last year’s grades. After months of studying really hard the thousands of pages of theories, and having great grades and being first, I was really happy to be asked about my grades. I went to the university at 9, and found it deserted. It’s nothing strange because the staff always comes late, and we have to wait for them to finish their coffee, so I thought I wait a bit in the car. I waited till 9:30 until the janitor came to tell me that yesterday they have decided to go on vacation until Spetembet 1st. Of course none of the staff is reachable, including the director. What this means for me is that I have lost my acceptance at AUB. Believe me Nat, at this point, I would prefer to be in the dirty soapless Syrian airport… They have indeed screwed up my future.

By: Nat

Nat — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 07:21:14 +0000

Hey Moey that was very nice of you. I read your post in the forum earlier. I haven’t been to Jordan yet but i’m sure your aiport is wayyy better, Heh. Thanks:)

By: Moey

Moey — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 23:22:28 +0000

everyone welcomed you back Nat, bas wallah I asked about uo on msg boards. el7amdella u r back.. i was ready to help u out in jordan, amman is much civilized and modern, at least we have starbucks and a decent duty free at the airport and yes,, lebanese people too.. I wanted to help thank good ur fine now

By: limited_edition

limited_edition — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 23:09:56 +0000

Welcome baQ!! I hope your family is safe and doing well.

By: D

Thu, 20 Jul 2006 13:59:38 +0000

Don’t get me wrong but you should be thankful to Syrian airport that helped you get back home….Not all countires have equal wealth and the same way of living… If you travel through Dubai aiport, even Lebanese airport might not seem that pretty….and btw…the Syrian aiport is still operational unlike the Lebanese airport which was shutdown because of the air-strikes…

By: Kleio

Kleio — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 12:12:50 +0000

Nat – we had the exact same experience. :) The best part was the marathon to Terminal 2. It felt like we were running to save our lives. It was so surreal! Did you notice someone at the new check-in counter trying to make sure everyone stayed in line and didn’t start cutting and crowding around the counter like they did in Terminal 1? That was me. :) LOL! We were second in line and I was not about to have anyone cut in front of us again! Anyway, glad you made it back safely too. It would have been nice to have known in the airport that we were on the same flight and going through the same ordeal – there’s comfort in numbers!

By: ananyah

ananyah — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 10:48:11 +0000

glad ur back and safe :)

it must have been a scary experience and enshalla u will go back to lebanon when things have calmed down.

I hope ur families are both safe

By: Drunk_n_Gorgeous

Drunk_n_Gorgeous — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 10:33:17 +0000

Glad you made it back safely Nat! Sorry you had such a horrible trip. If it makes you feel any better, a lot of people would’ve stayed if they had a do-over. The important thing is that you’re safe, and inshalla so are your ‘rents.

By: Hiba

Hiba — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 10:15:44 +0000

Nat glad you’re safe! No need to complain that much about the Syrian airport. Its excuse is built-in: it is SYRIAN LOL. How much can you ask of it? Liquid soap? Are you dreaming?! I should post about my nightmare trip to Syria in NORMAL days. Consider yourself lucky you did not have to EAT there. They have 2 kinds of cheese in the whole country, and 3 kinds of orange juice that all taste the same in different packages. Yalla have a nice time in kuwait, and pray for us to follow you SOON.