...Quiet, you at the back, and stop shifting in your seats! I am almost 70. Settle down, listen carefully and take in some wisdom already. Let's look today at geopolitics and the Islamic world. Some of my years I spent side by side with Palestinian secular and other colleagues and Arab and Islamic experts in London, editing international news magazines, working sometimes for moneyed Emirates and Saudi bosses who at least always tolerated my pro-PLO editorials ; meeting some wonderful Palestinians; talking to a few fine Israelis - and attacking and exposing the worst. A cover line we did on Menachem Begin back then was "Once a Terrorist, Always a Terrorist". With Arabs and Arabists, Muslims and Islamists, I was on friendly working terms - some of them are still in hailing distance over time. To name a few, I was honoured to work with Teddy Hodgkin, Malise Ruthven, Fathi Osman of Al Azhar University, Dilip Hiro, Helena Cobban, Ahmed Rashid, Ziauddin Sardar, Peter...
Left wing commentary from the heart and the head