25.02.2012                      02.Adar. 5772                     Teruma

Feature:

A fresh breeze is blowing from Beirut

One can learn a lot about the liberal circles that have emerged from the revolutions in the Arab world from a cultural journal that began publication just before the uprisings started.

American writer Thomas Pynchon once wrote: "If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers". This is a nice way to define the concept of "intellectual hegemony". The democratic, liberal and secularist circles that have played such an important role in launching the Arab Spring seem today to be far away from enjoying such hegemony, contrary to what was believed a year ago. Still, it would be a mistake to dismiss them just because they have not won the first free elections in their respective countries. Indeed, the struggle for shaping the Arab world has just begun. And in such a struggle for hearts and minds, elites do count. Liberal circles are making their voices heard, and it is like a breath of fresh air….