From a graduate student in the US: "You posted this New Yorker article by Rani Abuzeid about Anzour's Saudi film, so I know you've already seen it. But I'm wondering if you caught this paragraph? The idea that the film was a political success, or gave Syria an opening with the Saudis, is “absolute nonsense,” according to Nawaf Obaid, a fellow at Harvard University and a counselor to both Prince Mohammad bin Nawaf, the Saudi ambassador to the United Kingdom, and Prince Turki al-Faisal, the former director of Saudi Arabia’s intelligence service. Saudi Arabia’s tensions with Assad run deep. The Sunni kingdom has strongly expressed its support for Syria’s rebels, funnelling money and munitions as well as providing political support. It has had a troubled relationship with Damascus over the past decade or so, predating the rebellion, particularly after the 2005 assassination of Rafik Hariri, the Saudi-backed former Prime Minister of Lebanon, in a massive car bomb widely blamed on Syria and its local Lebanese allies. “It’s a silly, misleading, and amateurish film,” Obaid said. “This would surely not be a way to get us to listen or even talk to them! Bashar’s sycophants are delusional as always.”
I took a look at his profile on Harvard's site, and there too his primary identification is as an advisor to Saudi princes. At the very bottom of the bio, you learn that once upon a time he started a PhD program he never finished. Does that mean I can stop my program now and still have a chance at a place like Harvard? How lovely."
I took a look at his profile on Harvard's site, and there too his primary identification is as an advisor to Saudi princes. At the very bottom of the bio, you learn that once upon a time he started a PhD program he never finished. Does that mean I can stop my program now and still have a chance at a place like Harvard? How lovely."
