2026-Oct

2026/Oct/25
in Current Events
3 min read

Attacks on my childhood home

The country I grew up in, Saudi Arabia, is being attacked by the Houthis in Yemen. I lived in the city of Al-Khobar mostly and literally down the street is the city of Dhahran, which now looks like this:

'Insert picture of Dhahran explosion here¹

This is what's happening in the capital city, Riyadh.

'Insert picture of Riyadh here²

So why is that instead of siding with the country that gave my family so much opportunity and provided inspiration for my novel "Under The Full and Crescent Moon" now available everywhere, am I siding with the people who are systematically dismantling it via explosions?

2026/Oct/18
in Book, Review
3 min read

Review of The Secret Diary of Mona Hasan

"The Secret Diary of Mona Hasan" by Salma Hussain (no relation), is a middle grade novel that is exactly what it says on the cover, it is, literally, the secret diary of Mona Hasan, a young girl going through a particularly important year of her life, namely 1991. So it's a period piece as well, from back before the days of the internet.

2026/Oct/7
in Palestine, Current Events
2 min read

Remembering Awni

Three years ago on October 7th 2023 the life of a young boy ended in Gaza. His name was Awni Eldous and the cause was a war-crime.