I only began to understand this when, back in July, covering the Greek economic crisis, I travelled to the Greek-Macedonian border with Médecins Sans Frontières. This was long before the story of Arab refugees entering Europe had seized the attention of the EU or the media, although the Mediterranean drownings had long been a regular tragedy on television screens. Aylan Kurdi, the little boy who would be washed up on a Turkish beach, still had another two months to live. But in the fields along the Macedonian border were thousands of Syrians and Afghans. They were coming in their hundreds through the cornfields, an army of tramping paupers who might have been fleeing the Hundred Years War, women with their feet burned by exploded gas cookers, men with bruises over their bodies from the blows of frontier guards. Two of them I even knew, brothers from Aleppo whom I had met two years earlier in Syria. And when they spoke, I suddenly realised they were talking of Syria in the past tense. They talked about ‘back there’ and ‘what was home’. They didn't believe in Syria any more. They didn’t believe in frontiers. Robert Fisk, article November 2015 ‘Isis: In a borderless world, the days when we could fight foreign wars and be safe at home may be long gone’
2003: The United States and Iraq are on the brink of war. Al Jazeera satellite channel will broadcast the war to forty million Arab viewers. The Arab world watches and waits. Control Room, 2004
It became the most controversial news channel in the Arab world. Several Arab governments banned the channel for criticizing their regimes. The Bush administration called it ‘the mouthpiece of Osama bin Laden’. It is now the most popular channel in the Arab world. ibid.
‘They [Al Jazeera] have been quite open to us inviting US government officials to speak directly on their channel and express the American point of view.’ ibid. Nabeel Khoury, US State Department spokesman
War, tyranny and sectarian strife are tearing apart the Middle East. The stage for this tragedy was set a century ago. One woman was at the centre of it all. Letters from Baghdad, BBC 2017
‘Intelligence in which Miss Bell had a very large hand.’ ibid. General Gilbert Clayton, of success of Lawrence
‘I never weary of the East.’ ibid. Gertrude Bell
‘Miss Bell appeared on the Sunday …’ ibid. T E Lawrence
‘She knows more about the Arabs and Arabia than almost any other living Englishman or woman.’ ibid. Lord Cromer
‘I’m now going to cultivate the Jewish community … They’ll be a great power here some day.’ ibid. Gertrude Bell
‘I think we are on the edge of a pretty considerable Arab nationalist demonstration of which I am a good deal in sympathy.’ ibid.
‘Oil is the trouble of course: detestable stuff.’ ibid.
Thomas Edward Lawrence: The brilliant British army officer depicted in these exhilarating moments from the movie classic Lawrence of Arabia. He is seen as a military visionary who led an Arab uprising and changed the world for ever. But Lawrence is one of the most enigmatic figures of the 20th century. Was he a man simply running from his past? A man tormented by doubts about his identity. How much was Lawrence driven by escapist fantasy? His journey took him into the heart of the Middle East, transformed by monumental forces. A lifetime of guilt was Lawrence’s reward. This is the story of the real Lawrence of Arabia. Lawrence of Arabia: Britain’s Great Adventurer, Channel 5 2020
Lawrence of Arabia is the most famous man in England. He counts kings among his friends. His name sells newspapers in their thousands. But the most famous man in England may well be the unhappiest. T E Lawrence is running for his life … [from] the fame that is killing him. ibid.
‘Lawrence did seem to have a high threshold of pain.’ ibid.
Having survived his Syrian experience, he returns to Oxford where in 1910 his research brings his a first class degree and a chance to return to the desert he loves. ibid.
Lawrence reports back that the revolt needs guns, money and support. It also requires an Arab leader worth the British investing in. ibid.
Lawrence is harbouring a secret: knowledge of a confidential British/French understanding that breaks their promise of a kingdom for the Arabs. ibid.
Deep down he feels he is to blame … Camelot with camels has crumbled before his eyes: he is full of regret and remorse. ibid.
I’m making my way through one of the most epic landscapes on Earth – the Arabian desert. Bettany Hughes’ Treasures of the World s2e1: Rea Sea & Petra, Channel 4 2023
The north-western Arabian peninsula. From pre-history to antiquity a hub of great civilisations. ibid.
The staggering art of this extraordinary place, the Hisma Plateau. ibid.
‘The Red Sea and the coral reefs are some of the most bio-diverse in the world.’ ibid. local
The camel was the backbone of the Nabataean merchant [Arabian] enterprise. ibid.
The Nabataeans’ crowning achievement – a spectacular city carved into the landscape itself. ibid.
One of the most spectacular and enigmatic wonders of antiquity – the beautiful rock-cut city of Petra. ibid.