Letters

‘Reasoned Voice’

Posted

To the Editor

It was with great interest that I read George Weigel’s brilliant Sept. 18 column, “Remembering the Great Fouad Ajami.”

My maternal grandparents were both Catholics born in Lebanon.  I spent a month in that country on a “Roots” trip in 1974—before the outbreak of a series of civil wars—and found it to be beautiful and rich in history and culture. Furthermore, I found its people, including distant relatives, to be warm and hospitable. 

Once I returned to my native New York City, I began to read insightful commentary on the conditions in Lebanon and the broader Middle East by a Shiite Lebanese named Fouad Ajami. Soon afterward, I saw him doing television commentary on the same issues. 

I was always impressed by Ajami’s perceptive analyses of the intricacies of Middle Eastern politics. What is more, he always seemed to me to be reasonable and compassionate. In whatever he said or wrote, one could “read between the lines” and sense how much he loved his adopted country, the United States. I became a fan of his and I looked forward to his television appearances, proud of the fact that the world had an opportunity to see and hear him, a Lebanese like my antecedents, providing sound commentary on the issues before him. 

The reasoned voice of a gentle man whose scholarly approach to the Middle East and its complexities will be missed not only by his friend, George Weigel, but by many including yours truly and my loving sister, Lydia, who was thoughtful enough to send me the article, knowing that I would find it interesting.

David Zelaya

Cortlandt Manor