About

Researcher and analyst looking at Lebanon, Syria and the wider neighborhood. Fellow with Century International, The Century Foundation’s center for international research and policy. Based in Beirut since 2016; since summer 2022, splitting time between Beirut and Athens. Lived before in Istanbul, Doha, Cairo, Alexandria (Egypt), Damascus, Dubai and Washington, DC. Formerly International Crisis Group.

“Abu al-Jamajem” (literally, “Father of Skulls”) was the nickname one of my Syrian students gave me, when I taught English at the al-Jbisseh Directorate in al-Shaddadi (al-Hasakeh) in 2010. I told my class of petroleum engineers that I wanted a cool nickname; they told me that, unbeknownst to me, this student had already given me one. He said, sheepishly, “Abu al-Jamajem” – I think he was nervous that I’d be mad. Another student helpfully chimed in, “It’s the kind of name we give a person who’s scary. Like a pirate, or someone who murders people.” And I said: “Yes. That. That’s the one.”

I guess I had been sort of tough on them – drilling them in class, giving them a lot of homework. Anyway, that’s how I got what I presume will be my best-ever nickname.

I’ve since met more genuinely hard-edged people who have been, understandably, bemused that this guy is “Abu al-Jamajem.”

Contact

Reach me at samuel.heller (at) abujamajem.com, or use the form below.

PGP:

PGP key: https://pgp.mit.edu/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x36D0FAB32C25ACAC

PGP fingerprint: 8585 DF8A 594F B716 97F0  CB06 36D0 FAB3 2C25 AC