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. 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