SAN FRANCISCO — It's not exactly true that As'ad AbuKhalil skipped into the meeting room at the World Affairs Council here recently. But there was a definite lilt in his step and a boyish enthusiasm about him that was, it must be said, unexpected.
After all, this jolly moon-faced man with long corkscrew curls is the deeply sarcastic, piquant wit behind the Angry Arab News Service, a popular blog that provides links and edgy leftist commentary about the war in Iraq, Lebanese politics, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and yes, even Saddam in his skivvies. ("This man deserves all the humiliation that he gets," wrote AbuKhalil.)
But as AbuKhalil happily explained over tea at the corner Starbucks after his lunchtime talk, "I am not an angry Arab. I'm an angry human being!"
Well sure.
Given the state of the world, what anti-Zionist, pro-Palestinian Middle East expert who is also an atheist, anarchist and twice-divorced feminist wouldn't be angry? Yet here, AbuKhalil, who grew up in Beirut and speaks so fast that a court stenographer recently asked him to slow down, makes a distinction: "I am politically angry, but in my personal life, I am a happy guy. I can't stand these leftists who have to ... mope? Is that the word? When I came to America, I have seen so many elite Arab intellectuals who are alcoholics, miserable, unhappy and obsessed with the Israeli lobby. And I remember early on, I was like, I am not going to live that life!"
And yet, with every reason to mope, AbuKhalil does not. This is part of the allure of his blog, which, as more than one reader has pointed out, stands out for its sense of humor in the dour left-wing landscape.
The Angry Arab News Service, which launched in September 2003, receives between 30,000 and 35,000 hits per month, according to AbuKhalil's tracking. Half of its readers are in the U.S, but fans (and detractors) all over the world read it, including many in Arab countries.
The blog is full of links to news sources often overlooked in the mainstream U.S. media and is known for its sarcastic but knowledgeable commentary. One recurrent feature is "Culprit of the Week" in which AbuKhalil pokes fun at the U.S. government's evolving list of those responsible for the Iraqi insurgency.
