"I have always believed that the role of the intellectual is to speak truth to power."

"The concept of 'civilization' is often used as a tool of power, to differentiate between the 'civilized' and the 'uncivilized'."

"The intellectual's duty is to speak out against injustice, even when it is unpopular or dangerous."

"All cultures are hybrid, mixed, heterogeneous, extraordinarily differentiated, and unmonolithic."

"The Middle East is a place where history is constantly being rewritten, where the past is always present, where the future is always uncertain."