Across the Bay is a blog about Lebanon, Lebanese and Syrian politics, academic commentary and polemics on the Middle East.

The site was created in 2004.

The site author is Tony Badran who hides behind the nom de guerre Anton Efendi. He has chosen this name for an ancestor who lived under the Ottoman Empire.

The son of a phalangist militiaman, Tony Badran is a graduate student in Ancient Near Eastern studies at New York University<ref>[1452]</ref>.

Tony Badran is Lebanese from [[Mansourie], a sympathizer of Samir Geagea's right wing militia the Lebanese Forces.

A staunch supporter of Israel and Zionism, he was recently recruited by the neoconservative think tank The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. <ref>/www.defenddemocracy.org/biographies/biographies_show.htm?doc_id=360842"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="deleted_articles_ext"> target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="deleted_articles_ext">[1453</ref>.

Acclaimed by pro-Israeli right wing activists like Martin Kramer, Badran is considered a bigoted polemicist by many Lebanese and Arabs, who also point out his lack of academic credentials in the field of contemporary Middle East Studies.

He is a contributor to Daniel Pipes' controversial Campus Watch.

He has frequently expressed prejudice against Islam and has critiqued well-known academics like Juan Cole<ref>[1454]</ref>, Helena Cobban<ref>[1455]</ref>, Flynt Leverett<ref>[1456]</ref>, Joseph Massad<ref>[1457]</ref>, and Asad Abu Khalil<ref>[1458]</ref>. He has also been highly critical of the prevailing approach of Middle Eastern studies in the US.

References

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External links

Across the Bay