Some years ago, a friend of mine in Egypt (whom I shall not name in order to spare those of us who miss him) passed away in an accident. It was an accident, and there was no doubt there was no foul play involved. Those of us on the ground knew that well. #Thread #BeirutExplosion

It didn't stop a well known academic in Los Angeles - literally thousands of miles away - from insisting, in print, that there had been foul play. Because it served his ideological bent against those he was accusing. He was told this was out of order. He didn't care.

I'll remind all my friends: that kind of insistence wasn't harmless. We were mourning our friend. It was hard enough to do so, without having to deal with unfounded accusations that would have changed our grieving process entirely. It hurt us.

Think about this today with regards to Beirut, friends. They need our support and help - not our conspiracy theories from afar, just so we can get RTs and 'likes'. Think very carefully before pontificating from a distance with such absence of mind. And heart.