Europe
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Migration from Tunisia
Why many young Tunisians set their sights on Europe
Tunisia has been going through a severe economic and political crisis in recent years. More than one in three young people there are unemployed. For many skilled, qualified and unemployed young Tunisians, the route to Europe, which lacks qualified personnel in many sectors, seems like the only way forward. By Marco Wolter
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The origins of the Maghreb
Was the Arab Maghreb a French invention?
The book "The Invention of the Maghreb: between Africa and the Middle East" prompts us to review basic terminology. This includes terms that we use almost every day as if they are definitive by virtue of geography, history and culture, such as "the Arab Maghreb", "North Africa", "the Middle East" and "sub-Saharan Africa". Shady Lewis Botros read the book
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The Netherlands apologises for slavery
A dark period in Dutch history and its modern legacy
The government in the Netherlands, one of the last European nations to abolish slavery, has made an historic apology. But some feel that there is still a long way to go. By Ella Joyner
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Best of Qantara.de 2022
Our readers' favourite articles this year
At the end of every year, the team at Qantara.de gives you a run-down of the ten most-read articles on the site over the past 12 months. Here is a quick overview of the stories that attracted the most attention in 2022. Happy New Year to all our readers!
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Syrian conflict's impact on international law
The future cost of normalising Assad
Recent efforts to rehabilitate Assad are setting a damaging precedent for accountability, just as the international community is expressing the need to hold Russia to account for similar human rights violations in Ukraine. By Burcu Ozcelik
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Hieroglyphs exhibition at the British Museum
Museums with guilt complexes
To celebrate the bicentenary of the deciphering of the Rosetta Stone, the British Museum is running an exhibition entitled "Hieroglyphs: unlocking ancient Egypt" until February 2023. While Shady Lewis Botros welcomes the museum's effort to broaden the Eurocentric focus of the exhibition, he says that it "lays bare a critical approach and a potential for revisionism" and remains largely decorative
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Jesus and Mary in the Koran
The message of mercy
Jesus – Issa in Arabic – doesn’t merely enjoy the highest place among the prophets in the Koran. He is also revered in Islam’s mystical tradition for his message of love and mercy. By Aziz Fooladvand
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Iran and global energy supplies
Covert conflict in the Gulf
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Europe has been trying to find alternatives to Russian gas, inevitably zeroing in on the Arab Gulf states. In his commentary, Yemeni politician Muammar al-Iryani proposes a simple way for the West to secure international shipping routes
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Migrating to Germany
Turks up sticks as prospects worsen at home
Inflation, poverty, and no freedom of expression: as the political and economic situation in Turkey worsens under Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s increasingly autocratic government, more and more Turks are fleeing to Germany. Elmas Topcu reports
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Human rights and migration
Why older Algerians risk the small boats to Spain
Nouara may be 65, but she is ready to join thousands of others who burn their ID and pay traffickers for the chance of a new life in Europe. Zineb Bettayeb reports
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Middle East literature
Al Saqi, Europe’s largest Middle Eastern bookseller, to close
London-based Al Saqi Books, Europe’s largest specialist bookseller for publications from the Middle East, has been forced to close because of the hike in prices of Arabic-language books and because Brexit has been "detrimental" to business
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Integration versus racism
I don't see myself as a victim
Canan Topcu came from Turkey to Germany as a child. In her essay, she describes how bothered she was by the racism she encountered in her country of origin when she travelled there recently. She describes her very personal take on identity, racism and exclusion