In focus

Dialogue of Cultures | Intercultural Dialogue

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9/11

Egypt‘s illegal deportation practice

Eritrean refugees in Egypt: arrested, beaten, threatened

Two refugees detained in Egypt are facing deportation to Eritrea. The expulsion of the Eritreans, who have been incarcerated in Cairo for more than eight years, has been halted for the time being. But the attempted deportation is not an isolated case, and sheds light on Egypt’s draconian approach towards refugees and migrants. By Sofian Philip NaceurRead more

Highlighting Sisi's systematic crackdown: Lawyers detained in Egypt receive CCBE Human Rights Award Egypt – Dollars to despots: Abdul Fattah al-Sisi's international patrons Police co-operation with Egypt: Is Germany an "accessory to repression"?Egyptian society: Migrants – ever the foreigners?

Prostitution in the Shah's Iran

Shahr-e No – "the neighbourhood of the sorrowful"

Drawing on the history of Tehran's Shahr-e No red light district, Nasrin Bassiri describes how prostitution functioned in Iran before the Islamic Revolution. The neighbourhood would end up being destroyed in August 1980, six months after Khomeini came to powerRead more

Child trafficking in Iran: The agony of the destitute The documentary film ''In the bazaar of sexes'': Temporary marriage in Iran ″City of lies. Love, sex, death and the search for truth in Tehran″: Where nothing is allowed, yet anything is possible The photography of Kaveh Golestan

Endless conflict may mark the Middle East’s past; but it is not the region’s settled destiny.

Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey and Egypt

A new dawn for diplomacy in the Middle East?

International relations are shifting across the Middle East as regional powers adapt to America's retrenchment and China's growing influence. Although the region could become the site of another great-power competition, it also has a chance to pursue diplomatic openings and new security arrangements. By Fawaz A. GergesRead more

Reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Qatar: A turning point for the whole Middle East?Hic sunt dracones: Is Iran set to forfeit its national interests to China?Afghanistan and Iran: Can Iran be friends with the Taliban?Yemen and the Biden administration: "After the war, Yemen will no longer be a sovereign state" New books on the Middle East: The clouds of war or the dawn of a new beginning?

Film review: Fatima & Zawahry's "American*ish"

This is America, where dreams come true... ish

"American*ish" – co-written by Aizzah Fatima and Iman K. Zawahry, and directed by the latter – is a rom com for an America too many don't want to acknowledge. Whereas most mainstream American TV and films present the Muslim immigrant community as a monolithic group with a kind of hive mind, this film goes out of its way to break the mould. By Richard MarcusRead more

The West and Islam 20 years after 9/11: Paranoia, now Interview with Pakistani American actress Aizzah Fatima: "Human, flawed and funny"Muslim youth in America: The "mipster" phenomenon

Politics

Refugees from Eritrea (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

Egypt‘s illegal deportation practice

Eritrean refugees in Egypt: arrested, beaten, threatened

Sunrise on the island of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf (photo: Instagram)

Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey and Egypt

A new dawn for diplomacy in the Middle East?

German Leopard tanks at a weapons trade fair in Abu Dhabi 2017 (photo: picture-alliance/AP Photo)

Arab world

Germany and the Middle East – a tale of morals and markets

Germany's foreign policy is explicitly values-based. But what happens, Ralf Bosen asks, when democracy, the rule of law and human rights collide with the logic of trade and business?More

Germany's arms exports controversy: When doves cry Interview with Yemen expert Marie-Christine Heinze: "Now is the time to start preparing for reconstruction"Germany′s arms exports to the Islamic world: Profiteering from terrorism Angela Merkel′s visit to Egypt: Blinkered realpolitik Sisi and the European Union: The long arm of the dictator

Protests against the miserable economic situation in Tunis in December 2020 (photo: Fethi Belaid/AFP/Getty Images)

Arab world

"The people aren't ready" – can Arabs do democracy?

"The people aren’t ready for democracy" has been the constitutional basis for Arab tyranny, its favourite slogan and its sacred narrative for more than a century. Yet, asks Khaled Hroub, what chance does democracy have, unless it is repeatedly put to the test by the people at all levels of society?More

Political discourse in the Arab world: Last ditch democracy The Arab Spring and political change: Are Arabs capable of democracy?The Arab Spring in historical perspective: Revolutions take time Unrest in the Arab world: The genie is out of the bottle

Society

Still of an alley in the prostitutes' ghetto Shahr-e No in Tehran before 1980 (source: ROUYDAD24.IR)

Prostitution in the Shah's Iran

Shahr-e No – "the neighbourhood of the sorrowful"

General election in Germany

How will Germany's immigrants vote?

Germany’s electorate includes some 7.4 million citizens with international roots, while many more millions of residents from abroad aren’t allowed to vote. Both groups are often overlooked by political parties. Kay-Alexander Scholz reportsMore

Migration policy: Europe's migrants are part of the solution Immigrants in Germany: Electioneering in the Federal Republic: Courting the immigrant vote Non-fiction: Aladin El-Mafaalani's "Das Integrationsparadox": Demanding a seat at the table Germany’s identity crisis: We are the people, too

A Muslim woman prays during Eid-Ul-Fitr, 2017 (photo: Sanka Vidanagama/ZUMAPRESS/imago images)

Future-proofing Islam

Indonesia G20 presidency to focus on "the soul of Islam"

Indonesian religious affairs minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas set the bar high for both President Joko Widodo and Nahdlatul Ulama – the religious backbone of Widodo's government – when he laid out the agenda for his country's presidency of the G20 last week. James M. Dorsey has the detailsMore

Interview with Indonesian cleric Yahya Cholil Staquf: "We must want peace"Islamic law in Afghanistan: Sharia – nightmare or ticket to salvation?Interview with the Algerian scholar Said Djabelkhir: What we Muslims need is a critical appraisal of Islamic law Manifesto published by Muslim intellectuals: For Islam and democracy Qantara dossier: Reform Islam

Owner Kazem Mabhutian, 63, serves tea at the smallest and oldest teahouse tucked away in an alleyway of the Grand Bazaar in the Iranian capital Tehran on 20 September 2021 (photo: ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Life in Iran

Treats and tradition in Tehran's oldest, tiniest teahouse

Tea is a mainstay of popular culture across the Middle East, from Morocco to Qatar. Tucked away in Tehran's Grand Bazaar is arguably the world's tiniest tea shop. The owner's signature brew – "the tea of kndness" – is just one of the many treats awaiting discoveryMore

Women's centre "Bait al Karama": Nablus is cooking again!International understanding through cuisine: Food for thought Qantara photo essay: Oriental street food – the Koshary Lux in Berlin

Culture

Still from Iman K. Zawahry's "American*ish" (distributed by

Film review: Fatima & Zawahry's "American*ish"

This is America, where dreams come true... ish

The West and Islam 20 years after 9/11: Paranoia, now Interview with Pakistani American actress Aizzah Fatima: "Human, flawed and funny"Muslim youth in America: The "mipster" phenomenon

Calligraphy "Infinity" by Shahid Alam; courtesy of the artist

Karl-Josef Kuschel's "Goethe and the Koran"

Islam for the 21st century? Look no further than Goethe

No other Western poet was arguably so well-versed in the Koran or so fascinated by Islam as Germany's national hero, Goethe. In a new publication that examines all Goethe's writings relating to Islam, theologian Karl-Josef Kuschel shows that the poet's message is still highly relevant today. Stefan Weidner read the bookMore

Non-fiction: Karl-Josef Kuschel′s ″Christmas and the Qu′ran″: When love comes down Professor Nasser Kanani on the Persian poet Hafez: "The joyful audacity of his spirit, the melody of his poetry"Goethe anniversary: Orient and Occident Goethe and the Orient: Why did the poet's mind wander to far-off climes?Book review: Joseph Croitoru's "Die Deutschen und der Orient": Between contempt and fascination

The author Fatima Daas (photo: Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images)

Book review: Fatima Daas' "The Last One"

Confessions of a Muslim woman

In her debut novel, Fatima Daas makes use of traditional narrative forms reminiscent of Koranic suras. The piercing, insistent rhythm of her writing style addresses topical issues such as same-sex love, gender and questions concerning her identity as a French woman with Algerian heritage. Volker Kaminski read the bookMore

Book review: Shida Bazyar's novel "Drei Kameradinnen": Words like fire Young Iranian women writers in Germany: Patchwork identities Leila Slimani's "The Country of Others": Dreams in times of crisis Qantara-dossier: "Literature"

Lebanese cartoonist Bernhard Hage (photo: screenshot /YouTube)

Lebanese cartoonist Bernard Hage

"I’m afraid you have Hezbollah"

Lebanese cartoonist Bernard Hage has made a name for himself in a very short space of time, both at home and abroad. Now he sees no future for himself in Lebanon, and is about to make the move to Berlin. By Lena BoppMore

One year after the Beirut port blast: Young activists fight for a new Lebanon Beirut in crisis: Can things get any worse for the people of Lebanon?Book review: Riad Sattouf’s graphic novel "The Arab of the Future": Between worlds Lebanese comic artist Rawand Issa and "Not from Mars": Being illegal is unbearable

Editor's picks

The West′s Islam debate: For all our freedoms!

Muslims in the West – the cultural go-betweens

Authors of 'War on Terror' in denial to the bitter end

Houses of healing: The success of early Arab medicine against epidemics

Fairy tales depicting independent...More

Iraqi women stand for parliament

A powerful mix of insecurity and traditional prejudice against more liberal female politicians put Awatef Rasheed off running for parliament when she returned to Iraq in 2014 after years abroad. Today, she is one of the 951 women, representing close to 30% of the total number of candidates, running for election to the country's 329-seat Council of Representatives.More

German election: What's at stake for India?

Angela Merkel on a state visit to India in 2019 (photo: Reuters/A. Abidi)

Germany's foreign policy after Merkel could be marked to a large extent by how it develops relations in the tense Indo-Pacific region. India is set to play a key role.More

Qantara dossier: Reform Islam

Symbolic image of a mosque interior (photo: Getty Images)

What is Islam's take on the reform and democratisation of modern Muslim societies? Qantara.de presents the thoughts and opinions of leading Islamic scholars and their latest initiativesMore

Afghanistan: Taliban seize millions from former Afghan officials

Men are pictured as the Taliban-controlled central bank seizes a large amount of money in cash and gold from former government officials (photo: DA Afghanistan Bank/Reuters)

Cash and gold amounting to over $12 million have been taken in raids by the Taliban on former members of the Afghan government, as Afghanistan experiences a severe cash shortfall.More

No sign of life for 20 years – PEN demands release of Eritrean journalists

Reporters without Borders Press Freedom Index 2021 (source: Deutsche Welle)

PEN Centre Germany is appealing to the world community and especially the European Union to stop ignoring the situation of freedom of the press and freedom of expression in Eritrea.More

Judaism and Islam – the beauty of the other

Iskandar Ahmad Abdalla from Egypt and Yuval Ben-Ami from Israel (photo: Goethe-Institut)

Iskandar Ahmad Abdalla from Egypt and Yuval Ben-Ami from Israel dive into each other's worlds and report on their experiences, inspiring and surprising equal measure.More

Online magazine Mada Masr

"Yesterday's cartoon" by Andeel (source: Mada Masr)

The Egyptian online magazine "Mada Masr" is a progressive independent medium that was founded after the Arabellion in 2011. It publishes news, commentaries, essays and photo galleries in English and Arabic.More

Foreign Affairs: Is the two-state solution still viable?

An Israeli settler stands in the outpost of Eviatar near Nablus in the West Bank (photo: Sebastian Scheiner/AP/picture-alliance)

Foreign Affairs asks those with specialist expertise relevant to the question at hand, as well as leading generalists in the field, for their take on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the viability of the two-state solution.More

In focus

Egypt‘s illegal deportation practice

Prostitution in the Shah's Iran

Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey and Egypt

Film review: Fatima & Zawahry's "American*ish"

Politics

Society

Culture

In brief

Most Recent Photo Essay

Editor's picks

Iraqi women stand for parliament

German election: What's at stake for India?

Qantara dossier: Reform Islam

Afghanistan: Taliban seize millions from former Afghan officials

No sign of life for 20 years – PEN demands release of Eritrean journalists

Judaism and Islam – the beauty of the other

Online magazine Mada Masr

Foreign Affairs: Is the two-state solution still viable?