Islamophobia and xenophobia
The West’s racism problem
The HAFʹs fruit tree nursery project
Muslim-Jewish goodwill blossoms in Morocco
Youth unemployment in the Arab world
MENA's generation jobless
Interview with Yossi Alpher and Ghassan Khatib
"The Oslo peace process approach is over"

Islamophobia and xenophobia

The West’s racism problem

The mob in Chemnitz had a lot in common with the neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan followers and other extremists who caused mayhem a year ago in Charlottesville, Virginia, writes Ian BurumaRead more

More humanity post-Chemnitz: #WirSindMehr: "Hostility is the failure of identity"Islamophobia: Criticism of religion? Blatant racism!Resurgence in European populism: Itʹs an ill wind

The High Atlas Foundationʹs fruit tree nursery project

Muslim-Jewish goodwill blossoms in Morocco

Since 2012, the Moroccan Jewish community has been helping local farmers by donating land around ancient cemeteries for the planting of fruit tree nurseries. The aim: ending systemic rural poverty by transitioning from grain to crops more suited to local growing conditions. By Yossef Ben-Meir, director of the High Atlas FoundationRead more

Official High Atlas Foundation websiteWaste separation and recycling in Morocco: Morocco's recycling pioneersWomen's self-help project "Amal" in Morocco: The single mothers of MarrakeshSnow in Moroccoʹs Atlas mountains: Calling the King to account

Youth unemployment in the Arab world

MENA's generation jobless

A lack of jobs and bleak social prospects for young people in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are undermining the political stability of what is already a deeply troubled region. The problem cannot be solved by simply modernising education and labour markets. By Nassir DjafariRead more

Young people and protests in the Arab world: So shall you reapCorruption in the Arab world: Bought loyaltiesCritical reflections on the Arab revolutions: Profiteers from authoritarian decay

Interview with think tank veterans Yossi Alpher and Ghassan Khatib

"The Oslo peace process approach is over"

On 13 September 1993, an agreement of mutual understanding known as the Oslo Accords kicked off the Middle East peace process. 25 years on, Middle East expert Christian Hanelt interviews Israeli Yossi Alpher and Palestinian Ghassan Khatib on their experiences and their thoughts regarding the way aheadRead more

Obituary: Israeli peace activist Uri Avnery: Shoes that will be difficult to fillThe Sulha Peace Project: Listening for peaceIsraeli author Lizzie Doron on Independence Day: "Israel is facing crucial decisions"The bitterlemons family of Internet publications

Politics

Art demonstrates against right-wing agitation and violence: Brandenburg artist Rainer Opolkaʹs sculpture of a bronze wolf giving the Hitler salute, positioned in front of the Karl Marx Monument in Chemnitz (photo: dpa/picture-alliance)

Islamophobia and xenophobia

The West’s racism problem

The mob in Chemnitz had a lot in common with the neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan followers and other extremists who caused mayhem a year ago in Charlottesville, Virginia, writes Ian BurumaMore

More humanity post-Chemnitz: #WirSindMehr: "Hostility is the failure of identity"Islamophobia: Criticism of religion? Blatant racism!Resurgence in European populism: Itʹs an ill wind
Former Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (photo: picture-alliance/Pressens Bild Scanpix AB)

Oslo I 25 years on

Israelis and Palestinians lament the deadlock

There was hope that resolution of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians was imminent when the first Oslo Accord was signed in 1993. But the promise of a two-state solution any time soon has been all but dashed. By Tessa FoxMore

Interview with Israeli historian Zeev Sternhell: Two states? A Sisyphean taskInterview with Israeli author Amos Oz: "I want peace"Mohammad Sabaaneh′s "White and Black: Political Cartoons from Palestine": Punching through the glass
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton gestures as then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (left) and then PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat shake hands after signing the Israeli-PLO peace accord, at the White House, in this 13 September 1993 file picture. Twenty-five years after the late Israeli and Palestinian leaders met on a sun-soaked White House lawn, hopes that their historic encounter would lead to peace have faded along with photographs of their hesitant handshake (photo: Reuters)

Interview with think tank veterans Yossi Alpher and Ghassan Khatib

"The Oslo peace process approach is over"

On 13 September 1993, an agreement of mutual understanding known as the Oslo Accords kicked off the Middle East peace process. 25 years on, Middle East expert Christian Hanelt interviews Israeli Yossi Alpher and Palestinian Ghassan Khatib on their experiences and their thoughts regarding the way aheadMore

Obituary: Israeli peace activist Uri Avnery: Shoes that will be difficult to fillThe Sulha Peace Project: Listening for peaceIsraeli author Lizzie Doron on Independence Day: "Israel is facing crucial decisions"The bitterlemons family of Internet publications
A Palestinian woman waits in front of the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza (photo: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Issa)

USA cancels aid to Palestinian aid agency UNRWA

Washington's penchant for moving the goalposts

At the beginning of September the USA announced it would pull its entire aid to the Palestinian refugees owing to UNRWAʹs inefficiency. But Washington's attack on the UNRWA serves a much broader plan, says Peter Philipp in his commentaryMore

Politics and the humanitarian situation in Gaza: "War is always possible here"Chief of Palestinian aid agency UNRWA slams U.S. funding cut as 'political' decision Clashes along the Israeli-Gazan border: What hope for the Palestinians?
more Politics »

Society

U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco, Dwight Bush, Sr., the provincial governor, Younes Elbathaoui, the president of the Moroccan Jewish Community of Marrakech-Safi, Jacky Kadoch, and president of the High Atlas Foundation, Yossef Ben-Meir distribute fruit trees to farmers and schoolchildren in 2016 (photo: High Atlas Foundation)

The High Atlas Foundationʹs fruit tree nursery project

Muslim-Jewish goodwill blossoms in Morocco

Since 2012, the Moroccan Jewish community has been helping local farmers by donating land around ancient cemeteries for the planting of fruit tree nurseries. The aim: ending systemic rural poverty by transitioning from grain to crops more suited to local growing conditions. By Yossef Ben-Meir, director of the High Atlas FoundationMore

Official High Atlas Foundation websiteWaste separation and recycling in Morocco: Morocco's recycling pioneersWomen's self-help project "Amal" in Morocco: The single mothers of MarrakeshSnow in Moroccoʹs Atlas mountains: Calling the King to account
Moroccan women demonstrate against rampant youth unemployment in front of the parliament in Rabat (photo: Asmae Boukhems)

Youth unemployment in the Arab world

MENA's generation jobless

A lack of jobs and bleak social prospects for young people in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are undermining the political stability of what is already a deeply troubled region. The problem cannot be solved by simply modernising education and labour markets. By Nassir DjafariMore

Young people and protests in the Arab world: So shall you reapCorruption in the Arab world: Bought loyaltiesCritical reflections on the Arab revolutions: Profiteers from authoritarian decay
Women's self-help project "Amal" in Marrakesh (photo: amalnonprofit.org)

Women's self-help project "Amal" in Morocco

The single mothers of Marrakesh

Single mothers in Morocco still experience social discrimination today. They upset the traditional image of the nuclear family, although that has long since become outdated. The "Amal" project in Marrakesh supports theses mothers, who are often among the poorest members of society. By Claudia MendeMore

"Amal" self-help project websiteIslamic inheritance law in Morocco and Tunisia: Feminist Asma Lamrabet under pressureQantara dossier: Cuisine
Extremism researcher Dalia Ghanem-Yazbeck (source: YouTube)

Interview with extremism researcher Dalia Ghanem-Yazbeck

1

"Being part of a ʹcommunityʹ transcends everything"

Attending this yearʹs Vienna International Christian University, Algerian extremism researcher Dr. Dalia Ghanem-Yazbeck, resident scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, talked to Zahra Nedjabat about the role of women in jihadism, the roots of violent radicalisation and possible antidotesMore

Vienna International Christian-Islamic Summer UniversityEurope's treatment of IS returnees: Eroding the constitutional stateSocial media against Islamic extremism: An invisible battleInterview with the social scientist: Edit Schlaffer Mothers Schools challenge extremism
more Society »

Culture

"Two Niles to Sing a Melody: The Violins & Synths of Sudan" CD cover and booklet (released by Ostinato Records)

Album review: "Two Niles to Sing a Melody"

The strings and synths of Sudan

Ostinato Recordsʹ latest release, "Two Niles to Sing a Melody", is not only a collection of sixteen songs from the peak period of the country’s popular music era, the 1970s, it also contains fascinating first-hand accounts from a variety of musicians who survived the purges during the subsequent clampdown on popular culture. By Richard MarcusMore

Album review: Lost Somali tapes: ″Sweet as broken dates″Album review: "Jinja" by The Nile Project: Go with the flowRap music from the Sudan: Emmnuel Jal's vision of peace
Iraqi youth and elders browse a book display at a festival titled "I am Iraqi.. I read" at a park in Mosul on Saturday in the first event of its kind after the city was retaken from IS militants (source: Rudaw English; Twitter)

Iraq post-IS

Mosulʹs cultural comeback

Music is back in Mosul, as are books and paintings. With Islamic State gone, locals are enjoying their newfound freedom and embracing culture. Will it last? Judit Neurink reports from MosulMore

Baghdad City of Peace Carnival: Grassroots, green shootsKurdistan′s Book Cafe: In praise of female entrepreneursAl Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad
Amine Ennaji in a still from "Kilikis, Town of Owls" (written and directed by Alaoui Lamharzi Azlarabe)

Film review: "Kilikis, the town of owls"

The power of reflected suffering

Directed by Azalarabe Alaoui, the Moroccan film "Kilikis, the town of owls", though not a documentary, is based on the notorious Tazmamarat prison, where political opponents were incarcerated during the reign of the late King Hassan II. Time to face up to the past? By Ismail AzzamMore

Nabil Ayouch's film ''God's Horses'': Ostracised and forgottenAlgerian cinema: Young, rebellious and full of beansSyrian detainee No. 72
Mahi Binebine (photo: Wikimedia Commons/Laurent Moulager - hipstoresk 2017)

Book review: Mahi Binebine's novel "Le Fou du roi"

At His Majesty's pleasure

Mahi Binebine's father spent 35 years at the court of the Moroccan King Hassan II, not as a diplomat or a minister, but as the king's jester. Although the storyline sounds like something straight out of the Arabian Nights, it is in fact based on real events. By Volker KaminskiMore

Interview with the Moroccan writer Mahi: Binebine Forging a futureBook review: Mahi Binebine′s ″Le Seigneur vous le rendra″: Hoping for a better life Qantara dossier: Moroccan literature
more Culture »

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Most Recent Photo Essay

Crumbling colonial splendour in Karachi

More than 70 years after Pakistan's foundation, architectural jewels dating from the British colonial era are being torn down – especially in the economic metropolis of Karachi, many buildings are threatened by the demolition ball. Impressions by Syed Raza Hassan and Akhtar Soomro

Searching for the missing in Yemen

This Amnesty report details how scores of men have been subjected to enforced disappearance after being arbitrarily arrested and detained by United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Yemeni forces operating outside the command of their own government. Many have been tortured, with some feared to have died in custody.More

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Iranian Vahid Jalilvand's social drama in Oscar nomination race

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How Europe is making its migration problem worse

Nigerian migrant waits his turn to leave the Golfo Azzurro rescue vessel as it arrives at the port of Pozzallo, south of Sicily, Italy, with hundreds of migrants aboard, rescued by members of Proactive Open Arms NGO, on 17 June 2017 (photo picture alliance/AP Photo/E. Morenatti)

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DW documentary: Jewish life in Baghdad until the 1950s

Until the 1950s, Baghdad’s vibrant Jewish community played a large role in the cultural and social life of the city. But then anti-Semitic violence forced almost all Jews to flee Iraq. To date little has been told about Jewish life in Baghdad. This very personal documentary follows the family history of a Jewish Iraqi who is now returning to buy a house in Iraq.More

The changing face of hijab: does the veil have a place on the runways?

Halima Aden, a hijab-wearing model from the United States, featuring a creation by designer Rasit Bagzibagli for Modanisa, an online retailer of modest fashion, poses for photographers, during a fashion show in Istanbul on 26 March 2018 (photo: picture-alliance/AP Photo/L. Pitarakis)

The hijab and veil are gaining prominence on the runways, but should these religious symbols ever be looked at through the lens of fashion? Hijabi journalist Eman Mustafa Bare explores the topicMore

William C. Chittick lectures on Ibn Arabi

"It is He who is revealed in every face, sought in every sign, gazed upon by every eye, worshipped in every object of worship, and pursued in the unseen and the visible. Not a single one of His creatures can fail to find Him in its primordial and original nature" - Ibn Arabi, Futuhat al-MakkiyyaMore