Debate about racism
Germany is not the anti-racist model the U.S. is looking for
Fifth anniversary of the JCPOA
Saving the Iran nuclear deal
Private initiatives in Gaza
For a brighter future ... despite the blockade
Press freedom in Turkey
President Erdogan tightens the noose around social media

Debate about racism

Germany is not the anti-racist model the U.S. is looking for

Germany is often lauded for its atonement for its Nazi past. Yet the country upheld the structures that allowed – and allow – racism to flourish and Germanness to be intertwined with whiteness, writes Ursula MoffittRead more

Mesut Ozil and #MeTwo: When are you German enough?Racist terror in Germany: ʺNever againʺ? Let’s hope so!Black Lives Matter in Egypt: The controversy surrounding racism – are Arabs racist?Photo gallery: Young 'Black Lives Matter' demonstrators: "Enough is enough"

Fifth anniversary of the JCPOA

Saving the Iran nuclear deal

Five years after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was concluded, it is on life support, following the US's reinstatement of sanctions and Iran's return to enrichment activities. Before two decades of diplomacy are squandered, all parties involved must step back from the precipice, says Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security PolicyRead more

First INSTEX transaction with Iran: Trade as an obstacle courseE3, Russia and China: Solving the nuclear deal stalemate with IranRescuing the nuclear deal with Iran: Europe should negotiate without the US
The blockade makes life difficult in so many ways for the people of Gaza. Safiyya and Azem Abu Daqqa, both qualified agricultural engineers, are just two young people who are taking the initiative and using creativity and innovative spirit to overcome the challenging situation in the Strip. They are seen here inspecting seedlings in their hydroponics greenhouse

Private initiatives in Gaza

For a brighter future ... despite the blockade

As he sees the first of his successes making its way towards local markets, Azem Abu Daqqa feels very positive. The launch of an agricultural project in the south of the Gaza Strip, which challenges the reality of the Israeli blockade and the scarcity of job opportunities for the thousands of university graduates in this coastal area is promising. He isn't the only one to have seized the initiative. Fida Abu Elayyan, a pharmacist, is doing something very similar. A report from GazaRead more

COVID-19 pandemic : Coronavirus and the face masks made in GazaSun Box solar energy project: A light for GazaYoung women and start-ups in Gaza: Getting down to business

Press freedom in Turkey

President Erdogan tightens the noose around social media

By massively regulating social media platforms, President Erdogan is trying to silence the remaining critical voices in Turkey, says Christian Mihr of the organisation Reporters Without Borders in his commentaryRead more

Coronavirus and press freedom in Turkey: Erdogan's crusade against "all media and political viruses"Violence against journalists increasing: Press freedom under fire in TurkeyTop press rights defender in Turkey court for 'terror propaganda'

Politics

Chinese president Xi Jinping and U.S. president Donald Trump at G20 summit in Argentina, December 2018 (photo: picture-alliance/dpa/Maxppp)

Uighur repression in China

Donald Trump, the obstacle to Washington's Uighur policy

A broad U.S.-led effort to hold the Chinese government to international account for its abuses of largely Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang would, at the very least, remind China that the world is watching. Sadly, President Donald Trump’s actions will likely convince Muslims only of the depths of his hypocrisy. By Anne-Marie Slaughter and Wardah KhalidMore

Interviewing Dolkun Isa, Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian and Asiye Abdulaheb: Does no-one have the guts to tackle China on the Uighurs?Interview with sinologist Kristin Shi-Kupfer: "The aim is to rob the Uighurs of their identity"Uighur repression in China: Beards and hijabs behind bars
Josep Borrell (photo: Reuters/V. Kessler)

Fifth anniversary of the JCPOA

Saving the Iran nuclear deal

Five years after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was concluded, it is on life support, following the US's reinstatement of sanctions and Iran's return to enrichment activities. Before two decades of diplomacy are squandered, all parties involved must step back from the precipice, says Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security PolicyMore

First INSTEX transaction with Iran: Trade as an obstacle courseE3, Russia and China: Solving the nuclear deal stalemate with IranRescuing the nuclear deal with Iran: Europe should negotiate without the US
Turkish lawyers stage a sit-in in front of a police barricade, Ankara, June 2020 (photo: DW/H. Köylü)

New law on Turkish bar associations

Damaging judicial impartiality

While the government claims the new lawyers' act will be more pluralistic and democratic, lawyers believe it will harm the right to free trial and split them down political lines. By Ayşe KarabatMore

Coronavirus and press freedom in Turkey: Erdogan's crusade against "all media and political viruses"Dismissed by decree in Turkey: Social lynching, Erdogan's potent weaponWomen in Turkey: Ankara turns a blind eye to femicideHeld hostage by the Turkish authorities: Deniz Yucel, the "agent terrorist"
President Erdoğan and senior Turkish ministers attend Friday prayers at Hagia Sofia, 24.07.20 (photo: picture-alliance/AA/M. Kamachi)

Interview with Olivier Roy on the conversion of Hagia Sophia

"Islamising stones is easier than Islamising souls"

The photos of the first Friday prayers in Hagia Sofia in 86 years triggered passionate and diverse responses around the world. Surrounded by a coterie of ministers, Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, led worshippers in prayer at the recently rededicated mosque. Eren Güvercin spoke to the renowned French political scientist Olivier Roy and asked him about the significance of the controversial reconversionMore

Erdogan to pray in Hagia Sophia after mosque reconversionInterview with Olivier Roy: They love death as we love life – jihad and the roots of terrorInterview with Olivier Roy: "Radicalisation is not the result of failed integration"
more Politics »

Society

Christian Mihr, director of Reporters Without Borders Germany (photo: Reporter Ohne Grenzen/Schler)

Press freedom in Turkey

President Erdogan tightens the noose around social media

By massively regulating social media platforms, President Erdogan is trying to silence the remaining critical voices in Turkey, says Christian Mihr of the organisation Reporters Without Borders in his commentaryMore

Coronavirus and press freedom in Turkey: Erdogan's crusade against "all media and political viruses"Violence against journalists increasing: Press freedom under fire in TurkeyTop press rights defender in Turkey court for 'terror propaganda'
A homemade sign changes the name of the Berlin underground station "Mohrenstrasse" to "George-Floyd-Strasse" (photo: picture-alliance/dpa/K. Nietfeld)

Debate about racism

Germany is not the anti-racist model the U.S. is looking for

Germany is often lauded for its atonement for its Nazi past. Yet the country upheld the structures that allowed – and allow – racism to flourish and Germanness to be intertwined with whiteness, writes Ursula MoffittMore

Mesut Ozil and #MeTwo: When are you German enough?Racist terror in Germany: ʺNever againʺ? Let’s hope so!Black Lives Matter in Egypt: The controversy surrounding racism – are Arabs racist?Photo gallery: Young 'Black Lives Matter' demonstrators: "Enough is enough"
Manacles (photo: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Pedersen)

Muslim racism and imperialism

Power and exclusion

The outpouring of solidarity worldwide following the violent death of George Floyd should prompt us to step back and fundamentally question racist structures and privileges based on injustice – wherever they exist in the world. An essay by Tayfun GuttstadtMore

Black Lives Matter in Egypt: The controversy surrounding racism – are Arabs racist?Human rights and civil society in North Africa: Tunisia joins George Floyd protests to say "no" to racismInterview with Mauritanian human rights activist Biram Dah Abeid: "Time to end Arab racism"
After the murder of Pinar Gültekin, thousands of women took to the street in Istanbul calling for greater protection for women (photo: DHA)

Violence against women

Femicide on the rise in Turkey

The recent murder of Turkish student Pinar Gültekin by her ex-boyfriend has sparked outrage in Turkey. Women's rights activists are calling for the government to tackle the widespread problem of femicide in the country, but their calls are being met with silence from the government and in some cases even tear gas and rubber bullets by police. By Daniel BellutMore

Women in Turkey: Ankara turns a blind eye to femicideThe Istanbul Convention and women's protection: Bombing the heart of the family in Turkey?Impact of Coronavirus: Rise in domestic violence in the Middle East
more Society »

Culture

Mohammed Dib (photo: Wikipedia)

Remembering Mohammed Dib

The grand seigneur of French-language Algerian literature

21 July marks the centenary of the birth of Mohammed Dib, one of the founding fathers of French-language Algerian literature. Born in 1920 in Tlemcen, Algeria's national writer spent the greater part of his life in exile. He passed away on 2 May 2003 in the Parisian suburb of La Celle-Saint-Cloud. By Regina Keil-SagaweMore

Book review: Alice Zeniter's "L'Art de perdre": Rediscovering a lost chapter of (family) historyThe Algerian writer Kamel Daoud: Who is the Arab man?Obituary: the Algerian writer Malek Alloula – A prophet unaccepted in his own countryObituary: the Algerian author Assia Djebar – Trailblazer for her country, her gender and her continentLiterature and collective trauma in Algeria: Moving beyond the examination of history
Iranian writer Amir Hassan Cheheltan (photo: picture-alliance/dpa/W. Kumm)

Book review: Amir Hassan Cheheltan's "Der Zirkel der Literaturliebhaber"

A literary cocoon

For decades, lovers of literature would gather at the house of writer Amir Hassan Cheheltan's family to debate classical Persian works – until politics forced its way into the readers' cocoon. By Gerrit WustmannMore

Interview with Iranian author Amir Hassan Cheheltan: "Literature is based on politics and eroticism"Amir Hassan Cheheltan's ''Tehran, Skyless City''; Reflecting the dark side of Iran's capitalIran and its authors: The perils of writing
Groupe RTD (photo: Janto Djassi)

Album review: Groupe RTD's "The Dancing Devils of Djibouti"

Foot-tapping fusion

Blending East African, Bollywood and Arab music traditions, Groupe RTD's "The Dancing Devils of Djibouti" is not only a stunning album, it is also the first internationally-released recording of music from this small and isolated country. By Richard MarcusMore

Album review: "Sweet as broken dates"Album review: "Mummer Love"Album review: "Two Niles to Sing a Melody"Photo gallery: Taking the train from Addis Ababa to DjiboutiPhoto gallery: Yemeni refugees – destination Djibouti
Still from "Baamum Nafi", lit.: Nafi's father (source: Joye Didi Entertainment Company)

Islamism in Senegal

A fight for the soul of Islam

Violent Islamist fundamentalism has not yet come to Senegal, but it could – just as it has in Mali, Burkina Faso and Nigeria. A fascinating new feature film from Senegal shows how it could happen. By Aviva FreudmannMore

Islamists in Africa: The ever-present threatSenegalʹs "talibes" – begging for Islam″Touba″ – a film documentary: Pilgrimage to Sheikh Bamba
more Culture »

Afghanistan: Women's Eloquence

Afghanistan: Women's Eloquence I Screenshot ARTE Documentary

In the most dangerous city in Afghanistan Abdul Wadood Pedram, president of the Human Rights and Eradication of Violence Organization (HREVO), has set up a rhetoric competition for women, a radical move in a highly traditional society.More

Museum, church or mosque? The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul

Architectural milestone: in 532, Roman Emperor Justinian ordered the construction of an awe-inspiring church in his residence Constantinople – "one that has never existed since Adam's time, and one that will never exist again". Roughly 10,000 workers were involved in the construction work. For a millennium, the Bosphorus basilica remained Christendom’s biggest church

Museum, church or mosque? The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul

The Hagia Sophia, with its massive dome and four minarets, is nearly 1,500 years old. Turkey's top court has now paved the way for the museum to be converted back into a mosque. By Klaus Dahmann

Dispute about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

For several years, the governments of Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt have been engaged in ongoing negotiations about the building of a massive hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile in Ethiopia. Egypt, which relies heavily on the Nile as a source of freshwater, fears that the dam could reduce the amount of water flowing downstream. Sudan could benefit from cheap electricity generated by the dam and reduced flooding, but is concerned about the impact on its own dams. Now Ethiopia has started filling the reservoir behind the dam.More

The first colour photos of the Middle East

A Palestinian herdsman at the end of the nineteenth century

These images of Middle Eastern cities, towns and attractions were taken during the 1890s. Colour was added manually to the black and white negatives using the Photochrom technique pioneered by Photoglob Zurich AG.More

The United Arab Emirates' rise to a regional power

Cover of Guido Steinberg's research paper on the UAE (source: SWP)

In his recently published research paper on the UAE, Dr Guido Steinberg asserts that the rise of the UAE to a regional power has made the country a more im­portant and simultaneously a more problematic policy partner for Germany and Europe. Steinberg is Senior Associate in the Middle East and Africa Division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP)More

Saving Egypt's Jewish heritage

Two Egyptian women have come together to save the country's lost Jewish heritage. Magda, who is Jewish and Marwa, who is Palestinian and Muslim, meet weekly to clean, rescue and repair books, synagogues and cemeteries.More

UK government policy has left Muslim students feeling unable to speak up on campus...

Universities can take an active role, however, in helping to build peaceful relations on campus, and beyond, by challenging prejudice and empowering Muslim and all marginal voices.More