Kashmir, Xinjiang and Arab land in the Middle East
Victims of the civilizational agenda
Israeli attacks on bases in Iraq
Is war with Iran on the horizon?
Jews and Muslims in dialogue
Jews and Muslims are not enemies
Gaddafi's legacy
Libya – failed state par excellence

Kashmir, Xinjiang and Arab land in the Middle East

Victims of the civilizational agenda

India's decision to deprive Kashmir of its autonomy, alongside a clampdown in the troubled north-western Chinese province of Xinjiang and US-backed Israeli annexation of Arab land, is the latest indication of what a new world order led by civilizational leaders may look like. By James M. DorseyRead more

Right-wing populism: Modi won – but did India?India, Modi and the Muslim minority: "Not yet a Hindu Pakistan" India and Pakistan: Modiʹs foreign policy – by whim, not design India and Pakistan: Unable to bury the axe

Israeli attacks on bases in Iraq

Is war with Iran on the horizon?

So far, Iraq has always been neutral in the face of a possible war between Iran and the USA. But recent Israeli air raids on Iranian bases in Iraq reveal a different reality: Tehran's rulers apparently can no longer count on the neutrality of its neighbouring country, writes Ali SadrzadehRead more

Economic crisis in Iraq: Trump's Iran embargo impacts IraqisUS politics in Syria: Trump, Syria – and the threat of regional conflagrationGeopolitics in the Middle East: End the Arab-Iranian tug-of-war

Jews and Muslims in dialogue

"Jews are being used to create anti-Muslim feeling"

Through their "Dialogue Perspectives" programme, the Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich and Avicenna academic foundations promote discourse between Jewish and Muslim scholarship holders. In an interview with Ursula Russmann, Rachel de Boor and Hani Mohseni talk about new alliances between their communities – and why the majority of society wants to see devout Jews, but liberal MuslimsRead more

Abrahamic Teams and interfaith dialogue: Conquering prejudice face-to-faceGermany appoints an anti-Semitism commissioner: Moving in the right directionAnti-Semitism: There is no tradition of anti-Semitism in Islam

Gaddafi's legacy

Libya – failed state par excellence

Faraj Alasha asks whether, in the event of General Haftarʹs forces taking control of the Libyan capital Tripoli, its population will embrace and support him? Or will his forces be worn down by attacks inside the city, thus ushering in a new chapter of bloodletting?Read more

Civil war in Libya: U.S. undermining "any hope for a successful political process"Resolving the crisis in Libya: Another fine messLibya′s domestic crisis: On the road to nowhereMilitary dictatorships in the Middle East: The real enemies of the Arab Spring

Politics

Symbolic image of the Israeli air force, showing an F-35 fighter jet (photo: picture-alliance/AP Images/A. Shalite)

Israeli attacks on bases in Iraq

Is war with Iran on the horizon?

So far, Iraq has always been neutral in the face of a possible war between Iran and the USA. But recent Israeli air raids on Iranian bases in Iraq reveal a different reality: Tehran's rulers apparently can no longer count on the neutrality of its neighbouring country, writes Ali SadrzadehMore

Economic crisis in Iraq: Trump's Iran embargo impacts IraqisUS politics in Syria: Trump, Syria – and the threat of regional conflagrationGeopolitics in the Middle East: End the Arab-Iranian tug-of-war
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (photo: Reuters/A. Abidi)

Kashmir, Xinjiang and Arab land in the Middle East

Victims of the civilizational agenda

India's decision to deprive Kashmir of its autonomy, alongside a clampdown in the troubled north-western Chinese province of Xinjiang and US-backed Israeli annexation of Arab land, is the latest indication of what a new world order led by civilizational leaders may look like. By James M. DorseyMore

Right-wing populism: Modi won – but did India?India, Modi and the Muslim minority: "Not yet a Hindu Pakistan" India and Pakistan: Modiʹs foreign policy – by whim, not design India and Pakistan: Unable to bury the axe
Map of Libya (source: DW)

Gaddafi's legacy

Libya – failed state par excellence

Faraj Alasha asks whether, in the event of General Haftarʹs forces taking control of the Libyan capital Tripoli, its population will embrace and support him? Or will his forces be worn down by attacks inside the city, thus ushering in a new chapter of bloodletting?More

Civil war in Libya: U.S. undermining "any hope for a successful political process"Resolving the crisis in Libya: Another fine messLibya′s domestic crisis: On the road to nowhereMilitary dictatorships in the Middle East: The real enemies of the Arab Spring
Yazidi women hold up pictures of missed relatives during a commemoration ceremony in Stuttgart, southern Germany, on 3 August 2019 (photo: Getty Images/AFP/T. Kienzle)

Pursuing prosecution in Germany

Justice for Yazidi survivors of Islamic State genocide

The extremist group "Islamic State" attempted to wipe out the Yazidis. Many thousands died, and survivors tell horrific tales of abuse and enslavement. Now, German investigators have taken up the fight for justice. By Matthias von HeinMore

Slaves of Islamic State: The fight to find the missing YazidisNadia Murad: One woman's fight against Islamic StateThe abduction of women by IS: Traded like cattle
more Politics »

Society

Jews and Muslims are not enemies (photo: Getty Images/AFP/J. F. Monier)

Jews and Muslims in dialogue

"Jews are being used to create anti-Muslim feeling"

Through their "Dialogue Perspectives" programme, the Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich and Avicenna academic foundations promote discourse between Jewish and Muslim scholarship holders. In an interview with Ursula Russmann, Rachel de Boor and Hani Mohseni talk about new alliances between their communities – and why the majority of society wants to see devout Jews, but liberal MuslimsMore

Abrahamic Teams and interfaith dialogue: Conquering prejudice face-to-faceGermany appoints an anti-Semitism commissioner: Moving in the right directionAnti-Semitism: There is no tradition of anti-Semitism in Islam
African migrants crowded into a room in a refugee detention centre in Libya (photo: Getty Images/AFP/T. Jawashi)

Migration in North Africa

Refugees in Libya face "catastrophic" conditions

Facing the risk of exploitation, violence and torture, aid groups warn Libya is not a safe country for refugees. They argue that is reason enough for the EU not to send asylum-seekers back to the country. By Jeannette CwienkMore

Civil war in Libya: U.S. undermining "any hope for a successful political process"European-Libyan relations: Whom to trust when it comes to Tripoli?Internecine struggles: Libyaʹs free for all
The mountainside on the outskirts of Marib reads "IDPs camp – Sanaa Consortium for Relief" (photo: Ahmed Nagi)

A city like Marib

Rising above the Yemen conflict

With the Yemen conflict now in its fourth year, Ahmed Nagi, a Yemeni scholar visited the city of Marib and found that, against all odds, people are using their resilience and ingenuity to survive the devastation of warMore

Bearing the brunt of the war: Yemeni families in dire straitsBushra al-Maqtariʹs "Voices from a forgotten war-torn country": Yemenʹs chronicles of death and destruction untoldHelping the Middle Eastʹs war-wounded: The hospital for all wars
South Korean boy group Super Junior (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

Music and human rights in Saudi Arabia

To perform or not to perform?

International pop artists like K-pop group Super Junior are hugely popular in Saudi Arabia. But should international stars shun the Gulf monarchy because of its poor record on human rights? And if they do choose to perform there, are they indirectly supporting the country's repressive policies? By Nermin IsmailMore

Saudi Arabia's hip-hop scene: Rapping the KingdomSaudi Arabia′s entertainment offensive: Not to be taken lightlySaudi Arabia: Janadriyah Festival of Culture: A population ruled by fear
more Society »

Culture

Jaffaʹs Arab-Hebrew Theatre (photo: Katrin Franke)

Jaffaʹs Arabic-Hebrew theatre

Model for a democratic, secular Israel

The Arabic-Hebrew Theatre in Jaffa is one of a kind – and a thorn in the side of the Israeli government. Alexandra Foerderl-Schmid visits a venue under constant threat of closureMore

Book review: Uri Shani's "Nemashim" theatre project: Creating a level playing fieldQantara dossier: Israeli-Palestinian dialogueThe Sulha Peace Project: Listening for peace
Carlos Spottorno; cover of Carlos Spottorno and Guillermo Abril's "La Grieta", published in Spanish by Astiberri Ediciones; Guillermo Abril

Interview with Carlos Spottorno and Guillermo Abril

"The Crack": Europe's identity crisis

In their field journal “The Crack” photographer Carlos Spottorno and journalist Guillermo Abril report the unfolding of Europeʹs migrant crisis from Africa to the Arctic over the course of three years. Their aim? To identify the causes and consequences of Europeʹs identity crisis. Interview by Naima MorelliMore

Migration from Africa: Upholding migrant human rightsRefugee camps in Libya: Guilty of torture and rape by association – Europeʹs dirty secretMigration in North Africa: Refugees in Libya face "catastrophic" conditions
Author Nathan Englander (photo: Getty Images)

Nathan Englander’s novel "Dinner at the centre of the earth"

Caught in limbo

Nathan Englander, an author of novels and short stories and a man who knows Israel very well, has written a fast-paced spy novel in which lovesick spies, dubious businesspeople and a virtually immortal general in a coma fail to bring about a workable solution for peace in the Israel-Palestine conflict. By Volker KaminskiMore

Palestine and its Arabic neighbours: Gaza – a city no one wants"The Blue Between Sky and Water" by Susan Abulhawa: Love and suffering in GazaBook review: "The Drone Eats with Me" by Atef Abu Saif: A war without distinct edges
Iranian musician Habib Meftah performs at the Rudolstadt music festival on 5 July 2019 (photo: Bernd G. Schmitz)

Interview with Iranian percussionist Habib Meftah

Analogue "electrofolk" from southern Iran

Percussionist Habib Meftah has made an international name for himself with clubbable, acoustically altered folk music. But he also works with dancers and musicians from other genres. His versatility is based on the traditional musical culture of his southern Iranian origins. Interview by Bernd G. SchmitzMore

Iranian Tombak Virtuoso Mohammad Reza Mortazavi: Flying fingersranian singers Mahsa & Marjan Vahdat and the American Kronos Quartet: Beyond the dividing linesInterview with Ramin Sadighi from the Iranian music label Hermes Records: The fine line between what is permitted and what is not
more Culture »

In brief

More

Most Recent Photo Essay

Forced removals: it's estimated that 8,000 refugees live in Bihac. The camps are overcrowded and every day there is talk of burglaries. There was a stabbing in front of the kindergarten. Next to Camp Bira, there were about 500 people not registered with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). In mid-June police picked them up and drove them to a site called Vucjak

The inhumanity of Bosniaʹs Vucjak refugee camp

Within eyeshot of the Bosnian-Croatian border, thousands of refugees are camping in squalor on a former garbage site. Their supplies are scarce. Photographer Dirk Planert was among them

Discrimination: Welcome to Europe?

Discrimination: Welcome to Europe? (source: Deutsche Welle)

For Aiham Issa, a Syrian refugee in Germany, hardly a day goes by when he doesn’t experience discrimination. He is not alone. Across Europe migrants, refugees and their descendants are reporting an increase in xenophobia. These are some of their stories.More

Uighur Muslim Ablikim Yusuf puts international community on the spot

Still from Ablikim Yusuf's mobile phone video (source: buzzfeednews.com)

Ablikim Yusuf, a 53-year old Uighur Muslim seeking a safe haven from potential Chinese persecution, landed this week in the United States, his new home.More

How Egypt's Sisi hands out justice

A man walks in front of a banner reading, "Yes to the constitutional amendments, for a better future", with a photo of Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi before the approaching referendum on constitutional amendments in Cairo, 16 April 2019 (photo: Reuters/M. Abd El Ghany)

Since 2014, when President Abdul Fatah al-Sisi took power, Egyptian courts have sentenced some 3,000 people to death according to the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, an independent organisation that documents human rights violations in the Middle East and North Africa. Innocence or guilt no longer appears to play a role.More

Our women on the ground: Essays by Arab women reporting from the Arab world

"A stirring, provocative and well-made new anthology edited by the Lebanese-British journalist Zahra Hankir," writes Dwight Garner, book critic for the New York Times.More

Jewish leaders donate $1m to Christchurch mosque victims

Participants in the March for Love, held in memory of the Christchurch victims (photo: Reuters)

This month Jewish community leaders from around the world joined Muslim officials in Christchurch to hand over a million dollars raised for the victims of the Christchurch mosque attacks.More

Divided over narratives: The new fault line in the Arab World

Flags are pictured before a preparatory meeting between Arab foreign ministers ahead of the Arab summit in Tunis, Tunisia, 29 March 2019 (photo: Reuters/Z. Souissi)

The narratives that divide the Middle East today are no longer predominately about Sunni versus Shia, Arab versus Persian, or Muslim versus Jew; instead, they are about pluralism versus authoritarianism, Islamism versus “counterterrorism”, civilian rule versus military rule, and civil society empowerment versus civil society regulation.More

How to be a Muslim woman: "Why I feel like a failed perfect daughter"

BBC Radio 4's "How to be a Muslim woman" (source: bbc.co.uk)

In the fifth episode of her podcast for BBC Radio 4, Sayeeda Warsi speaks to anti-FGM activist Nimco Ali about being a British Muslim woman. They discuss sex and relationships, misogyny, speaking truth to power, the difference between culture and religion, and why guilt keeps Nimco going.More

Freedom of speech under attack in India

Siddharth Varadarajan, a founding editor of The Wire and former editor of The Hindu, gives the 2019 Reuters Memorial Lecture on 18 February 2019.More