Qantara.de - Dialog mit der islamischen Welt

Poverty is more than a lack of money, as the World Bank definition confirms. Moreover, it is harder to bear in countries where social inequality is more marked and individuals have less chance of social advancement. Mona Naggar recounts her observations from living in BeirutMore

Lebanon remains in shock after the country's domestic intelligence chief was killed in a bomb attack. For the Lebanese opposition it was clear right away that those who planned the assassination were to be found in the Syrian capital Damascus. Mona Naggar reports from BeirutMore

The film Where Do We Go Now? will open in cinemas across Germany this week. It is set in a remote Lebanese village where Christians and Muslims live peacefully side by side and tells the story of how the women of the village use cunning and imagination to prevent war from breaking out among their menfolk. Mona Naggar met director Nadine Labaki in BeirutMore

The Deacon of the Faculty for Education at the An Najah University in Nablus, Sami Kilani, is among the most influential advocates of non-violence in the Arab world. He is optimistic that the peaceful form of protest conducted in Tunisia and Egypt is an example that will be followed in other Arab countriesMore

Syria always ranks close to the bottom of the Press Freedom Index published annually by the organisation "Reporters Without Borders". And as Mona Naggar reports, the Ba'ath regime has stepped up censorship and persecution in response to recent protests in the countryMore