Inge Günther

Author: Inge Günther

One of the destroyed car windows, in the background the village of Mufkara (photo: Inge Gunther)

Attack on West Bank village Mufkara

Militant settlers sow the seeds of violence

The Palestinian villages to the south of Hebron in the West Bank have often come under attack from militant settlers. But the raid last week on the village of Mufkara by eighty masked men left more than just windows broken. It also nearly cost a three-year-old child his life. Many Israelis were horrified. The foreign minister Yair Lapid spoke for the first time of "terror". By Inge GuntherMore

End of the Middle East two-state solution? Israeli highways – a fast track to West Bank annexation Hagit Ofran of Peace Now: The Zionist still holding a candle for peace and equality Ask Project initiator Corey Gil-Shuster: Ask Israelis, ask Palestinians – beyond black and white Israeli philosopher Omri Boehm: The Haifa Republic – full equality for Middle East peace

Rocket fire from Gaza into Israel on 10 May 2021 (Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images Fired)

Escalation in the Middle East

Flare-up between Israel and Hamas paints a bleak picture

A local row triggered by ultra-right wing Jewish settlers trying to secure the forced expulsion of Palestinian families in East Jerusalem has re-ignited hostilities in the Middle East. As the bombs and rockets fall on Gaza and Israel once again, there is seems little prospect of a swift end to the clashes. By Inge GuntherMore

International calls for calm as Jerusalem violence escalates Joseph Croitoru's "Al-Aqsa oder Tempelberg": Zeroing in on the Middle East conflict Unrest over Sheikh Jarrah: With Jerusalem on edge, Palestinian families face eviction Corey Gil-Shuster: Ask Israelis, ask Palestinians – beyond black and white Qantara dossier: Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Corey Gil-Shuster, director of the International Program in Conflict Resolution and Mediation at Tel Aviv University, during filming (photo: Ask Project)

Interview with Ask Project initiator Corey Gil-Shuster

Ask Israelis, ask Palestinians – beyond black and white

In 2012, fed up with people expressing clear-cut opinions on the rights and wrongs of the Middle East conflict, Canadian conflict researcher and long-time Israeli resident Corey Gil-Shuster grabbed his video camera and went out onto the streets in Israel and the Occupied Territories to ask ordinary people their views. The result: the Ask project. Inge Gunther met up with him for Qantara.de in Tel AvivMore

Interview with Israeli philosopher Omri Boehm: The Haifa Republic – full equality for Middle East peace New peace initiatives for the Middle East conflict: Two states, one homeland Arabs and Jews in Israel: You can't tear us apart

In full view: Israeli settlement Pisgat Zeev (in the foreground) and the Palestinian town Anata (photo: Getty Images/AFP/A. Gharabli)

End of the Middle East two-state solution?

Israeli highways – a fast track to West Bank annexation

This summer it was reported that Israel had abandoned its plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank. Now, however, Israel is driving forward its settlement programme in the territory with a master plan for road construction. Inge Gunther in Jerusalem has the detailsMore

USA, Israel and the Palestinians: Trump's sham attempt at peace Interview with Middle East expert Lara Friedman: "A kosher stamp for Israel to retain control over the West Bank"Link to "Highway to Annexation" report

Palestinian artists decorating protective masks in Gaza (photo: Reuters/M. Salem)

COVID-19 pandemic

Coronavirus and the face masks made in Gaza

The corona crisis has led to an upswing for the Palestinian textile industry, but has done little to relieve the dire straits in the territories. Without international support, Gaza and the West Bank will not be able to get back on their feet economically. Inge Gunther reports from JerusalemMore

Coronavirus crisis presents new opportunities for Gaza's battered economy COVID-19 pandemic: Besieged Gaza on the verge of coronavirus catastrophe Politics, inequality and a lack of transparency: Coronavirus and the Middle East's ongoing state of emergency

United States President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House on 28.01.2020 (photo: picture-alliance/CNP/J. Lott)

USA, Israel and the Palestinians

Trump's sham attempt at peace

As we digest the details of Donald Trump's Vision for Peace, we need to ask ourselves just one question: does this draft guarantee an Israeli and a Palestinian baby born today equal civil rights, freedom of travel and a self-determined life in security and dignity twenty years from now? By Inge GuntherMore

Interview with Middle East expert Lara Friedman: "A kosher stamp for Israel to retain control over the West Bank" Resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict: Expect nothing from Trump Israel and the settlements: Netanyahu′s forked tongue

Symbolic image: Knesset election (photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Another round of Knesset elections

Deciding Netanyahu's fate

In terms of policy, this election has little else to offer. Social issues, the economy and the conflict with the Palestinians are not dominant themes; it’s a question of power. By Inge GuntherMore

Israel′s parliamentary elections: To be or not to be – the Netanyahu question Clashes along the Israeli-Gazan border: What hope for the Palestinians?Qantara dossier: "Israeli-Palestinian conflict"

Atef Abu Saif (photo: picture-alliance/AP Photo/N. Nasser)

Interview with Palestinian Culture Minister Atef Abu Saif

"We need citizen-oriented policies"

The foyer is hung with pop-art pictures of Palestinian poets and thinkers such as Mahmoud Darwish and Edward Said. The Palestinian Ministry of Culture in Ramallah is keen to present itself as open-minded, modern – just like its new boss, Atef Abu Saif. Interview by Inge GuntherMore

Book review: "The Drone Eats with Me" by Atef Abu Saif: A war without distinct edges Interview with think tank veterans Yossi Alpher and Ghassan Khatib: "The Oslo peace process approach is over"Interview with Palestinian human rights activist Mahmoud Abu Rahma: "We are alive, but we donʹt have a life"

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (photo: picture-alliance)

Israel′s parliamentary elections

To be or not to be – the Netanyahu question

Rarely has there been a more exciting run-up to an election in Israel – yet rarely one so polarising either. After ten years in office, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's re-election now hangs in the balance. His challenger, former Chief of General Staff Benny Gantz, is matching him in the polls. Inge Gunther reports from JerusalemMore

U.S.A. recognises Israeli annexation: Why so silent over the Golan?Interview with think tank veterans Yossi Alpher and Ghassan Khatib: "The Oslo peace process approach is over"Clashes along the Israeli-Gazan border: What hope for the Palestinians?

Sun Box entrepreneur Majd Mashharawi with a solar panel in Gaza City (photo: Inge Gunther)

Sun Box solar energy project

A light for Gaza

A go-getting young Palestinian woman is currently causing an energy surge in Gaza. Her goal: to make solar panels affordable for poor families. Her motto: do your thing, regardless of what others think. Inge Gunther reports from GazaMore

Qatari-bought fuel enters Gaza to ease humanitarian crisis Young women and start-ups in Gaza: Getting down to business Gazaʹs cultural heritage: The Palestinians' vanishing legacy

Palestinian human rights activist Mahmoud Abu Rahma (photo: Lazar Semeonov/Medico International)

Interview with Palestinian human rights activist Mahmoud Abu Rahma

"We are alive, but we donʹt have a life"

Palestinians losing their lives in protests at the Gaza border fence has refocussed attention on the misery of life in the Strip. A renewed risk of military escalation, however, means proposals to raise the Gaza blockade are again on ice. Inge Guenther talks to Mahmoud Abu Rahma, International Relations Director with Al MezanMore

Gaza protests: Inescapable vortex of violence Interview with Abdallah Abu Rahma: Creative resistance to barbed wire and walls Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights Medico International: For more information on health-related human rights issues

A Palestinian women records events at a protest in Gaza (photo: Getty Images/S. Platt)

Gaza protests

Inescapable vortex of violence

For several days, major rioting at the ongoing campaign of protests by Palestinians overshadowed celebratory events in Israel marking the 70th anniversary of the state's foundation. As a result of the deadly clashes, there have been increasingly vociferous calls around the world for an independent inquiry. By Inge GüntherMore

Palestinians urge ICC to open full probe into "Israeli war crimes"Gulf Arab states rebuke Israel, but alliances inch closer Interview with Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour: Covert war Politics and the humanitarian situation in Gaza: "War is always possible here"

Israeli historian Zeev Sternhell (photo: Inge Gunther)

Interview with Israeli historian Zeev Sternhell

Two states? A Sisyphean task

Leading historian Zeev Sternhell talks to Inge Gunther about the 70th anniversary of the founding of Israel, the impact of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Israelʹs religious-nationalist settler movementMore

New peace initiatives for the Middle East conflict: Two states, one homeland Middle East conflict: Empty rhetoric Palestinian sociologist Salim Tamari on the Six-Day War: "People became hostages of the annexation"

Soubhi Shami plays Elsewhere Bird (source: Theater der Jungen Welt, Leipzig)

″Der Vogel Anderswo″ – Elsewhere Bird

Nurturing empathy

A theatre in Leipzig has stuck its neck out and brought a children′s play about refugees to the stage. The main actor fled Syria himself and the story he conjures up out of his suitcase is both educational and funny. An integration project for everyone involved – those from here and from elsewhere. By Inge GuntherMore

Interview with Syrian playwright Wael Kadour: A vehicle for integration Ruhrorter art and theatre collective: Holding the impossible Jenin's Freedom Theatre celebrates 10 years: What′s next for ″cultural resistance″?

Palestinian reads the newspaper in Hebron in the West Bank (photo: picture-alliance)

Author: Inge Günther

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