Author: Inge Günther

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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 economyCOVID-19 pandemic: Besieged Gaza on the verge of coronavirus catastrophePolitics, 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 TrumpIsrael 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 questionClashes 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 edgesInterview 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

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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 crisisYoung women and start-ups in Gaza: Getting down to businessGazaʹs 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 violenceInterview with Abdallah Abu Rahma: Creative resistance to barbed wire and wallsAl 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 closerInterview with Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour: Covert warPolitics 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 homelandMiddle East conflict: Empty rhetoricPalestinian 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 integrationRuhrorter art and theatre collective: Holding the impossibleJenin'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)

Gaza and the West Bank

Press freedom in Palestine: Condemned to self-censor

In the Palestinian Autonomous Territories, Palestinian journalists are being used as bargaining chips in the power struggle between Hamas and Fatah. The scope for free and independent reporting is becoming noticeably smaller. By Inge GuntherMore

Palestinian territories: From self-determination to dictatorship: With a rod of ironDemocracy in Palestine: High hopes, low expectationsPalestine's Mohammed Dahlan: A finger in every pie
Demonstration of solidarity with the arrested leader of Fatah, Marwan Barghouti (photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike

Raising the stakes

Palestinian prisoners in Israel have launched a collective hunger strike. The imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti is thus returning to the political stage. Inge Gunther in Jerusalem has the detailsMore

Israel vows not to negotiate with Palestinian hunger strikersPalestine's Mohammed Dahlan: A finger in every pieIsraeli-Palestinian conflict: Third intifada looming
Logo of the ″Two States, One Homeland″ initiative

New peace initiatives for the Middle East conflict

Two states, one homeland

A group made up of Israelis and Palestinians has some unusual ideas on how to resolve the Middle East conflict. It′s a peace initiative based on the notion that no side should lose. By Inge GuntherMore

Breaking the Silence: The ″turncoat″ sons of Israel Interview with Israeli historian Ilan Pappe: "This situation is not temporary, it is the future"Official "Two States One Homeland" website
The Israeli historian Tom Segev (photo: picture-alliance/APA/HANS KLAUS TECHT)

Interview with the Israeli historian Tom Segev

″United Jerusalem is a myth″

In interview with Inge Günther, the prominent Israeli historian and journalist Tom Segev talks about life in the city where peace is impossibleMore

Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Third intifada loomingMiddle East conflict: Entering a new phase Fifteen years on from the Oslo Accords: From asymmetry to apathy
Palestinian youths engaged in street battles with Israeli security forces on 7 November 2014 in East Jerusalem (photo: Coex/AFP/Getty Images)

Attacks and unrest in Jerusalem

A third intifada in the making?

Jerusalem is once again a front-line city, haunted by the spectre of intifada. An update from Inge Günther in JerusalemMore

Israeli-Palestinian relations: Dialogue in a time of conflictInterview with Yehuda Shaul: "The treatment of the Palestinians is the biggest threat to Israel"Dossier: Israeli-Palestinian Dialogue
A Syrian child in a refugee camp on the Syrian border (photo: dpa/picture-alliance)

Syrian Civil War Refugees

Stranded in Gaza

To date, 70,000 Palestinians have fled the civil war in Syria. Only Hamas in the Gaza Strip is welcoming them with open arms. Inge Günther reports from GazaMore

Camps for Syrian Refugees in Zaatari and Atma: Cut off from the Rest of the WorldThe Domiz Refugee Camp in North Iraq: The Agony of the Syrian RefugeesSyrian Refugees: Driven out of Egypt

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In brief

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Most Recent Photo Essay

Rainbow wares: leather goods are a popular holiday souvenir from Morocco. In many of the narrow souks in the old town centres, there are alleys full of leather shops. But you can also buy the brightly coloured shoes, belts, bags and co. directly from the leather factories. There, animal skins are still processed according to traditional methods. Working conditions in the tanneries are correspondingly tough

A filthy occupation: leather-tanning in Morocco

Those looking to visit a leather factory In Morocco should visit the tanners' quarter in the town of Fez. For tourists the ancient craft may be fascinating, for the workers, however, it is extremely exhausting. By Stefanie Hoppner