Khaled Hroub

Author: Khaled Hroub

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (l) greets Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah (r) upon his arrival in Tehran on 1 June 2014. Kuwait's Emir started a landmark visit to Tehran focussed on mending fences between Shia Iran and the Sunni-ruled monarchies in the Gulf (photo: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images)

Geopolitics in the Middle East

End the Arab-Iranian tug-of-war

You can’t change regional geography, notes the political analyst Khaled Hroub. Iran and the Arabs will always be neighbours, but we can change and re-shape history and politics. The common interest must therefore lie in ending the period of conflict and moving towards co-operation and regional security More

Iran′s image in the Arab world: Conservative regime and open-minded society The aftermath of the Arab Spring: The changing map of Middle East power Michael Luders on the sanctions on Iran: "The objective is regime change"

Egyptian man sits in a church following the IS attack on Coptic Christians in Tanta, Egypt (photo: picture-alliance/dpa/AP)

Islam in the Middle East

The curse of religiosity

Some regard the fanatical and raging tide currently sweeping through Arab societies as variations of a "latent Daesh-isation". Indeed, argues Khaled Hroub, despite falling short of the use of violence or arms, in its most extreme form, its ideological principles and convictions share common ground with the heinous beliefs of Islamic StateMore

Arab identity crisis: What is left of the Arabs?Political discourse in the Arab world: Defaming democracy Taha Hussein and the democratisation of education in Egypt: The sea of knowledge

In memory of the murdered Jordanian writer Nahed Hattar (photo: dpa/picture-alliance/EPA/Jamal Nasrallah)

The murder of Jordanian author Nahed Hattar

The same stinking swamp

There′s not much to choose between the IS terrorist who recently gunned down the Islam-critical author Nahed Hattar in Amman and those who murdered Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi in Tunisia. These murders are the result of the Islamist mobilisation against all those who think differently or have a different political standpoint. By Khaled HroubMore

The scourge of sectarianism: Obstinate mass suicide Interview with Arun Kundnani: Violence comes home Tunisia in turmoil after Chokri Belaid killing: Between anger and grief

A mosque and a church in Beirut (photo: DW/K. Zein-Eddine)

Religious communities in the Middle East

No to sectarianism; yes to equal citizenship!

The author and media commentator Khaled Hroub believes that Christians, Muslims, Jews and followers of other religions can only live peacefully together in the Middle East if people in these countries stop looking at each other in terms of their faith and start treating everyone – without exception – as citizens with equal rightsMore

Interfaith dialogue in Palestine: Reviving a heritage of peaceful co-existence Arabs and Jews in Israel: You can't tear us apart On Raif Badawi, Charlie Hebdo and non-violent Islamism: "We are all in this together, like it or not"Interview with Hazem Saghieh: Beyond the authority of religion and the rule of family clans

Wedding Church in Kafr Kana (photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Interfaith dialogue in Palestine

Reviving a heritage of peaceful co-existence

In the village of Kafr Kana in Galilee, Mayor Mujahid Awawida wants to set an example and take a symbolic stand against IS terrorism and religious intolerance: he intends to construct a new complex that will house a mosque, a church and a park. Khaled Hroub has the detailsMore

Israeli-Palestinian relations: Dialogue in a time of conflict Israeli–Palestinian dialogue in Germany: It is possible to work together Interreligious dialogue in Morocco: Peaceful co-existence between divine religions

Photo montage of author Ahmed Saadawi and the Arabic edition of his book "Frankenstein in Baghdad" (photo: International Prize for Arabic Fiction)

International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2014: "Frankenstein in Baghdad"

Beyond good and evil

Ahmed Saadawi's novel "Frankenstein in Baghdad" has won the 2014 International Prize for Arabic Fiction. Khaled Hroub presents the bookMore

Youssef Ziedan's Novel ''Azazeel'': In Case of Doubt, Choose Doubt Interview with the Saudi-Arabian Writer Raja Alem: Elegy for a Lost Era Interview with the Saudi Arabian Writer Abdo Khal: The Discovery of Arabic Literature in the Gulf Arabic Booker Prize Awarded to Bahaa Taher: On the Threshold of the Modern Age

Hamdeen Sabahi (left) and Mohamed ElBaradei (photo: Reuters)

After the Coup in Egypt

A Dark Chapter in Egyptian Liberalism

The military's deposition of Egypt's elected president has been welcomed by the Muslim Brotherhood's liberal opponents. In this essay, Khaled Hroub explains why this is a historic errorMore

Power Struggle in Egypt: The Mubarak System in a New Guise Escalation of Violence in Egypt: The Desired Radicalisation of the Muslim Brotherhood Egypt after the Military Coup: Dead End Qantara dossier: Egypt

Demonstration against the anti-Islamic film in Peshawar, Pakistan, during which a US flag is set on fire (photo: Reuters)

Anti-Islamic Film Riots

A Culture of Religious Fanaticism

Responses to the inflammatory anti-Islamic film currently seen in Arab and Muslim nations are much worse than the film itself. These expressions of extremism are destroying all decency and civilised behaviour. A commentary by Khaled HroubMore

Protests against Mohammed film in the Arab World: Adding Grist to the Salafists' Mill Protests across the Muslim World: ''Deep mistrust towards the West''Escalating Conflict about Prophet Caricatures: Bomb in Turban

Syria's President Assad and generals of the Syrian army (photo: dpa)

The Political Legacy of the Baath Regime

Assad's Systematic Destruction of Syria

According to the writer Khaled Hroub, it's the Assad regime which carries the responsibility for the escalation of the violence in Syria: since the start of the initially peaceful revolution in the country, it is the regime which has driven the militarisation of the conflict. The regime has also split society along religious lines and destroyed the national structure of the countryMore

Abdullah Iskandar on the Damascus Bomb Attack: The Syrian Regime's Strategic Failure Uprising in Syria: Zero Hour Approaching for Syria Qantara.de Dossier: Uprisings in the Arab World

Latuff cartoon: Mubarak tries to censor Al Jazeera (image: Latauff/Wikipedia)

Al Jazeera and Qatar

Accessories of the Arab Spring

The Arab Spring, a true popular uprising against decades of corruption and repression, owed its astonishingly rapid spread not least to the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera, says media analyst Khaled HroubMore

Al Jazeera English Celebrates Its First Anniversary: An Internal Clash of the Civilisations?Al-Jazeera – The Enigma from Qatar

The Arab Islamists and Erdogan's Turkish Islam

Secularism as a Protector of Religion

On his latest visit to Cairo, Turkey's prime minister Erdogan had a message for supporters of political Islam – that state should not get involved in the religion of the people, and should maintain the same distance to all religions. A slap in the face for unreconstructed opponents of secularism, says Khaled HroubMore

José Casanova: ''Europe's Fear of Religion: Secularism on the Test-Bed Interview with Soheib Bencheikh: Islam and Secularism

Photo montage of Yusuf al-Qaradawi and the Al Jazeera symbol (sources: AP/dpa/DW)

Yusuf al-Qaradawi and Minorities

Learned Intolerance

With his hostility towards religious minorities in the Islamic world and his wholesale dismissal of Muslim life in Europe, the Islamic scholar and television preacher Yusuf al-Qaradawi is damaging dialogue and interreligious communication. A commentary by Khaled HroubMore

Author: Khaled Hroub

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