Lebanon
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Iran′s ″Holy Defence″
Dulce et decorum est...
Iran has many museums dedicated to its rich history. Nevertheless, those places that focus on events during which Iranians and other prominent 'Defenders of Islam' lost their lives, enjoy special status. By Philipp Breu
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Jazz in the Arab world
The roots of fusion
Few people realise that American jazz has had a lasting impact on musical culture throughout the Arab world, laying the foundations for subsequent ground-breaking oriental fusion projects. By Amani Emad
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Authoritarian rule in the Arab world
Fear of change
Given their poor records in so many areas, how is it that authoritarian regimes in the Arab world manage to cling so successfully to power? In this essay, Amr Hamzawy examines how the ruling elites in the countries of the Arab spring use a mixture of oppression and fear of chaos and disorder to nip any demands for democratic change in the bud
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Book review: Mazen Kerbaj′s ″Beirut won′t cry″
″Bombs pass and we bark″
Eleven years ago, Mazen Kerbaj wrote and drew his newly published ″Beirut Won′t Cry″ in an existential and creative flurry that began on 14 July and ended on 27 August 2006. The first entry in this six-week memoir is headlined ″Bang? Blog!″ If the ″bang″ was the question, says Marcia Lynx Qualey, then this blog-to-book was Kerbaj′s answer
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Interview with Lebanese poet Zeina Hashem Beck
Our broken languages
Lebanese poet Zeina Hashem Beck talks to Marcia Lynx Qualey about her work in the spaces between languages, communities and political factions. She writes in English, yet her poetry is so infused with Arabic that it becomes its own, liminal language
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Book review: Iman Humaydan′s ″The Weight of Paradise″
Suppressed guilt, suppressed memories
In ″The Weight of Paradise″, the Lebanese writer Iman Humaydan, born in 1956, gives us a layered depiction of the individual and collective traces left on her country by the civil war. By Claudia Kramatschek
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Interview with Masaa frontman Rabih Lahoud
Outspoken appeal
Masaa's blend of free-spirited instrumental quartet and outstanding male voice makes their sound arguably the most accomplished fusion of Jazz and Arab tonal colouring currently to be found in Germany. On their third album ″Outspoken″ the four musicians demonstrate their mature mastery of their craft. Stefan Franzen talked to singer Rabih Lahoud
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Women′s rights in the Arab world
No house room for criminals
Many Arab countries have laws that grant offenders immunity from prosecution if they marry the woman they have raped. While Jordan has taken the first steps to change this controversial legal situation, Lebanon looks likely to follow suit. By Dunja Ramadan
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Album review: Neotolia′s ″Neotolian Song″
Once upon a life
While many albums have explored the space where American jazz meets Eastern music, the latest recording from Boston-based Neotolia on Interrobang Records, ″Neotolian Song″, has achieved a fusion that expands to encompass the rest of the world. Review by Richard Marcus
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Interview with the Lebanese journalist Hazem Saghieh
More lapdog than watchdog
Rather than acting as a counterweight to the ruling class, the press across the Arab world serves the interests of oligarchs, despots and governments, says Hazem Saghieh. In interview with Kai Schnier, the Lebanese author and journalist explains why he censors himself and why he believes that journalism from Rabat to Riyadh will never be a catalyst for political change
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Mahmoud Hosny on Salim Barakat
What English is missing
Swedish translator Jonathan Moren recently asked how it was possible that Syrian writer Salim Barakat – praised by such towering literary figures as Mahmoud Darwish and Adonis – has not yet been translated into English. Here, Egyptian author and critic Mahmoud Hosny explains what a language loses by not embracing the creative vision of Salim Barakat
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Lebanon: Colours of unity in a divided city
For years synonymous with for sectarianism, a fifteen-year-long civil war, car bombings and suicide attacks, Beirut is slowly undergoing a transformation. Where once militias on either side of the Green Line used graffiti to mark their territory, a group of artists is adding new colour to the streets of the Lebanese capital. Despite the many images highlighting Lebanon′s current political and social dilemmas, there is one overriding message: unity and peace. By Changiz M. Varzi