Lebanon
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Tattoo trends from Beirut to Baghdad
In the spirit of rebellion
For some it's about following a trend; for others, tattoos are a symbol of their faith, but whatever the reason, the fashion for stylish tattoos is fuelling a growing subculture across the Arab world. By Mey Dudin
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Recycle Beirut and Lebanon′s rubbish crisis
Green awakenings
With Lebanon's rubbish crisis in its second year, ordinary citizens are taking the problem of the ever-growing piles of trash into their own hands. This shift in consciousness represents a new reality for the government. By Alice Kohn in Beirut
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Interview with the Lebanese media artist Rabih Mroué
"Images until victory?"
Is it possible to do a real revolution via digital media? Katerina Valdivia Bruch spoke to the Lebanese artist Rabih Mroué about his lecture performance "The Pixelated Revolution", which focuses on information transfer and the treatment and the power of images in the digital era
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Book review: Hilal Chouman′s ″Limbo Beirut″
Hybrid lives
″Limbo Beirut″ is Hilal Chouman′s third novel, but his first to cross over into English. Beautifully translated by Anna Ziajka Stanton, this illustrated novel is a five-part portrait of interconnected lives, written in markedly different styles. Marcia Lynx Qualey read the book
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Liberalism in the Arab world
Merely treading water
Arab liberal thinkers are seemingly unable to come up with realistic solutions to the ongoing socio-political crises and armed conflicts in the Arab world. An essay by the Lebanese journalist and writer Karam Hilou
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Syrian literature in times of turmoil
An author on standby
The Arab revolutions – and the Syrian revolution in particular – changed authors conception of themselves. For some, the change was so great that they find they can no longer write. This is the experience of Dima Wannous, one of Syria′s outstanding young authors
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Musician Tamer Abu Ghazaleh
The beauty of rebellion
The Palestinian oud player, singer, poet and composer Tamer Abu is one of the busiest people on the Arab alternative scene. Based in Cairo, Ghazaleh runs his own network for independent music, a music agency and a music label. He is also founder of an Arab music magazine and has just released his third album "Thulth". By Stefan Franzen
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Morgenland Festival Osnabruck 2016
From the Balkans to the Levant
The so-called ″Morgenland Campus″, one of the new formats of this year's festival in Osnabruck, opened a week of intensive encounters between young musicians and world stars. Sara-Duana Meyer took a closer look
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Civil rights in Lebanon
″Reclaiming Beirut′s public space″
In June this year, Beirut′s largest green space, Horsh Beirut, re-opened to the public after an extended period of closure. Thanks to a strong campaign led by the NGO Nahnoo, citizens are once more able to enjoy strolling under the pines. By Changiz M. Varzi
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Stop Lebanon′s illegal animal trade
Poor government, economic recession, cultural norms: all factors that have turned Lebanese zoos into hotbeds of illegal animal trading. An animal rights organisation is now campaigning to stop lions being sold off as pets. By Martin Jay
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Solving the conflicts in the Middle East
Tracing the fault lines
Simmering for decades beneath the surface of autocratic repression, conflicts such as the Sunni uprisings in Syria and Iraq, Shia unrest in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, not to mention the rancour of the Kurds and Palestinians, are ongoing. The West is partly to blame. By Ishac Diwan
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Western involvement in the Middle East
A rotten legacy
Whatever else they were guilty of, the two authors of the invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, George Bush and Tony Blair, displayed an astonishing ignorance of history. By Roger Hardy