Maghreb
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Jihadist terrorism in Tunisia
The tragic fate of shepherd boy Mabrouk Soltani
"It′s the first time in the history of Tunisia that the head of a corpse sat in a refrigerator overnight, while the rest of the body lay in the mountains." Uttering these few words Mohammad Soltani informed camera teams about the tragic fate of his brother Mabrouk Soltani. By Iman Hajji
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Prostitution in Tunisia
The big reveal
An art project exposes just how much the state controls sex workers in Tunisia. Such women not only have their freedom of movement restricted, they also face social isolation. Several brothels have been closed down since the Jasmine revolution. A report by Christina Omlin
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Obituary: Fatima Mernissi
Icon of Arab feminism
The world famous Moroccan sociologist and writer Fatima Mernissi was a mediator between cultures and a charismatic advocate for a genuine Arab feminism. She died on 30 November 2015 at the age of 75
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The French crime writer Karim Miske in interview
″There are no simple solutions″
In the wake of the Paris attacks, the question is how such an outbreak of hate and violence could have happened in France. French crime novelist Karim Miske described life in the desolate banlieues of Paris in his novel ″Arab Jazz″. In interview with Claudia Mende he advises against simplistic answers and talks about the difficulties French society has in accepting its immigrants, who feel more French than Arab
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Interview with the Islam expert Olivier Roy
European Islam: destined to be ignored
The links between Europe and the Maghreb are stronger than many would like to believe. Politicians on both sides of the Mediterranean, in particular, are ignoring the emergence of a specifically European brand of Islam, says the French political scientist and Islamic studies expert Olivier Roy. The interview was conducted by Federica Zoja
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The West and the Islamic world
The despotic temptation
Unable to contain the violence, suffering, and chaos engulfing the Middle East and North Africa, Western leaders are falling back into the Cold War trap. All they want is for someone – and now virtually anyone – to enforce order. By Ana Palacio
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Post-Arabellion reform deadlock
The logic of power
The Arab world is locked into a huge cycle of violence. At the same time, reformers are isolated - both within the regimes and outside them. Those who advocate violence, on the other hand, sense momentum and are growing in number. And they are convinced that the future will be a violent one. An essay by the Kuwaiti political scientist Shafeeq Ghabra
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Navid Kermani on Christianity
The awe of a loving unbeliever
With his book "Ungläubiges Staunen" (literally "unbelieving awe", as yet unavailable in English), Navid Kermani delivers a fascinating reflection on Christian art and religion. The German-Iranian writer looks at Christianity with a curiosity and an earnestness that has become rare among Christians themselves. Ulrich von Schwerin read the book
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Arabic Europe
The writers fated to "represent"
There is a common expectation that writers with non-European origins will supply a literary representation of their birth culture. But many of them find themselves adrift between two cultural entities. Is it merely a question of focusing on one at the expense of the other? Marcia Lynx Qualey met the "Arabic Europe" authors featured at this year's Shubbak Festival in London
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Volker Perthes: "The end of the Middle East, as we know it"
The end of Sykes-Picot?
Almost a century ago, France and Britain carved up large swathes of the Middle East between them. Now the order imposed by the Sykes-Picot Agreement in 1916 appears to be disintegrating. In his new essay, Volker Perthes outlines the reasons for this development and suggests potential scenarios for the region. A review by Anne Allmeling
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Political rule before and after the ″Arabellion″
Internal colonialism and counter-revolution
When an elite ruling class controls state institutions and resources and uses them for its own benefit, this can be called ″internal colonialism″. Such systems exist in their worst form in the Arab world. The Syrian author Louay Safi believes, however, that all signs indicate that the Arab peoples will rid themselves of this colonialism and that the repressive military regimes will be smothered by their own crimes and corruption
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The Arab view of the European refugee crisis
Ludicrous squabbling
Syria’s Middle Eastern neighbours have to date absorbed four million Syrian refugees. For this reason the EU should make it plain that despite images of train stations full of refugees, Europe is only shouldering a relatively small part of the current burden. A contribution to the debate by Karim El-Gawhary