Maghreb

Country: Maghreb

Refugees scale Melilla border fence (photo: picture-alliance/AP Photo/S. Palacios)

Migrating across the Mediterranean

Escape at all costs

For a while, things had quietened down around Spain. Neither Ceuta and Melilla nor mainland Spain were hitting the headlines with fresh streams of refugees arriving there. Yet that could all be about to change. By Susanne KaiserMore

African asylum seekers in Melilla: A loser's game Book review: ″Refugees Worldwide: Literary Reportage″: Hierarchies of the destitute Book review: ″Auf der Flucht″ by Karim El Gawhary and Mathilde Schwabeneder: Born in the wrong place:

Arabic childrenʹs books on display at the Arabic Childrenʹs Literature Festival in Munich (source: The International Youth Library)

Germanyʹs Arabic Childrenʹs Literature Festival

Karimʹs adventures

The Arabic Childrenʹs Literature Festival held recently in Munich presented a selection of recommended childrenʹs books in Arabic. The catalogue is one of the early outcomes of a three-year project run by the International Youth Library, with the aim of bringing as yet unknown Arabic childrenʹs books to Germany. By Claudia MendeMore

The Hakawati bookshop for children and young people in Amman: Huge appetite for exciting stories German-Arabic children′s books: ″Einfach Lesen!″ – Just read!Islamic children's books: Integration through early reading

Ansar al-Din Islamists in Mali (photo: AP)

Radical Islamism

Negotiating with jihadists?

In Asia and Africa, Muslim terrorists are regarded as combatants with concerns that should be taken seriously. Experts advise dialogue in lieu of extermination. By Charlotte WiedemannMore

Interview with Washington Post correspondent Souad Mekhennet: Speaks with jihadists Islamist ideology debunked: Getting past the abuse Islamists in Africa: The ever-present threat

Muslim feminist Asma Lamrabet (photo: asma-lamrabet.com)

Islamic inheritance law in Morocco and Tunisia

Feminist Asma Lamrabet under pressure

Conservatives in Morocco have forced the Islamic feminist Asma Lamrabet to relinquish her post at the Centre d'Etudes Feminines en Islam in Rabat. A debate on discrimination against women in Islamic inheritance law sparked the conflict, fuelled in part by a draft amendment in Tunisia that would institute an egalitarian law of inheritance there. By Claudia MendeMore

Islamic feminism in Morocco: "We have to re-appropriate the source texts"Moroccan feminism: Emancipation with the Koran?Qantrara dossier: Feminism in Islam

Barbed wire in front of the container terminal in the port of Hamburg, Germany (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

EU and the Maghreb

Fair trade for a level playing field

To mitigate the root causes of flight and migration, Germanyʹs federal government is contemplating fair-trade agreements with refugee countries of origin. The North African experience shows this will require a re-think of EU policy. By Nassir DjafariMore

Europe and Algeria: The trust deficit Tunisia and the EU: Bolster the young democracy!Social unrest in Tunisia: You′re on your own

Journalist Souad Mekhennet (photo: imago/Muller-Stauffenberg)

Interview with Washington Post correspondent Souad Mekhennet

Speaks with jihadists

German-born Mekhennet has focused her investigative career on diving into militant Islamist networks. She spoke to Sabine Kieselbach about her job's dangers and why it is important to speak to jihadistsMore

Interview with the social scientist Edit Schlaffer: Mothers Schools challenge extremism Islamist ideology debunked: Getting past the abuse Anti-radicalisation strategies in Egypt: Sheikhs on the beat

Social unrest in Algiers at the beginning of January (photo: Reuters)

Social unrest in Algeria

Cranking up the pressure

For months now, Algeria's education and health system has been crippled by a wave of strikes. But despite vehement protests against the government's labour and social policies, it is categorically refusing to make any concessions to the strikers. By Sofian Philip NaceurMore

Algeria′s disillusioned majority: Desperately seeking voters Unrest in Algeria: Shaking the social foundations Europe and Algeria: The trust deficit

Algerian flag bearing the likeness of President Bouteflika in Algiers (photo: Reuters)

Europe and Algeria

The trust deficit

The European Union is keen to enhance co-operation with Algeria, but the North African nation, apparently wary of post-colonial meddling, is showing little interest. For political analyst Isabel Schafer the case is not that simpleMore

Algeria′s disillusioned majority: Desperately seeking voters Migration pact with Africa: The EU′s paper tiger Europe′s response to the refugee crisis: "Ugly, feckless and dysfunctional"

Demonstrations and protests against price hikes on 12.01.2018 in Tunis (photo: picture-alliance/abaca/Y. Gaidi)

Lessons from the unrest in Tunisia

Free in name only

Although the protests in Tunisia are gradually dying down, the country′s political class still finds itself confronted with dissatisfaction from large sections of the population. Alongside political freedoms, the government now also needs to keep the social promises of 2011, says Tunisian journalist Ismael DbaraMore

Social unrest in Tunisia: You′re on your own Protests rock Tunisia: A winter of discontent Post-revolution transformation in Egypt and Tunisia: Let them eat cake!

Friedrich Ebert Foundation publishes MENA youth study

The optimism of youth

A study by Germany's Friedrich Ebert Foundation shows that young people from Arabic-speaking countries have an optimistic outlook on life, but little faith in politics. Christoph Hasselbach spoke to the study's co-editor for more insightMore

Friedrich Ebert Foundation's MENA youth study Muslim life in Germany: Integration beats segregation Book review: Fethi Benslama's book on the radicalisation of young Muslims: Islamic civilisation and its discontents

Die Proteste im Winter 2010/2011 führten zum Sturz von Machthaber Zine El Abidine Ben Ali; Foto: Imago/Kyodo News

Non-fiction: Safwan M. Masri′s ″Tunisia – An Arab anomaly″

A history of intellectual excellence

Tunisia stands out as the only democracy among Arab countries. Why it has managed the transformation from autocratic rule after the Arab Spring has deep roots that go back centuries, argues Safwan M. Masri. Hans Dembowski read the bookMore

Tunisia seven years after the Arab Spring: Facing an uncertain future Interview with Hélé Béji: "Ennahda has an unbelievable capacity to adjust"Authoritarian rule in the Arab world: Fear of change

The "Strengthening Structures" workshop at the Goethe-Institut Cairo (photo: Roger Anis/Goethe-Institut Cairo)

Goethe-Institut education initiatives in the MENA region

Getting behind civil society

News from the Middle East and North Africa often conveys the image of a troubled region characterised by political and economic volatility. But there are many more facets to life in this region than this image suggests, as shown by the projects the Goethe-Institut is running in the region. By Christina BünsMore

"Wiki Gender": The first Arabic online lexicon for gender issues The ''Tahrir Lounge'' in Cairo: Grassroots Democracy Resolving the crisis in Libya: Another fine mess

Square coins dating from the Almohad era (source: Raseef 22)

The Islamic reformer Ibn Tumart

The man who changed the course of Islamic history

Ibn Tumart is considered the spiritual founder of the Berber dynasty of the Almohads in the twelfth century. His once revolutionary ideas sent shockwaves through the entire Arab world, ultimately resulting in violent tensions. By Mohamed YosriMore

The decline of Islamic scientific thought: Don't blame it on al-Ghazali Averroes' Enlightenment legacy: An intellectual earthquake Qantara dossier: History of Islam

A woman looks at a map at the exhibition "Jews, Christians and Muslims: Scientific Discourse in the Middle Ages, 500–1500" (photo: dpa)

Exhibition: "Jews, Christians and Muslims" in Berlin

Dispelling myths

The Berlin exhibition "Jews, Christians and Muslims: Scientific Discourse in the Middle Ages 500–1500" shows the circuitous routes by which knowledge made its way around the medieval world while dismantling the theory of a Judeo-Christian Europe. By Gustav Seibt More

Exhibition website: Jews, Christians and Muslims: Scientific Discourse in the Middle Ages, 500–1500 Photo gallery on the exhibition: Jews, Christians and Muslims: Scientific Discourse in the Middle Ages, 500–1500 Averroes' Enlightenment legacy: An intellectual earthquake

Still from "Paradises of the Earth: Gabes" (source: http://www.paradisesoftheearth.com)

Documentary series: "Paradises of the earth"

The time is now

Nadir Bouhmouch, director of the ground-breaking web documentary series ″Paradises of the earth″, talks about the inception of the project and the urgency of telling North African stories More

Official "Paradises of the Earth" website Climate change and the West′s energy policy: Robbing the poor Climate change consequences for the Islamic world: Of infernal proportions Islam, environment and sustainability: "The environmental crisis is also a spiritual crisis"

Mauritanian human rights activist Biram Dah Abeid (photo: dpa/picture-alliance)

Interview with Mauritanian human rights activist Biram Dah Abeid

"Time to end Arab racism"

Today in Mauritania, children are still being born into slavery. Not only that, they will remain slaves for the rest of their lives. It is the most prevalent and most extreme expression of Arab racism in North Africa, says human rights activist Biram Dah Abeid and it is time to consign it to the past. By Claudia MendeMore

Official "Global Slavery Index" website Islam and Sharia in Africa: More than just slavery Tidiane N'Diaye's "The Veiled Genocide": Selective theses on the Arab slave trade

Country: Maghreb

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