Mashriq

Country: Mashriq

Lebanese director Rabih Mroué (source: YouTube)

Interview with Lebanese director Rabih Mroué

"First, they all have to go. And all means all"

The Lebanese director Rabih Mroué explains why a tax on WhatsApp led to an outbreak of mass protests in his country. And also why the government has until now refrained from using force. Rabih Mroue talked to Till BrieglebMore

Interview with the Lebanese media artist Rabih Mroué: "Images until victory?"Middle East: Lebanon's protesters are here to stay Book review: Mazen Kerbaj′s ″Beirut won′t cry″: ″Bombs pass and we bark″

Palestinian studies the Koran in Khan Younis (photo: dpa/picture-alliance)

The Prophet and Sharia

Islamic family law reform – a question of interpretation

Equality in divorce, a ban on polygamy: reformers of Islamic family law have a clear agenda. They are exploiting the ambiguity of traditional jurisprudence. By Joseph CroitoruMore

Marriage, divorce and inheritance: Who should reform Egypt's personal status law, and how?Women's rights in Morocco: Gender equality on paper only Book review: Zahra Ali's "Islamic Feminisms": Female emancipation based on the spirit of Sharia

Lebanese author Amin Maalouf (photo: Imago Images/IPA/N. Zonna)

Interview with Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf

Petrodollars proved stronger in the Middle East than cultural tradition

Decades of oil exports have completely destabilised culture and politics in the Middle East. Speaking with Lena Bopp, the renowned writer Amin Maalouf says that the distorted political discourse in the Arab world is now impacting on the WestMore

Amin Maalouf: "The dissolution of world orders": The psychology of large collectives Amin Maalouf: A tree needs roots; a human being doesn't Oil and development in the Middle East: A two-edged sword

Moroccan political scientist Hassan Aourid (photo: private)

Interview with the Moroccan thinker Hassan Aourid

Democracy cannot be stopped

Hassan Aourid is one of the most important political and intellectual figures in Morocco. In interview with Ismail Azzam for Qantara, Aourid outlines his vision of the decline of political Islam and the future of democracy and human rights in the MaghrebMore

Indigenous rights in the Maghreb: An uphill struggle for Tunisiaʹs Amazigh Morocco′s Amazigh: The long road to recognition Unrest in the Arab world: The genie is out of the bottle

Hamid Dabashi, professor at Columbia University, New York (photo: hamiddabashi.com)

Interview with Hamid Dabashi

Europe’s coloniality persists after the fall of empire

An interview with the Iranian-American historian and cultural philosopher Hamid Dabashi about writing, Europe's past and present, right-wing populism and the Arab uprisings. By Tugrul MendeMore

Interview with Hamid Dabashi: ''Another people now Is re-defining the Idea of democracy''Iran and Saudi Arabia: A plea for Islamic tolerance Father of post-colonial studies: Edward Said – exiled between cultures

Anti-government protests

Is this Iraq's Arab Spring?

Iraq is currently facing such an alarming array of economic, political and social problems that many observers fear no-one will be up to the task of delivering the much-needed reforms. By Stasa SalacaninMore

Unrest in the Arab world: The genie is out of the bottle Protesting for reform and an end to corruption: Iraq's youth reject the dire status quo The Iraq War fifteen years on: "America destroyed my country"

Demonstrators protest against Hariri and the Lebanese government in Beirut (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

Middle East

Lebanon's protesters are here to stay

Demonstrators in Lebanon have been taking to the streets for days demanding the resignation of the government. So far, the government has offered little to pacify the people. How long can this go on? Diana Hodali reportsMore

Political crisis in Lebanon: Time is running out for Saad Hariri Lebanon protesters block roads to keep revolt alive Lebanonʹs rubbish crisis and youth protests: "If not us, then who?"

Journalist and author Charlotte Wiedemann (photo: DW)

Charlotte Wiedemann: "Now is the time for utopias"

The end of white dominance

In her latest book – "Der lange Abschied von der weissen Dominanz" – recently published in German, journalist Charlotte Wiedemann describes the upheaval in our changing, multi-polar world with startling clarity. By Christopher ReschMore

Western news coverage: The white perspective Germanyʹs Islam debate: The need to meet Islam critics head on Interview with Islamic scholar Stefan Weidner: Thinking outside the Western box

Anti-government protests in Lebanon (photo: picture-alliance/AP)

Political crisis in Lebanon

Time is running out for Saad Hariri

In Lebanon, protests continue against the government. Prime Minister Saad Hariri has already lost a coalition partner. His power appears to be eroding. Diana Hodali reports from BeirutMore

Lebanon's Hariri agrees reforms amid nationwide protests over economic crisis Social inequality in the Arab world: There is no state in Lebanon Lebanonʹs rubbish crisis and youth protests: "If not us, then who?"

Tomb of the Persion poet Hafez in Shiraz, Iran (source: Wikimedia)

Book review: Stefan Weidner's ʺ1001 Books. The Literatures of the Orientʺ

The Middle East – a rich vein of world literature

Recently published in German, Stefan Weidner's new book issues an invitation to all those who would like to be better acquainted with the literature of the Middle East – a profoundly fascinating journey through the works of Arab, Persian and Turkish authors. By Gerrit WustmannMore

Goethe anniversary: Orient and Occident Goethe and the Orient: Why did the poet's mind wander to far-off climes?Translations of classical Islamic literature: From the emotional Orient to the distortion of Islam

Symbolic image of anti-Muslim racism (photo: Imago/P. Endig)

An enduring stereotype

The West's gleeful obsession with the 'oppressed Arab woman'

The stereotype of the oppressed Arab woman continues to dominate public discourse throughout Europe. Not only is this skewed image altering the perception of changing notions of family and roles within the Arab world, it is also an expression of our own cultural insecurity, writes Claudia MendeMore

Women′s rights in the Arab world: The key to change Women in Turkey: The headscarf is slipping Gender equality in the Middle East: To the benefit of all

First edition of the West-Eastern Divan (photo: Goethe Museum in Dusseldorf

Goethe anniversary

Orient and Occident

Two hundred years of the "West-Eastern Divan": "North and West and South shatter, thrones burst and empires tremble" – why Islam is part of German literature. By Heinrich DeteringMore

Goethe and the Orient: Why did the , true to the writer's motto of "Crush infamy!", , true to the writer's motto of "Crush infamy!", poet's mind wander to far-off climes?Translations of classical Islamic literature: From the emotional Orient to the distortion of Islam Johann Gottfried Herder and the Orient: Faith as silent spirituality

Great guys, one and all? Front row, from left to right: Zine el-Abidine Ben-Ali next to Ali Abdullah Saleh, Muammar Gaddafi and Hosni Mubarak (photo: dpa)

Revenge is not the answer!

Prosecuting tyranny in the Arab world

In the wake of the Arab Spring, not one Arab dictator has faced charges for creating a police state and inducing terror among citizens. Similarly, none has been prosecuted for destroying state institutions, the essentials of citizenship, or the means of social advancement. Analysis by Shafiq Nazim GhabraMore

Tyranny in the Islamic world: Keeping the tribe alive The decline of humanism in the Arab world: With an iron fist Military dictatorships in the Middle East: The real enemies of the Arab Spring

ABAAD demonstration at the Beirut International Marathon (photo: ABAAD)

Women's rights in Lebanon

Campaign exposes "victim-blaming" attitudes to rape

Most abusive and discriminatory acts against women and girls in Lebanon are the direct result of unequal treatment of men and women within the Lebanese law and the influence of a patriarchal society that thrives on the control and oppression of women. By Narod HaroutunianMore

Women′s rights in the Arab world : No house room for criminals Domestic violence against women in Lebanon: Protection, yes, but not enough Human rights in Lebanon: Kafala and its ʹcommoditiesʹ

Grace 1, the tanker seized in early July by British Royal Marines off the coast of Gibraltar (photo: Reuters/J. Nazca)

Europe's policies in the Middle East

Late-colonial convulsions

The UK has stopped an Iranian tanker in Gibraltar. Italy and France are supporting opposing parties at war in Libya. Germany has other priorities. Europe is doing almost exactly what it did 100 years ago. An essay by Stefan BuchenMore

Western involvement in the Middle East: A rotten legacy The crisis of the Arab nation state: Reconstructed reality 100 years of Sykes-Picot: "A tapestry of plans and promises"The end of Sykes-Picot?: "The end of the Middle East, as we know it"Sykes-Picot and the role of Gertrude Bell: Midwife of the Middle East

Since Trumpʹs Iran embargo only a few Iranian pilgrims visit the Iraqi city of Najaf (photo: DW/Judit Neurink)

Economic crisis in Iraq

Trump's Iran embargo impacts Iraqis

As a result of U.S. sanctions, Iranians can no longer afford the yearly pilgrimage to Iraq's Shia shrines. The holy city of Najaf is bearing the economic brunt. By Judit NeurinkMore

U.S.A and Iran: Trump – agent provocateur U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic: Playing poker with Iran Inflation in Iran could reach 40 percent this year as economy shrinks further

Country: Mashriq

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