Qantara.de - Dialog mit der islamischen Welt

The question of whether religious texts are interpreted in a tolerant or a hostile way is closely tied to the historical context in which the interpretation takes place. The responsibility for terrorism lies first and foremost with people and not with the religious texts themselves, says Assem Hefny, a lecturer at Al-Azhar UniversityMore

The murder of well-known Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi highlights the difficulties facing media in post-revolutionary Arab states. The freedoms temporarily gained after 2011 have long since fallen victim to the authoritarian restoration. By Loay MudhoonMore

Delving into Peter Heine's cookbook, now also available in English, you are left with the feeling that he bit off more than he could chew. "The Culinary Crescent" reads like a mishmash of a thousand and one culinary arts. By Marcia Lynx QualeyMore

In Ziad Doueiri’s "The Insult", a Lebanese Christian and a Palestinian foreman in Beirut have an argument that lands them in court, and ultimately triggers civil war-like clashes between the two ethnic groups. By Schayan RiazMore

Reinhard Kleist is regarded as one of Germany’s finest graphic-novel illustrators and has travelled the Arab world extensively, discovering a fascinating local comics sceneMore

Syrian historian Nasser Rabbat argues that the Arab Spring resulted mainly from social imbalance and the misery of large sections of the population within the Arab world. Moreover, as long as economic inequality persists, these states will continue to be plagued by instabilityMore

A lack of jobs and bleak social prospects for young people in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are undermining the political stability of what is already a deeply troubled region. The problem cannot be solved by simply modernising education and labour markets. By Nassir DjafariMore