Palestine

Country: Palestine

Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum (photo: Imago Images/ZUMA/S. Chung)

An Arab reading of the Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum

Tea with the bogeyman

Contemporary artist Mona Hatoum is one of those figures whose presence in western capitals stimulates much attention and critical writing, while her exhibitions in Arab cities like Amman or Doha don’t seem to generate more than a few lines in the culture and entertainment sections. Yazan Loujami explores why this is soMore

Traditional Palestinian "tatreez": Sewing with a message Photo essay: Embroidering for emancipation in Palestine Interview with Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour: Covert war

Book review: Sherko Fatah's "Schwarzer September"

Dirty war

In his new novel, award-winning author Sherko Fatah delves deep into the history of the 1970s Palestinian terror movement "Black September" – a thrilling tale of special agents which boasts no heroes or victors and is indisputably relevant to our times. By Volker KaminskiMore

A portrait of Sherko Fatah: Reality is an adventure Sherko Fatah: "The Dark Ship": Man, a shard in the sand Interview with Vénus Khoury-Ghata: Bidding farewell to Arabic

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

Portrait photo of the Palestinian-American cultural critic Edward Said taken in 1999 (photo: picture-alliance/akg)

Father of post-colonial studies

Edward Said – exiled between cultures

When people think of Edward Said, the first thing that generally comes to mind is his criticism of Orientalism. As a result, the theme of exile – which played no less significant a role in Said's writing and life – is often overlooked. By Tarek AzizehMore

Essay by Adania Shibli: Recalling Edward Said's thought today Edward Said's "Orientalism" in Arab discourse: Instrumentalised on all sides Western involvement in the Middle East: A rotten legacy

Palestinian author Ibtisam Azem (photo: private)

Book review: Ibtisam Azem's "The Book of Disappearance"

We woke to find them gone

In her latest novel, "The Book of Disappearance", Palestinian author Ibtisam Azem strikes a nerve with a fantastical tale that simultaneously fascinates and moves the reader, presenting the moral drift that can set in when people are confronted with the insoluble. Marcia Lynx Qualey read the bookMore

Interview with Palestinian American writer Susan Abulhawa: ″Literature is a facet of society″Sinan Antoon′s ″The Baghdad Eucharist″: Fading under fire Jenin's Freedom Theatre celebrates 10 years: What′s next for ″cultural resistance″?

Author Nathan Englander (photo: Getty Images)

Nathan Englander’s novel "Dinner at the centre of the earth"

Caught in limbo

Nathan Englander, an author of novels and short stories and a man who knows Israel very well, has written a fast-paced spy novel in which lovesick spies, dubious businesspeople and a virtually immortal general in a coma fail to bring about a workable solution for peace in the Israel-Palestine conflict. By Volker KaminskiMore

Palestine and its Arabic neighbours: Gaza – a city no one wants "The Blue Between Sky and Water" by Susan Abulhawa: Love and suffering in Gaza Book review: "The Drone Eats with Me" by Atef Abu Saif: A war without distinct edges

A bunker is seen in the Golan Heights, in territory that Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war (photo: Reuters/R. Zvulun)

Scars on Middle East landscape bear witness to past peace failures

As the first phase of President Donald Trumpʹs peace plan gets underway, talk of Middle East peace is in the air again. Bearing witness to the difficulty of the task are the scars left by wars past across the landscape of Israel, the Palestinian Territories and the Golan Heights. More...More

Interview with think tank veterans Yossi Alpher and Ghassan Khatib: "The Oslo peace process approach is over"Oslo I 25 years on: Israelis and Palestinians lament the deadlock When blackmail becomes policy: For ʹPalestinian peace processʹ read ʹIran war processʹ USA cancels aid to Palestinian aid agency UNRWA: Washington's penchant for moving the goalposts

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

U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu display the proclamation recognising Israel's sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights at the White House on 25 March 2019 (photo: picture-alliance/Photoshot/Ting Shen)

When blackmail becomes policy

For ʹPalestinian peace processʹ read ʹIran war processʹ

The success of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process model is there for all to borrow and copy. Create a regional ʹprocessʹ sponsored or led by the U.S. and attach to it ʹpeaceʹ, ʹwarʹ, or any other temptingly big carrot, then woo and blackmail the desperate parties you are targeting by turns. Essay by Khaled HroubMore

U.S. policy on Iran: Middle East nightmare – made in Washington Geopolitics in the Middle East: End the Arab-Iranian tug-of-war U.S. de-certifies Iran nuclear deal: Madmen at the helm

Israeli artist Adi Liraz (photo: Ceyda Nurtsch)

Portrait of the Israeli performance artist Adi Liraz

Provocation as a search for identity

Berlin-based Israeli artist Adi Liraz works the history and stories of the women in her family into her fabric artworks, re-telling them for posterity. In the process, she challenges existing narratives about home, femininity and identity. By Ceyda NurtschMore

Traditional Palestinian "tatreez": Sewing with a message Interview with the Israeli artist Guy Briller: The Jerulin process Book review: Uri Shani's "Nemashim" theatre project: Creating a level playing field

Author and playright Sasha Marianna Salzmann (photo: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Dedert)

Interview with playwright and novelist Sasha Marianna Salzmann

The trap of the century

Shortlisted for the 2017 German Book Prize with her debut novel "Ausser Sich", playwright and novelist Sasha-Marianna Salzmann discusses the sense of flux – in language, gender and in nations – that dominates contemporary existence and how the past continues to live on. Interview by Noha AbdelrassoulMore

German-Turkish author Emine Sevgi Ozdamar: A literary maverick The integration game: A German-Syrianʹs trip to the hairdresser Transgender rights: Pakistan's Hijra hold their heads high

Opening of the African community centre in Jerusalem in 1996 attended by the author (photo: private)

Country: Palestine

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