'Islamic State' | IS | Qantara.de - Dialogue with the Islamic World

Topic: 'Islamic State' | IS

The Umayyad Mosque in Damascus (photo: Issam Hajjar)

The "Syrian Heritage Archive Project"

Syria's cultural landscape lives on – in Berlin

Countless cultural assets were destroyed by the Syrian Civil War. The Syrian Heritage Archive Project in Berlin contributes to preserving their memory with an exhibition showing what has been lost – and what remains. By Christina KufnerMore

"Syrien – ein Land ohne Krieg": Syria, as it once was Aleppo soap: Balsam from a war zone Reconstruction of Aleppo: ″Others destroy and we rebuild″

A boy stands in a line of niqab-wearing women near Baghouz, Syria, 05.03.2019 (photo: Reuters/R. Said)

Slaves of Islamic State

The fight to find the missing Yazidis

Islamic State is fighting its endgame with Yazidis waiting anxiously. Angered by Iraqi government silence following reports that IS killed 50 of their women, they are pushing for real action to find 3,000 of their own. By Judit NeurinkMore

Nadia Murad: One woman's fight against Islamic State Dunya Mikhailʹs "The Beekeeper": Rescuing the stolen women The abduction of women by IS: Traded like cattle

Militia supporter in Syria burns an IS flag in Raqqa (photo: picture-alliance/AP/dpa)

The end of the "Islamic State"

Entering a new chapter in Syria

The appeal and the peculiarity of Islamic State always lay in its claim that it already existed as such, not that it was a work in progress. But the capture of the last IS bastion on the Euphrates must now represent the final nail in the coffin for the jihadistsʹ state-building project. By Ulrich von SchwerinMore

The Kurdish YPG and the future of northeastern Syria: Assad smiles from the sidelines White House: Trump, Erdogan seeking 'negotiated solution' on Syria Trump’s Syria withdrawal: A chance for peace?

Michael Blume and Zehra Tayanc (photo: Rahel Taubert)

One interfaith couple's story

Our three weddings – civil, Muslim, and Christian

On Christmas Eve 2014 Michael Blume asked his wife Zehra whether he should help a thousand women and children, victims of IS violence, leave northern Iraq. After all, sheʹd been known to say yes to all kinds of questions in the past. Andreas Malessa recounts the story of their unusual relationshipMore

Interfaith partnerships in Germany: Cultural diversity as an enrichment Muslims and inter-religious marriages: Negotiating religion and social identity Interview with a mixed-faith couple: Experiences in a Christian-Muslim marriage

The ruins of Raqqa following the defeat of Islamic State (photo: Getty Images/AFP/B. Kilic)

Returning IS fighters

Expatriation hardly an option

How should Germany deal with IS returnees from Syria? Can Berlin deny them the right to return? And would expatriation even be possible? By Nermin IsmailMore

Europe's treatment of IS returnees: Eroding the constitutional state Interview with the French anthropologist Dounia Bouzar: Lecturing the radicalised won′t help A new start for jihadists? Tunisiaʹs bid to rehabilitate its returnees

The Taliban at the Moscow talks on 09.11.2019 (photo: picture-alliance/Sputnik/Astapkovich/dpa)

Negotiating peace with the Taliban

Any deal will do

The tension among Kabul's political elite is palpable. Washington has been conducting negotiations for a peace deal with the insurgent Taliban in the Gulf emirate of Qatar for quite some time now, and the government in Kabul feels side-lined. Yet regardless of who is sitting around the negotiating table, almost all players in Afghanistan agree: the need for peace is urgent. By Emran FerozMore

Taliban take centre stage as Kabul cut out of peace talks Interview with Thomas Ruttig: Afghanistan's democracy in reverse gear Radical Islamism: Negotiating with jihadists?

Lead Commissioner for Countering Extremism for England and Wales Sara Khan (photo: Nermin Ismail/DW)

Interview with the UKʹs Lead Commissioner for Countering Extremism Sara Khan

"Weʹre living through an era of extremism"

In a bid for more dialogue, Sara Khan, UKʹs Lead Commissioner for Countering Extremism, calls on individuals to challenge extremism and on countries to ensure they defend and promote equality, human rights, pluralism and diversity. Interview by Ismail NerminMore

Interview with extremism researcher Dalia Ghanem-Yazbeck: "Being part of a ʹcommunityʹ transcends everything"Cameron's counter-extremism strategy: Cause for concern or necessary evil?Interview with the social scientist Edit Schlaffer: Mothers Schools challenge extremism

U.S. President Donald Trump gives a speech at the White House in Washington (photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Trump’s Syria withdrawal

A chance for peace?

Trump's withdrawal from Syria could indeed be a dangerous prelude to an expanded regional war. Yet with imagination and diplomacy the withdrawal could also be an important step on the difficult road to peace in the region, argues Jeffrey D. SachsMore

U.S. politics in Syria: Trump, Syria – and the threat of regional conflagration Battle for Syria: Trump's constructive ignorance War in Syria: Ending America′s disastrous role

Russian President Vladimir Putin (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

Civil War in Libya

What is Russia really up to?

Over the last few months, Russian diplomatic and political engagement in Libya has triggered many speculations over Russia's agenda in this war-torn North African country. Moscow's alleged increased military presence in eastern Libya sparked international controversy and even led some western observers to conclude that Russia is aiming to repeat the Syrian scenario in Libya. By Stasa SalacaninMore

Khalifa Haftar's role in the Libyan civil war: The fight against political Islam Internecine struggles: Libyaʹs free for all Interview with Libyan author Hisham Matar: "You can't turn back the clock"

Still taken from Mohammed Ben Atiaʹs "Dear Son" (distributed by BAC Films)

Mohamed Ben Attiaʹs "Dear Son"

O Sami, my son, my son

Of the many books, plays and films inspired by the story of the Islamic State movement, "Dear Son" by Tunisian director Mohamed Ben Attia offers something different. Far from the drama of the battlefield, he focuses on the anguish of the family that the fighter leaves behind. By Schayan RiazMore

A new age dawns for Tunisian cinema: Press reboot!Raed Andoni's "Ghost Hunting" at the Berlinale: The ghosts that lurk Interview with director Tamer El Said: "In the Last Days of the City": Between light and dark

Anti-Assad protest in Maaret al-Numan in the northern province of Idlib in September 2018 (photo: Getty Images/AFP)

Local government under Syria's opposition

Of the people, by the people, for the people

The work of civilian local authorities in Syrian opposition-held areas has been almost totally forgotten. Their failure was essentially due to a lack of a support from the West, as well as a lack of considered political concepts. An analysis by Claudia MendeMore

Civil war in Syria: Fighting the jihadists with unusual weapons Four years of war in Syria: Where the uprising began and still lives on Ending the civil war: For a different Syria

Former left-wing terrorist turned radical Salafist Bernhard Falk at the Higher Regional Court in Dusseldorf (photo: DW)

Salafism in Germany

Left-wing terrorist turned Islamist

Bernhard Falk is no stranger to prisons. A convicted left-wing terrorist, he spent 12 years behind bars. Now he looks out for imprisoned Islamists. Germany's domestic intelligence agency considers him a danger to society. By Matthias von Hein and Esther FeldenMore

From Germany to "Islamic State": The metamorphosis of Christian L.Salafism in Germany: Iʹll wear a niqab if I want Islamist ideology debunked: Getting past the abuse

German IS fighter Christian Lappe, who was killed in Syria in 2017 (photo: private)

From Germany to "Islamic State"

The metamorphosis of Christian L.

To Sabine Lappe, Christian was a dream child. But her beloved son became an IS terrorist who died in Syria. The bereaved mother shared her story with Esther FeldenMore

Interview with the sociologist Farhad Khosrokhavar: Radicalisation in the suburbs Preventing jihadism: The psychology of radicalisation: Lego Islam Interview with French extremism researcher Olivier Roy: ″Radicalisation is not the result of failed integration″

Symbolic image: al-Qaida and IS (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

Interview with the Islam expert Behnam T. Said

Why al-Qaida is stronger than ever

When we think about terrorism in the Arab world today, the first name that springs to mind is IS, not al-Qaida. But, as Behnam T. Said reveals in interview with Jens-Christian Rabe, the organisation has merely changed its objectivesMore

After the death of Osama bin Laden: Now to break the al-Qaida franchise Jihadism in Tunisia: The invisible enemy Interview with Washington Post correspondent Souad Mekhennet: Speaks with jihadists

Iraqi troops advance along a tunnel controlled by IS near to Mosul, 01.03.17 (photo: Getty Images/AFP)

"Islamic State" in Iraq

Beware the jihadist hydra

Kurdish peshmerga in Iraq say that IS is rising like a phoenix from the ashes. The organisation is re-grouping to fill the void left by its quarrelling adversaries. Judit Neurink reports from Irbil and MosulMore

IS fighters in Iraqi prisons: The next terror generation?Europe's treatment of IS returnees: Eroding the constitutional state Breaking the Middle East′s cycle of terror: The two-pronged strategy

Transporting the wounded to hospital after the Rawda mosque bombing on the Sinai Peninsula, 24 November 2017 (photo: picture-alliance/AA)

Sisi's self-defeating security plan

A bloody year in Sinai

The Egyptian government has intensified its military campaign in the Sinai peninsula with the aim of finally shutting down a jihadist insurgency linked to IS. Hundreds may have died, but the insurgency continues with no end in sight. By Tom StevensonMore

Mosque attack in northern Sinai: Targeting the peacemakers Egypt's 'anti-terror' campaign: Not all it seems Egyptian Copts flee the Sinai: "They're slaughtering us like chickens"

Topic: 'Islamic State' | IS

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