Free speech and censorship
All topics-
"Break norms, find freedom"
Indie film "Warsha" tackles Arab gender taboo
Lebanese director Dania Bdeir, who has just scooped up the Sundance Film Festival's award for best international short film, says she wants her short to "break the norms" on sexuality and gender in the Middle East.
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America and the War on Terror
Guantanamo's "forever prisoners"
The notorious U.S. prison camp is 20 years old. Over the years, several plans to close it have been rejected. For the detainees, little has changed in the last two decades. Oliver Sallet reports from Guantanamo Bay
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Sudan's popular resistance
The revolution will succeed
The struggle for civilian rule in Sudan is ongoing. Neighbourhood "resistance committees" are the driving force behind ongoing protests against the now-ruling military junta. Operating at a local, decentralised level, they have begun bundling their forces and coordinating nationally, with the aim of playing a role at the political level. Eduard Cousin reports for Qantara.de from Khartoum
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Modi's India
Authoritation pseudo-democracy in the making?
India is generally considered to be the world’s largest democracy. As civic freedoms are being eroded, international experts now consider it seriously under threat. By Mira Mandal
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Tunisia's political future
Kais Saied's divisive online poll
Tunisia's first-ever digital survey on a new constitution is key to Tunisian President Kais Saied's path out of a political crisis. But as with Saied himself, reactions to the online innovation have been mixed. By Cathrin Schaer and Tarak Guizani
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Taliban Afghanistan
Afghan girls attend "secret school"
After coming to power, the Islamist group imposed a ban on girls' education, prompting some Afghans to set up an underground school. Hussain Sirat and Ahmad Hakimi spoke to some of the girls who are determined to continue their studies
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Arabic Network for Human Rights
Egypt's leading rights group forced to close
A prominent rights group in Egypt, the Arabic Network for Human Rights, is ending operations just as the country braces for a controversial NGO law. Is this the beginning of the end for civil society in Egypt? By Jennifer Holleis
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Arab world
Arab youth: Aspirations for the New Year
Arab youth express their hopes and wishes for the New Year, spanning everything from civil and political rights, to education, to arts and culture. By Rafiah Al Talei
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Tunisia's ex-president Moncef Marzouki
The conscience of the Arab Spring
Moncef Marzouki was Tunisia's first democratically elected president after the fall of dictator Ben Ali. Today he is the most prominent critic of increasingly counter-revolutionary developments under President Kais Saied. Commentary by Ali Anouzla
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Best of Qantara.de 2021
Top ten most-read articles on Qantara.de
Every year in December, the team at Qantara.de takes a look back at the articles that proved most popular with our readers. This year is no different. Here is a run-down of the stories that mattered most to you in 2021. Happy New Year to all our readers!
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War in Yemen
Death to journalists
Journalists are under fire from all factions in the Yemen conflict. Rasha Abdullah al-Harazi, nine months pregnant, recently died in a car bomb attack in Aden, her husband barely survived. Just one of many, as Diana Hodali reports
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Freedom of the press in Turkey
Recep Tayyip Erdogan tightens the media thumbscrews
Critics are in for a rough ride: in future, opposition media in Turkey that receives funding from abroad will have to disclose all sources of income. Journalists' associations fear a further attack on press freedoms. By Hilal Koylu