Free speech and censorship
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Culture and innovation in the Arab world
Where are the new Arab icons?
As the photo of Fairouz talking to French President Emmanuel Macron spread around the world, many asked if Arabs today had any contemporary stars of Fairouz's standing. In this essay for Qantara.de, Khaled Al-Khamissi answers this question and asks whether there is a place for up-and-coming stars in a world that is so hostile to creativity and originality
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Interview with Iranian filmmaker Shahram Mokri
"We are lucky to be alive today"
In August 1978, four men set fire to the Cinema Rex in the Iranian city of Abadan, killing more than four hundred people inside. The event is said to have started the Iranian Revolution to overthrow the Shah's regime. Forty years later, "Careless Crime" by Iranian filmmaker Shahram Mokri depicts four men planning to burn down a cinema in a contemporary Iran where ghosts of the past haunt the current society. Interview by Schayan Riaz
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Algeria: how the Hirak fared in 2020
Protestors still calling for genuine democracy
Algeria has not found peace since Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was president for 20 years, resigned under massive public pressure in April 2019. On 1 November 2020, the government held a constitutional referendum to end the political crisis. But things did not work out as it planned. On the contrary, the rifts between the regime and the pro-democracy movement have deepened further. The opposition now wants to use the momentum from the latest wave of protests to better organise itself. By Sofian Philip Naceur
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Ankara School pioneer and reformist Islamic theologian
The resignation of Turkish Koran exegete Mustafa Ozturk
Professor of theology and Qantara interview partner Mustafa Ozturk has resigned from an Istanbul university after immense pressure from certain segments of the Islamic community, having advocated a version of Islam they deemed "blasphemous". Ayse Karabat reports from Istanbul
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Egypt – Dollars to despots
Abdul Fattah al-Sisi's international patrons
Egypt's economic strategy of heavy borrowing implicates international actors in regime repression and increased social deprivation of the lower and middle classes, effectively fuelling instability and violent extremism – not only at home, but also potentially across the Middle East. An analysis by Maged Mandour
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Control and censorship in the Islamic Republic
Iran’s doctored schoolbooks and the disappearing girls
Since the beginning of the Islamic Republic, the guardians of the country’s religion have been battling to get the correct image of society and history into young people’s heads. But the battle seems to be an increasingly hopeless one. By Shabnam von Hein
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Highlighting Sisi's systematic crackdown
Lawyers detained in Egypt receive CCBE Human Rights Award
The CCBE – European Council of Bars and Law Societies – recently honoured seven Egyptian lawyers with its prestigious Human Rights Award to draw attention to the Egyptian regime's ongoing repression of civil society. By Sofian Philip Naceur
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U.S.-Turkey relations in 2021
Biden and Erdogan – how much carrot, how much stick?
Initial statements by the Biden administration indicate it will follow a carrot and stick policy towards Turkey. Ankara believes its role in negotiations on various issues could strengthen its hand when it comes to ties with the new man in the White House. Ayse Karabat reports from Istanbul
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DW documentary on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi
Seeking answers to a heinous crime
Did the Saudi state plan the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi? Was Khashoggi so much of a threat to the Saudi regime that it was prepared to commit a terrible crime to get rid of him?
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Canada and the problem with Bill 21
Quebec's controversial secularism law takes the stand
In France and in Canada's Francophone province of Quebec issues of personal freedom have recently been thrown into sharp relief. In Quebec, legal proceedings have been initiated against Law 21, which prohibits public servants from wearing religious symbols in the workplace. Richard Marcus reports
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Human rights repression under Sisi
Egypt activists' meeting with diplomats oversteps the mark
Last week Egypt's police stepped up an "unprecedented escalation" on activists by arresting a leading rights group director. Advocates on the Nile have long weathered a crackdown – what's new is detaining them for meeting foreign diplomats. Tom Allinson reports
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Democracy in the Maghreb
Tebboune's 'New Algeria' looks a lot like the old Algeria
Algeria's recent referendum was a thinly veiled attempt to hijack the agenda of the country's popular Hirak protest movement. Yet the people are no longer willing to accept ageing leaders who rely on a veneer of democracy to maintain their rule. Legitimacy will only be achieved by genuine structural reforms. By Dalia Ghanem