Topic: Tahrir Square

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Tahrir Square in Baghdad (photo: Birgit Svensson)

Protests in Iraq

The streets speak for themselves!

Once again, political deadlock is driving thousands of Iraqis to Tahrir Square. They want new elections, but the parliament refuses to dissolve. Elected representatives are now being protected from the people. Birgit Svensson reports from BaghdadMore

Political crisis in Iraq: Fighting for Shia hearts and mindsReform in Iraq: Muqtada al-Sadr must court the political eliteFrom Basra to Baghdad: Young Iraqis rise up for a life worth living
Protest and commemoration: Demonstration on the third anniversary of the revolution, Cairo, 2014 (photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Egypt

The revolution did not fail

Ten years ago, the Egyptians overthrew ruler Hosni Mubarak. Although this did not bring them more freedom, they did gain something. An essay by Andrea BackhausMore

Egypt, Alaa Abd El-Fattah and democracy: "You have not yet been defeated"The Arab Spring and the "Spring of Nations": Failed revolutionaries?Authoritarian reinstatement in the Arab world: Whatʹs left of the Arab SpringThe world as al-Sisi sees it
Iraq's interim Prime Minister Mustafa al Kadhimi at the polling station (photo: Khalid Mohammed/AA/picture-alliance)

Parliamentary elections in Iraq

Change or political stagnation in Baghdad?

Will Iraq's parliamentary elections bring change? The new electoral law, which allowed independent candidates to stand for the first time, provided a golden opportunity. But not many people took advantage of it. And voter turnout was shamefully low. Birgit Svensson reports from Baghdad and MosulMore

Iraq's electricity crisis: Iraqis left in the dark by their corrupt politiciansFrom Basra to Baghdad: Young Iraqis rise up for a life worth livingIraq's new government: Mr Kadhimi begins a clean-up operationMiddle East: Factbox: Who's competing in Iraq's elections?
A hand of a member of the Muslim Brotherhood in a cage in an Egyptian courtroom (photo: Reuters/A. A. Dalsh)

Death sentences against Muslim Brotherhood members in Egypt

An act of reckoning

Attracting little attention from the world at large, Egypt's military regime has been mercilessly going after dissidents. Now, the first executions of prominent members of the Muslim Brotherhood loom. All the while, the true extent of the crackdown remains unknown. By Jannis HagmannMore

Statement released by Human Rights Watch: "Critical juncture" for human rights in Egypt"Highlighting Sisi's systematic crackdown: Lawyers detained in Egypt receive CCBE Human Rights AwardEgypt in Turmoil: Democrats targeted in pogrom atmosphereThe Egyptian president's track record thus far: Multiple Morsi
The new Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, addresses the Iraqi Parliament in Baghdad on 6 May 2020 (photo: picture-alliance/AA/Iraqi Parliament)

Iraq's new government

Mr Kadhimi begins a clean-up operation

The new Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, has great plans. As he moves to realise those plans, he's fighting on many fronts. As the Americans pull out of Iraq, militias supported by Iran are violently consolidating their position. Birgit Svensson reports from BaghdadMore

Iraq's revolutionary women: The female paramedics of Tahrir SquareThe icon of Tahrir Square in Baghdad and Cairo: Arab Spring and October RevolutionThe cultural scene in Iraq: Returning to something like normality
Armed service personnel patrol the streets of Baghdad, ensuring people adhere to the curfew issued by the Iraqi government (photo: dpa)

COVID-19 in Iraq

Working under the coronavirus curfew in Baghdad

Coronavirus is also spreading in Iraq. This didn't stop hundreds of thousands of pilgrims travelling to a Shia shrine, however. The nation's health system has already conceded it cannot cope with the epidemic. Birgit Svensson reports from BaghdadMore

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Women providing medical assistance on Baghdad's Tahrir Square (photo: niqash.org)

Iraq's revolutionary women

The female paramedics of Tahrir Square

During the protests against the central government in Baghdad, Iraqi women have been volunteering as nurses and learning first aid. They are also changing the status quo and promoting the rights of women in the country. By Azhar Ali HusseinMore

The icon of Tahrir Square in Baghdad and Cairo: Arab Spring and October RevolutionElias Khoury on the Arab Spring 2019: The re-birth of Tahrir SquareTahrir Square's democracy activists: The forgotten heroes
Egyptʹs former ruler Hosni Mubarak (photo: Reuters)

Obituary for Hosni Mubarak

Egypt's 'pharaoh' is dead

Egypt's former long-term president is dead. His ailing political and economic legacy is now in the hands of the country's present-day authoritarian rulers. An obituary from Cairo by Karim El-GawharyMore

Egypt holds funeral for former president Mubarak′Pharaoh′ Mubarak′s acquittal: Some are more equalTahrir Square's democracy activists: The forgotten heroes
Demonstrators on Tahrir Square in Cairo (photo: AFP/Getty Images)

The icon of Tahrir Square in Baghdad and Cairo

Arab Spring and October Revolution

The past enthusiasm of the Egyptians lives on in the Iraqis of today. But just as they were nine years ago in Cairo, current prospects in Baghdad are dim. A comparison by Birgit SvenssonMore

Tahrir Square's democracy activists: The forgotten heroesElias Khoury on the Arab Spring 2019: The re-birth of Tahrir SquareMass protests in Sudan, Algeria, Lebanon and Iraq: Is this the Arab Spring 2.0?
Mosul Light Orchestra gives a recital in Erbil (photo: Goethe-Institut/Samyan Shaboy)

Overcoming cultural divisions

"Iraq is full of inspiring stories"

At the end of November, a squad of young cultural creatives from all over Iraq met in Erbil, in the country’s north. Their work spans the fault lines that run through Iraqi society, and draws parallels to the revolution in Baghdad and in the country as a whole. Christopher Resch reports from ErbilMore

Women′s writing workshop in Basra, Iraq: Writing to surviveCaricaturists in Iraq: Walking a satirical tightropeIraq post-IS: Mosulʹs cultural comeback
Anti-government protests and unrest in Iraq (photo: Getty Images/AFP)

Unrest in Iraq

Sadr City – a hotbed of resistance

The resignation of Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has not managed to quell the unrest in Iraq. After a deadly weekend in which many lost their lives, the wave of protests has swelled up once again. Most of the demonstrators come from Sadr City in Baghdad. Birgit Svensson paid a visit to the Shia suburb of the Iraqi capitalMore

Facing the Mahdi militias: Iraqi civilians in the firing lineAnti-government protests: Is this Iraq's Arab Spring?Unrest in the Arab world: The genie is out of the bottle
Anti-government protests on 9 November in Baghdad (photo: picture-alliance/AP)

Facing the Mahdi militias

Iraqi civilians in the firing line

Of all the protests currently in progress around the world, those in Iraq have been the most deadly. But just who exactly is firing on the demonstrators? The question is difficult to answer – and constitutes political dynamite. Birgit Svensson reports from BaghdadMore

Anti-government protests: Is this Iraq's Arab Spring?Economic crisis in Iraq: Trump's Iran embargo impacts IraqisProtesting for reform and an end to corruption: Iraq's youth reject the dire status quo
Anti-regime demonstration, Tahrir Square, 21 September 2019 (photo: Reuters)

Protests in Egypt

Sisi's social media nightmare

Despite ongoing repression, hundreds of people took to the streets in Egypt at the weekend to demand the resignation of President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi. The protests were triggered by a hitherto largely unknown building contractor and his revelations about the Egyptian army. By Karim El-GawharyMore

Human rights under Sisi: Egypt's open-air prisonSocial utopia on the Nile? Sisiʹs new breed of EgyptiansAuthoritarian rule in the Arab world: Nurturing the Arabellion phoenix
Demonstrators in Algiers protesting against Bouteflika in February 2019 (photo: picture alliance/dpa/F. Baticha)

Elias Khoury on the Arab Spring 2019

The re-birth of Tahrir Square

Ask what happened to the spirit of Tahrir Square and we find the reply in the Maghreb. Today Tahrir Square is in Algeria, in Sudan, and in many other places besides. Perhaps the secret of the Arab Spring lies not in its victories or its defeats, writes Elias Khoury, but in its ability to liberate people from fearMore

Tahrir Square's democracy activists: The forgotten heroesAlaa Al Aswanyʹs novel "The Republic As If": Elias Khoury salutes Al Aswanyʹs courage
Egyptian singer Dina El Wedidi performs at the El Genina Theatre in Cairo (photo: dinaelwedidi.com)

Egyptian singer Dina El Wedidi

Hypnotic rail rhythms

Singer Dina El Wedidi was one of the most prominent Egyptian singers among the protestors in Tahrir Square. She has just released her latest album, "Manam / Slumber", an experimental venture featuring a 30-minute suite that captures the sounds of Egypt’s trains and railway stations. By Stefan FranzenMore

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Sufis in Cairo (photo: Abdel Rahman Mohamed)

Sufism in Egypt

Sufis, sheikhs and charlatans

Sufism has a tradition going back centuries in Egypt. Now the government is coming out in support of the mystics in a bid to undermine Islamism. Some fear that the essence of the movement will be lost in the process – but there are other more unexpected by-products of the Sufi trend. Christian Meier reports from Cairo.More

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