by Anne Kirstine Rønn The Musammimoon coalition announce their candidate for the head of the OEA Beirut, Roy Dagher. Source: Madinati, Facebook In Lebanon, professional syndicates[1] are not merely representative organs for occupations like lawyers, doctors, and engineers. They are also political battlegrounds between traditional sectarian parties and challengers with roots in civil society and popular anti-establishment protests. While challengers seek to gain ground in syndicate council elections, the parties put their rivalries aside and form wide alliances to remain in power. Some of the m ..read more

‘The art of rebellion is an everyday battle,’ reads a small caption in a recent book on Iran. The confluence of art and rebellion transcends mere expression, it serves as an evocative reflection of societal dissent and cultural transformation. Through art, rebellion can find a voice, challenging the prevailing order, and reshaping narratives. In a fusion of creativity and defiance, human expression can flourish, leaving an historical mark – and inspiring generations. Women Life Freedom by Marjane Satrapi is a compilation of illustrated narratives, from a range of academics, activists, artist ..read more

by Rim Turkmani An elections mural in Egypt, 2012. Source: Gigi Ibrahim, Flickr ‘Supporting civil society’ and ‘promoting civic values’ are key elements in many Western interventions in the Arab world. As governments in the region continue to disappoint, attention has shifted to civil society and its organisations. However, delivery of these interventions is often met with local resistance, leading to frictions and adverse outcomes. This has reinforced the views of some policy makers and scholars who consider civil society a concept found only in the West, thereby rendering it irrelevant in ot ..read more

by Andrew Delatolla In the article titled ‘Middle East Masculinity Studies’ published by the Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies (2011), Paul Amar engages in a critique of ongoing and hegemonic discourses on Middle Eastern masculinities. He also paves the way for future research in this field, highlighting the need to reengage in critical masculinity studies in the region. Amar takes note of the intersecting aspects that need to be considered, including the apparatus of state security, (neo)liberal economic transformations, class, social expectations, and processes of racialisation to which ..read more

by Zmkan Ali Saleem Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and his deputy Qubad Talabani meet in May 2023. Source: PM Office, KRI Located at the centre of the Middle East, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) has not been safe from the spill-over of the Israel-Gaza conflict. Its close alliance with the US has brought the Region under drone and rocket attacks by Iran and its affiliates among Iraq’s Shia militia groups – including a direct ballistic missile attack by Tehran on the KRI’s capital Erbil. However even amidst this, arguably the most existential threats to the Region’s survival ..read more

by Judith Suissa In a powerful recent piece in the London Review of Books, ‘Versions of Denial’, Conor Gearty draws on the work of my late father, Stanley Cohen, to analyse the denial of Israel’s violent human rights abuses and war crimes in Gaza and their reframing as regrettable but necessary acts of self-defence, and considers how this denial is used to justify the ongoing Israeli bombardment. Gearty’s focus is on the mechanisms by which the discourse of denial has been ‘flipped’ so that ‘the Palestinians and their supporters find themselves having to prove to the world that things that di ..read more

by Andri Ottesen Kuwait, 1961. Source: Brett Jordan, Flickr. Even though geographically different, Kuwait and Norway have many similarities in terms of their wealth accumulation, economy, and population. As of the end of 2022, Norway had a population of 5.5 million, whereas Kuwait had close to 4.3 million residents. Both nations are heavily reliant on oil production to generate wealth, with Kuwait ranking 10th and Norway 13th in terms of wealth derived from such production. Kuwait’s crude oil reserves account for 6.1% of the world’s reserves—the 6th highest in the world. Petroleum production a ..read more

by Jenifer Vaughan As the spectacle of operation ‘Shock and Awe’ unfolded, I was ensconced in CNN’s control room helping to orchestrate the flurry of live shots from reporters across the globe. Amidst the chaos, a palpable sense of anticipation permeated the room as a massive aerial assault began on Iraq. When would US and British troops expose Saddam’s arsenal of weapons?  It was a moment like many others that encapsulates the broader discourse surrounding the ignorance and complicity of many in the lead-up to the conflict, a subject that has been dissected at length since.  Howeve ..read more

by Tail Alkhudary Women chant campaign slogans at Iraqia rally. Photo: Omar Chatriwala, Flickr. On a crisp winter day in Baghdad, I took a taxi to the political office of the Taqadom MP Wihda Al-Jumaili. The veteran politician has a street named after her in Dora, Southern Baghdad, where she meets with hundreds of constituents every day. Al-Jumaili’s celebrity is perhaps just one indication of how far women MPs have come in Iraq. In fact, in the 2021 elections women MPs won 95 seats in parliament – the highest number to be achieved in Iraq to date and 14% more than their quota allocation. Howe ..read more

by Alex Creamer Image Description – Abdulah Öcalan in his prison cell on İmralı Island (circa. 2001), Sakine Cansiz in Çanakkale prison, with portraits of Leyla Qasim and Mazlum Doğan 1990.No Response to International Human Rights Organisations Hunger strikes have broken out amongst Kurdish prisoners across the Turkish prison system that are only due to end today, the 15 February 2024. Today’s date is symbolic for many Kurdish activists as it marks 25 years since PKK-leader Abdullah Öcalan was transferred to İmralı Type F High Security Prison on the 15th of February 1999. International aw ..read more