Middle East
Swapping Hurricane Sandy in New York for Tel Aviv's bombs
On 14 November, Israel assassinated Hamas strongman Ahmed Jabari; now 3 Israelis and 20 Palestinians are dead. Of course, attacking the Gaza strip right before elections is a long-since beloved tradition of Israeli right wing governments. For the first time in 21 years, since the Gulf war, bombs are landing on Tel Aviv again, and a rocket has been fired on Jerusalem for the first time since 1970
middle east, hurricane, israel air strike, human rights, war, terror attacks, new york
Italian, Spanish, British and Lithuanian media: Syria, civil war to world war?
On 25 July UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon called for an immediate end to the killing in Syria from Sarajevo. While the fighting is edging closer to the city of Aleppo, every day thousands are fleeing across the border. The EU media interpret the conflict as a war between religious communities and warn that it could spread to the neighbouring countries. Press review
middle east, italy, moscow, great-britain, turkey, russian federation, lithuania
Refugees and ‘fællesskab’ in Denmark: tales from Sandholm camp for asylum seekers
Denmark was one of the first countries to adopt the UN refugee convention in 1951. We meet refugees from Kuwait, Iraq and Syria living at an accommodation centre north of Copenhagen, which has been run by the Red Cross since 1986
middle east, syrian arab republic, detention, copenhagen, accommodation, asylanten, northern eu
Trio Joubran: ‘It’s hard to be Palestinian musicians in the world’
Samir, Wissam and Adnan Joubran are international musicians whose performance and perspectives nonetheless remain rooted in their homeland: Palestine. Just before the UN is due to consider Palestine’s official bid to become a UN member as well as a state, we meet the brothers in Paris about how their hopes for their country influences their music
middle east, united nations, paris, theatre, music, culture calendar, family
Giacomo Abbruzzese: 'I’m no longer able to make a film without talking about Palestine'
The Italian director's short film Archipelago (2010) explores the West Bank from its various forms of transport. The arduous journey from Ramallah to Jerusalem and back highlights the absurdity of the situation that Israel and Palestine have been in for decades. Interview
middle east, cinema, brunch, film, culture, palestine occupied territory
Calm Lebanon ‘crisis’: Blackberrys not Kalashnikovs
On 12 January, eleven ministers from the the unity coalition government resigned en masse. Western backed caretaker prime minister Saad Hariri has refused to be a part of a coalition potentially led by the militant Shia muslim group Hezbollah
Israeli soldier: 'Arabic language of Middle East'
He will finish his military service in October aged 22. Daniel from Tel Aviv is sure of his ideas: Obama, peace, politics, Israel-Palestine, Europe-Turkey... A spontaneous voice far from stereotypes which the media reinforce daily. Interview
middle east, europe, youth, turkey, war, barack obama, politics
Turkey-Israel: credibility and question of anti-semitism
Since heavy criticism from the Turkish side after the Israeli attack on a Gaza aid ship on 31 May, relations between the two states have entered a further ice age. There has been rising concern in Europe that Turkey is increasingly turning away from the west. A babelian political theorist explains the problems inherent to the Turkish response
middle east, religion, identity, jews, second world war , europe, diplomacy
Obituary: Irish academic Fred Halliday dies in Barcelona
The Dubliner passed away on 26 April. No student in east-west relations would have escaped the work of this internationally acclaimed scholar in international relations, unabashed European socialist and eternal friend of the Middle East. Tribute from an Iranian Londoner who met the Irish scholar in Spain
middle east, barcelona, obituary, brunch, transatlantic relations, research and innovation, war
Olga Rodríguez: 'Journalists tend to be very individualistic'
On a famed terrace close to Madrid’s Palacio Real (Royal Palace) at nightfall, the 34-year-old Spanish award-winning journalist talks about two of her passions, the Middle East and journalism
middle east, brunch, war, european media, iraq war, iraq, journalism
Wael Nawara: 'Secular is a word we Egyptians used to use wrongly'
A nocturnal meeting with the second-in-command of the El Ghad ('The Tomorrow') party, Egypt’s main force of liberal opposition to Mubarak’s regime
middle east, brunch, dissident, hosni mubarak, interview, cairo, egypt
Middle-East: British students still mobilised
Fighting in the Gaza Strip may be over, but sit-in demonstrations organised via email and Facebook continue in 21 UK universities. Amongst other things, students demand bursaries for Palestinian students. This is a campaign which 'has only just begun'
middle east, university, london, students, protest, society, israel
Turin in the Israel-Palestine crossfire
During the military campaign against Hamas on the Gaza Strip, a wave of Muslim immigrants across Europe, stretching from London, Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, Brussels as well as Milan and Rome – protested against Israel’s actions, supporting their Palestinian ‘brothers’. Perspective of the communities in Turin, a twin city of Gaza and Haifa
middle east, gianluca costantini, turin, protest, world affairs, society, israel
Israeli sculptress Nathalie Alony: ‘Palestinians in Gaza should be given something to lose’
The Italy-based artist says her viewpoint on the Middle East is fairly ‘balanced’, but Europeans do not realise what it is like for ‘Israel to be attacked in its sleep and continually threatened with annihilation’
middle east, gaza strip, conflict, tel aviv, culture, israele, world affairs
