https://www.middleeastmonitor.com Latest news from the Middle East and North Africa Tue, 08 Aug 2023 09:33:31 +0000 en-GB Middle East Monitor 30 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.2 https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/favicon.png?fit=32%2C32&quality=85&strip=all&zoom=1&ssl=1 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com 32 32 116394717 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230730-as-a-refugee-i-couldnt-defend-my-homeland-but-i-can-make-sure-syria-lives-on-in-my-art/ Sun, 30 Jul 2023 07:00:56 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=656079 If a palette reflected Ghazwan Assaf's art, it would be covered with analogous colours of earthy greens, browns and black, splashes of ethereal whites with flecks of gold then sudden strikes of bright blues and oranges. Those colours are carefully washed over the miniature building sculptures created with clay and glass that represent the solace he finds in his current world and the hope he holds for his home country. "Through creating sculptures, my artistic soul is reflected, and the doors of memory are opened, summoning scenes from the past that touch people's hearts," says Ghazwan. "My art extends beyond the conventional notion of beauty and magnificence in portraying things. It also mirrors their profound pain resulting from events that […]]]> 656079 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230724-arabic-art-inspires-brazilian-women/ Mon, 24 Jul 2023 11:00:31 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=654705 According to the International Organisation for Migration, there are more than 13 million people of Arab descent living in Brazil. Those across the whole of Latin America are an example of a sizeable group of migrants who have integrated successfully into their host societies. Arabic culture and artists have had a strong influence on the cultural and arts in Brazil. Music, poetry, calligraphy, the performing arts, crafts, design, architecture and digital arts have all been affected by Arabic culture. Brazilian women have built bridges between Brazil and the Arab world and achieved professional success by demonstrating that Arab and Brazilian cultures have much in common, especially when it comes to artistic impact. Many believe that cultural exchange between Arab countries […]]]> 654705 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230716-muslim-slaves-taken-to-brazil-were-expensive-and-worked-to-earn-their-freedom/ Sun, 16 Jul 2023 08:00:35 +0000 , Middle East Monitor , Middle East Monitor , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=652091 During our trip to Salvador in May, we tried to contact people and institutions with information about the 19th-century slave uprisings in the Brazilian state of Bahia, especially the Malê Revolt (January, 1835). The Beninese Yoruba heritage is remarkable in the Bahia Candomble and its Brazilian religious syncretisms. Benin tragically became known as the "Slave Coast". The Malê prompt questions about the religious-political determination of the revolt, aiming for more than just liberation; the intention was to defeat local Roman Catholicism. There are still gaps in our knowledge of the African influence on the American revolutions against slavery, the academic focus of which tends to revolve around the French Revolution. We needed to interview the griot Nanci de Souza Silva, […]]]> 652091 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230714-in-sport-we-shouldnt-choose-women-for-tokenism-many-are-experts-and-should-be-recognised/ Fri, 14 Jul 2023 09:00:23 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=651463 Kicking a ball for the first time across the dizzying maze of streets in Bethlehem with the neighbourhood boys, seven-year-old Honey Thaljieh never dreamed about making history. Yet, 12 years later in 2003, as a student at Bethlehem University, she co-founded the Palestinian Women's National Football Team. And in 2012, she became the first Arab woman to obtain a FIFA Master and work at FIFA. Even as she faced hurdles and pitfalls along the way due to conservative attitudes and gender stereotypes, reflective of a patriarchal society, Honey didn't consider giving up. "I had no other options. I grew up in very difficult circumstances where my parents couldn't afford anything else besides education and there were five of us. I have […]]]> 651463 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230702-artist-alessandra-ferrini-explores-the-complex-relationship-between-libya-and-italy/ Sun, 02 Jul 2023 08:00:57 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=648288 A decade ago, artist Alessandra Ferrini sat in front of her laptop and watched for the first time the 1980 movie Lion of the Desert. At the time she was an Italian student who just moved to London, and she shared her flat with a Libyan housemate who had introduced the movie to her. Lion of the Desert is an epic historical war film about the Second Italo-Senussi War, starring Anthony Quinn as Libyan tribal leader Omar Al-Mukhtar, a Bedouin leader fighting the Royal Italian Army, and Oliver Reed as Italian General Rodolfo Graziani, who defeated Mukhtar. Alessandra was particularly impressed by the scene when Al-Mukhtar ends up being hanged in public. This was a gesture done by the Italians […]]]> 648288 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230625-egyptian-world-squash-champ-i-struggled-so-much-i-wanted-to-quit-the-sport-but-it-made-me-happy/ Sun, 25 Jun 2023 09:00:42 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=646662 Twenty-five-year-old Nouran Gohar grew up living and breathing squash. At age ten, she began taking part in winning national competitions after being introduced to the game famously dubbed "the world's healthiest sport" just two years prior. Breaking onto the international scene in her early teenage years, she received her first tour title at the Prague Open in December 2013 at just 15. By the age of 17, the Egyptian player beat her idol Nicol David, a Malaysian player who held the number one world ranking for a record 108 consecutive months. At age 18, Nouran advanced in the squash world rankings as the World No. 2 champion until she reached a career-high ranking of World No. 1 for the first […]]]> 646662 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230620-tribulations-to-trophies-refugee-athletes-inspire-in-world-of-sports/ Tue, 20 Jun 2023 12:41:22 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=645981 They say sport has the power to change lives. What might sound like a cliché to many, holds immense truth for people like Marzieh Hamidi and Ahmad Badreddin Wais. It was sport that gave Hamidi and Wais a refuge from the tribulations of a life defined by war and conflict, factors completely out of their control. However, what did give them a semblance of control over their destiny was sport, combined with sheer hard work, grit and a passion for their discipline of choice. Both Hamidi and Wais are refugees, among the tens of millions around the world driven out of their homes and homelands by the evils of men, or the forces of nature. OPINION: The irony of 'World […]]]> 645981 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230612-tantura-represents-a-microcosm-to-the-whole-story-of-palestine-palestinian-filmmaker/ Mon, 12 Jun 2023 10:30:03 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=644105 When the killings were done in the Palestinian village of Tantura by Israeli forces in the 1948 massacre, at least 300 to 400 men lay dead in mass graves across the small fishing village near the occupied city of Haifa, which was once home to 1,500 people. However, the true scale of the heinous war crimes committed in the village – known today as the area of Kibbutz Nahsholim and the Dor beach – by Israel's Alexandroni Brigade on that night was exposed in a new report, published just last month, on 24 May, exactly 75 years after the night. The report, based on an extensive investigation conducted by human-rights-focused research group, Forensic Architecture (FA), studied cartographic data and aerial […]]]> 644105 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230604-i-worked-travelled-and-searched-a-lot-i-found-myself-in-palestine-says-chilean-businesswoman-elizabeth-kassis/ Sun, 04 Jun 2023 08:15:40 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=641225 For Elizabeth Kassis, a Chilean woman of Palestinian descent, Palestine is much more than a land of her ancestors, it is a place of belonging, identity and history. She is passionate about Palestine and hopes to desire to do many things and with the courage to do anything for her people. Located on the UNESCO World Heritage site of Star Street, Kassis inaugurated the boutique Kassa Hotel in the occupied Palestinian city of Bethlehem. Situated within the historic Sabagh family home, which underwent a thoughtful restoration in 2016, almost 80 years after Elizabeth's father immigrated to Chile. The hotel is the first of its kind in the old city and reflects the traditional architecture of the Palestinian city as well […]]]> 641225 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230530-the-climate-is-getting-tougher-we-can-expect-anything-firas-kefi-on-the-media-in-tunisia/ Tue, 30 May 2023 16:45:16 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=641047 Last week, dozens of journalists protested in Tunis in solidarity with two Radio Mosaique journalists who were interrogated by the country's security forces. Haythem El Mekki and Elyess Gharbi were picked up after they criticised police recruitment in the country after a deadly shooting near a synagogue on Djerba island earlier this month saw a naval guard shoot dead two visitors and a security guard. Authorities have previously arrested Radio Mosaique's Director General Nourredine Boutar and handed another of its reporters, Khalifa Guesmi, a five-year sentence. Boutar was questioned about the editorial line of the station, Guesmi on its coverage of terror-related incidents. "Mosaique FM is the most listened to radio station in Tunisia and their tone didn't change after […]]]> 641047 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230528-irish-activist-reaches-france-on-his-walk-from-uk-to-palestine/ Sun, 28 May 2023 13:00:51 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=640020 Sixty-five-year-old Irish activist, Mick Bowman, is on a long, arduous walk from Calais to Palestine to raise awareness about the plight of refugees and human rights violations in the Occupied Territories. As of yesterday, he was in Coublanc, a commune in France and should reach the Swiss border in two weeks. Mick began his 2,200-miles journey from Calais on 16 April last month. "So, my route will see me go through Switzerland to northern Italy, Albania and Greece to Istanbul, hopefully by mid-October. And then I'll need to fly to Amman in Jordan, from where I'll be walking to the West Bank," he said. Inspired by the book Walking to Jerusalem: Blisters, hope and other facts on the ground by […]]]> 640020 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230521-meet-the-chef-who-is-crackers-about-palestinian-flavours/ Sun, 21 May 2023 09:00:50 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=637968 Since she began her night-long baking escapades following the birth of her twins, Lubna Lulu Abura's za'atar and musakhan flavour crackers have won the Palestinian chef an American fan base. In a few short years, Lubna, also known by her professional sobriquet 'Lulu', founded the first Palestinian snacks on the go, in the form of gourmet crackers infused with traditional Palestinian spices and herbs. "Us Palestinians, we have a rich culture and love to feed everyone, and what better way to share that than with a bag and crunch to go," she says. I was called crazy and pestered to forget about it. I was also told not to use a Palestinian name such as za'atar but a regular name […]]]> 637968 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230509-this-is-a-turkish-republic-go-back-to-your-own-country/ Tue, 09 May 2023 19:14:34 +0000 , Middle East Monitor , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=634996 Al Jazeera journalist, Rokaya Celik, has been attacked in Istanbul by a member of İyi, a nationalist, right-wing party. "One of the representatives of the İyi Party came over when he heard I was speaking Arabic," says Rokaya, who was at work reporting on the upcoming parliamentary elections. "He started swearing and saying, 'There is no place for Arabs here, go back to your own country'." "I am Turkish, where shall I go?" she asked, and tried to continue working. "This is a Turkish Republic, go back to your own country," he said, before attacking her and camerawoman, Dima Mansour, knocking Rokaya's microphone from her hand. When reporter is an Arab, they almost lynch her but when from a western […]]]> 634996 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230507-meet-the-first-female-kuwait-storm-chaser-hunting-tornadoes-and-flashing-lightning-bolts/ Sun, 07 May 2023 08:45:24 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=633949 Most people look forward to staying home, curled up and cosy under covers on the dreary, dark days when it is pouring outside. Many even consider it one of life's simple greatest pleasures. But for 39-year-old Sarah Al-Sayegh, her idea of all things fun and exciting, quite literally, lies within the eye of the storm. As a storm chaser who is thrilled by hunting ferocious tornadoes and flashing lightning bolts, she has felt the heat of lightning that struck a mere feet ahead of her in Colorado, and was whipped by gusting winds while watching huge rainstorms dance across the sea in Kuwait. "It's the greatest adrenaline rush capturing nature in its most breath-taking moments. We see it in movies […]]]> 633949 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230503-i-am-not-ending-my-hunger-strike-until-they-approve-my-asylum-request-or-i-die/ Wed, 03 May 2023 16:05:52 +0000 , Middle East Monitor , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=633604 For ten days, Fathi Okil has only drunk a saltwater mix. South Korean authorities have sent an ambulance five times to where he is camped out in front of the Interior Ministry, but he just sends them away. "I am not leaving and I am not stopping my hunger strike until they approve my request for political asylum or I die," he tells MEMO. A former printing technician, Fathi arrived in Seoul in May 2014 after being arrested at a protest outside the Republican Guard headquarters in Cairo as demonstrators took to the streets to protest the army's take-over of power. "I visited South Korea in 2002," Fathi says on why he chose the East Asian nation after he was […]]]> 633604 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230502-modern-day-heroes-are-risking-their-lives-to-cross-seas-in-search-of-safety/ Tue, 02 May 2023 17:00:59 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=632808 In his 2019 novel On the Greenwich Line, Shady Lewis gave us a book that is deeply hopeless and at the same time perfectly funny and cheerful. It's a paradox that the Egyptian writer handles with apparent ease. And it is brilliant. It has now been translated into French as Sur le Méridien de Greenwich (Actes Sud, Paris, 2023). Lewis explores the condition of exile, of those migrants who carry with them from South to North and from East to West the haunting question of being uprooted. Born in Cairo in 1978, the author emerged after the Egyptian revolution of 2011. With a master's degree in psychology, he used his academic knowledge of crowd psychology and the theories of philosopher […]]]> 632808 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230426-for-palestinian-evacuee-sudan-war-is-like-nothing-hes-seen/ Wed, 26 Apr 2023 11:46:18 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=631564 Growing up in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medicine student Khamis Jouda has survived numerous wars but says he has experienced nothing like the violence he witnessed in Khartoum this month. "We have seen things we had never seen before. Everyone feared for his life," said Jouda, 25, who was evacuated from the Sudanese capital yesterday by bus along with dozens of other Palestinians. Other Palestinian evacuees said they saw bodies in the streets, looting and fights among residents, some of whom were armed. The fighting – a power struggle between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – has killed hundreds of people, wounded thousands and severed power, food and water and supplies. […]]]> 631564 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230425-we-escaped-the-bombing-in-sudan-but-we-had-to-leave-my-brother-behind/ Tue, 25 Apr 2023 07:58:34 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=630921 Rawan Al-Waleed was expecting to fly from Khartoum to Cairo last week for a wedding. Instead, she ended up travelling from Sudan to Egypt in a bus her family chartered to escape a war. The family left after a rocket hit Al-Waleed's family home in Khartoum's Al-Amarat district on 18 April, destroying the bathroom, as fighting raged between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Like other Sudanese who can afford it, they paid four million Sudanese pounds ($6,750) to charter a bus to drive about 50 extended family members nearly 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) north through Sudan and across the border to the Egyptian city of Aswan. Al-Waleed, a 24-year-old who works in digital marketing, said there was intense fighting […]]]> 630921 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230409-we-will-never-negotiate-under-pressure-ex-cuba-envoy-to-us-says/ Sun, 09 Apr 2023 07:30:22 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=626862 Jose Ramon Cabañas Rodriguez served in the Cuban diplomatic service for 37 years. In 2015 he became his country's first ambassador to the United States in 50 years. During his long and distinguished career, Cabañas was involved in some of the most difficult diplomatic challenges Cuba faced in recent decades. He played a key role in securing the release of the Miami Five from incarceration in the US. Now back in Havana, Jose is director of the Research Centre for International Policy (CIPI). We met recently while he was attending MEMO's conference on decolonisation and apartheid in Palestine. Fundamentals  I began our conversation by asking him about the fundamentals of Cuban foreign policy, its constants and its variables. "Some people […]]]> 626862 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230404-brazils-israeli-universities-festival-has-been-cancelled-after-public-protest/ Tue, 04 Apr 2023 14:30:37 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=626444 Palestinian and Brazilian activists have succeeded in forcing the cancellation of the "Israeli Universities Festival" which was scheduled to take place this week at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), near Sao Paulo, Brazil. Student, labour unions and organisations and left-wing political parties came together with Palestinian flags and banners proclaiming "Free Palestine" and "Unicamp – territory free from apartheid" at the entrances of university. They declared that they would not allow Brazilian universities to be used for supporting Israeli apartheid. Unicamp's administration confirmed that the festival was no longer going ahead after discussions with its organisers. The decision was taken to suspend it "for security reasons". According to the president of the Israeli Federation in the state of Sao […]]]> 626444 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230402-horses-elegance-and-tatreez-the-palestinian-woman-competing-in-dressage-on-a-world-stage/ Sun, 02 Apr 2023 07:45:28 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=625625 Saddled up a few metres off the ground to the sound of rhythmic jinking hooves, gleaming bridles and the earthy scents of a horse, is when Diana Al Shaer feels most exhilarated. Chair of the Dressage Committee for the FEI Regional Group in MENA, the 35-year-old equestrian's introduction to horses came at the age of 11 when her family, based in Moscow, put on a DVD of the European Dressage Championships. Such was her instant fascination, she stood in awe under the sun all day the first time her family's horses settled into their new stable. "I remember the very moment I saw the horses on the first day they were brought home, I fell in love straight away and […]]]> 625625 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230331-even-as-a-proud-brazilian-im-a-daughter-of-a-palestinian-refugee/ Fri, 31 Mar 2023 13:54:14 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=625579 Whenever Land Day is mentioned in Brazil, it is synonymous with one person: the Chairman of Santa Catarina Committee for Solidarity with the Palestinian People, Khader Othman. The 84-year-old Palestinian refugee was born in Beit Ur Al-Tahta, Palestine, in 1939 and then expelled from his home and forced to seek refuge in Brazil after the 1967 War. A month after his death, the Palestinian community in Brazil still feels the void he left behind. But his support for Palestine hasn't come to an end, his daughter Shahla has vowed to continue his work. Born in Brazil, Shahla has visited Palestine many times and believes that the struggle for the Palestinian people belongs to all Palestinians no matter where they are. […]]]> 625579 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230323-marc-owen-jones-on-disinformation-misogyny-and-twitters-future-under-musk/ Thu, 23 Mar 2023 11:00:48 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=624238 In December 2016 Edgar Maddison Welch walked into a popular pizza restaurant in Washington DC and fired three shots from an AR-15-style rifle. Welch later said that he was trying to save children locked in the basement that were being abused by powerful Democrats, including Hillary Clinton. The shooting, known as pizzagate, became a warning for how disinformation online can spread and lead to violence. In 2020 an IPSOS poll found that 17 per cent of Americans believed that a group of Satan-worshipping elites who run a child trafficking sex ring were trying to control our politics and media. From reports that Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by a Palestinian, to tweets that suggested former Labour leader Jeremy […]]]> 624238 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230321-palestinian-venezuelan-author-exposes-israeli-crimes/ Tue, 21 Mar 2023 10:00:42 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=623291 In his book Seven days in Palestine, Jehad Yousef weaves a deeply personal journey with stories of the persecuted Palestinians in their land as he seeks to expose the crimes of the Israeli occupation authorities. The Palestinian doctor, who has lived in Venezuela for more than 30 years, narrates in detail his first return to his homeland under the control of the Israeli occupation. He offers detailed insights into the history of the Zionist movement and how British colonialism paved the way for the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. The book has been published in Spanish. The author talks about the continuing suffering of Palestinians in moving between Israeli checkpoints, ongoing arrest campaigns, illegal settler incursions and the apartheid wall. "The […]]]> 623291 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230319-normalising-conversation-about-arab-womens-sexual-health-led-to-threats-and-challenges-motherbeing-co-founder-says/ Sun, 19 Mar 2023 08:41:12 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=622957 For decades, women in Egyptian society and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have suffered considerable shame when discussing women's health and personal care. Motherbeing co-founders, Nour Emam and Yousef ElSammaa, are working to change this for both the younger and older generations. "The main issue with the region as a whole is that reproductive and sexual health is regarded as something shameful and taboo and then no one ends up talking about it, no matter how necessary," Nour says. "Adequate knowledge on the female body and health is absolutely missing in the public schooling system in Egypt in particular, because there's no surveillance over whether or not these subjects are being taught properly," explains Nour. "Reproductive health and […]]]> 622957 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230310-el-salvadors-community-seeks-to-build-ties-with-palestinians-around-the-world/ Fri, 10 Mar 2023 15:25:29 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=620882 The efforts of El Salvador´s Palestinians in supporting the Palestinian cause were not limited to holding local and international conferences or appealing to humanitarian institutions to raise awareness of the ongoing violations against Palestinians in the occupied territories. Instead, they took the initiative to expose the occupation and support the struggle of the Palestinians through media and television channels. In El Salvador, the smallest and most densely populated of the seven Central American countries, a local channel dedicates a weekly TV programme to highlight the Palestinian case and the violations committed against the Palestinian people in the occupied territories. "I was invited by many TV channels in El Salvador to speak up and explain what happens in Palestine and the […]]]> 620882 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230308-ahmed-taibaoui-i-tried-to-give-a-voice-to-those-who-live-on-the-margins-in-algeria/ Wed, 08 Mar 2023 09:23:10 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=620412 In a suburb of Algiers, Mr Nobody is caring for an elderly man with dementia. When the man dies, Detective Rafik is appointed to identify Mr Nobody and as he tries to collect answers, begins his own existential quest. This is the Disappearance of Mr Nobody, the English language debut of Algerian writer Ahmed Taibaoui, a professor at the Faculty of Economics, Business and Management Sciences at the University of Bouira in Algeria. In 2021 Taibaoui won the Naguib Mahfouz Prize for Literature for this Algerian noir, published by Hoopoe Fiction. How did you come up with the idea for this novel? The Disappearance of Mr Nobody began as a story. From time to time I was writing a short […]]]> 620412 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230305-the-chinese-authorities-must-release-my-19-year-old-sister-demands-uyghur-engineer/ Sun, 05 Mar 2023 08:30:44 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=619256 Genocide against the Uyghur Muslims continues to worsen as the world looks on, despite its mass atrocities that have come into stark focus over the past five years. Thousands of Uyghur children have been abandoned without parents and family, as their mothers, fathers and siblings are forced into Chinese internment camps, prisons and other detention facilities, according to evidence from government documents in Xinjiang. Two months ago, the day it was confirmed that his 19-year-old sister had been detained at a detention facility, Kewser Wayit, based in the United States (US), rushed to call his family hailing from Artush city in southern Xinjiang. However, the countless calls made to the Chinese national security officer in charge of communication between him […]]]> 619256 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230223-survivors-in-nw-syria-i-watched-my-house-collapse-and-kill-my-entire-family/ Thu, 23 Feb 2023 16:50:05 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=617028 Marwa, 12, and her family woke up to the earthquake on 6 February. "I went towards the door and the staircase ahead of my family," she recalls. "They were still at the door when the building collapsed and we were all buried under the rubble." Marwa Al-Mahmoud is from the city of Atarib, west of Aleppo Governorate in northwest Syria. She is the only member of her family who survived. In total, 20 people in the apartment building died and only nine survived. "The neighbours came towards the rubble and started calling out. I responded and started talking to them. My uncles, cousins and people from the neighbourhood pulled me out. They pulled me out first and checked me for […]]]> 617028 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230127-teacher-revives-art-of-letter-writing-to-connect-students-across-the-world-with-children-in-gaza/ Fri, 27 Jan 2023 17:16:07 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=609748 Before this digital age of social media texts and direct messages, it was commonplace to receive heartfelt handwritten letters from a pen pal, a postcard from overseas or annual colourful festive cards. It is an experience the Berkeley, California-based teacher, Heather La Mastro, aimed to rediscover with her students at the Jewish Community Centre of the East Bay in 2018. The letters, she revealed to them, will be addressed to children in Gaza. "It was a sweet moment. I had let them know of an opportunity to connect with children who are living in a war zone leading difficult lives and gave all 15 of them an individual choice to take part," explained Heather. "I pulled out 15 yeses from […]]]> 609748 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230115-meet-the-first-egyptian-arab-female-to-blast-into-space/ Sun, 15 Jan 2023 09:00:26 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=606122 In a field among the stars, where Egypt had no markers, engineer Sara Sabry became the first Egyptian, Arab and African woman to blast into space. The view of Earth from outer space has utterly transformed perspectives on civilisation, the planet, and the world's relationship to the universe beyond l. And as the world's collective fascination with the final frontier climbs to new heights, a social impact non-profit, Space for Humanity, has been running a Space Station Ambassador Programme for enthusiasts and educators to expand access to space and embrace a culture of interconnectedness. In its 2021 programme, Sara, 29, was selected out of 7,000 citizens from all parts of the world and all backgrounds to go into space to […]]]> 606122 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230104-uruguays-congress-expresses-solidarity-with-palestine/ Wed, 04 Jan 2023 12:28:32 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=603643 The Uruguayan Congress has held a special session for Palestine to express solidarity with the Palestinian people as they stand against the ongoing aggression of Israel's military occupation. The session followed an invitation by number of deputies who support the Palestinian cause and the Uruguay-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Committee which was established in December 2021. The bilateral session was attended by deputies and senators from all parliamentary parties with the objective of mobilising popular and official support across Uruguay and Latin America to serve the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people wherever they might be. It was also attended by the Palestine Ambassador in Uruguay, Nadya Rasheed, as well as a number of other ambassadors, diplomats and political figures from Latin […]]]> 603643 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230101-kurdish-women-burn-themselves-surrender-to-death-out-of-despair-says-head-nurse-nigar-marf-1-of-bbcs-100-most-influential-women-2022/ Sun, 01 Jan 2023 09:30:27 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=603212 "The most difficult part of my work is when I face women who are forced to lie about their cause of burn injuries because they're being threatened with their lives by their husbands or family." "But the stench of the oil gives away the foul truth," said the chief nurse at the Burn and Reconstructive Surgery Hospital in Sulaymaniyah, one of the three provinces of the Kurdish region in northern Iraq with a population of 1,700,000. Celebrated as one of the BBC's 100 most influential women of 2022 from around the world, nurse Nigar Marf, 50, has devoted her career to helping female burn victims get the medical care they need. In the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, the brutal […]]]> 603212 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20221225-we-deeply-appreciate-this-historic-gesture-to-open-a-chilean-embassy-in-palestine-palestinian-community-in-chile-president-speaks-to-memo/ Sun, 25 Dec 2022 13:20:17 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=602658 Thirty-six-year-old Gabriel Boric, the youngest Chilean president ever to have been elected, has announced yesterday that his country will raise the level of its representation in the Palestinian territories to an embassy in order to establish bilateral relations between Palestine and Chile that are currently only represented by a the charge d'affaires. Among 10 Latin American countries, Chile will be the first country to open an embassy in Palestine while others have consulates and representative offices only "We are going to elevate the character of our official representation in Palestine as chargé d'affaires today, we are going to open an embassy in our government to give it the representation that corresponds," the Chilean president explained . The president also regretted […]]]> 602658 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20221209-its-imperative-that-more-voices-like-mine-are-at-the-table-georgia-first-muslim-palestinian-rep/ Fri, 09 Dec 2022 14:58:15 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=599678 A hijab-wearing Palestinian American woman was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives for the first time. Ruwa Romman has made history earlier this month as the first Muslim and Palestinian-American elected to any office in the State, following ten months of actively campaigning. Having worked in local politics for quite some time as the Communications Director at the civil rights and advocacy group, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and devoting her spare time to local organising with Georgia Muslim Voter Project, Ruwa has been outspoken on the fight for religious equality, civil rights of Muslims and marginalised communities. According to an analysis published by CAIR along with Jetpac, a non-profit focused on increasing Muslim political representation in the US, […]]]> 599678 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20221205-brazil-ambassador-visits-the-gaza-strip-amid-a-warm-welcome/ Mon, 05 Dec 2022 18:45:24 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=598665 The Brazilian Ambassador and Head of the Representative Office of Brazil to the State of Palestine, Alessandro Candeas, visited Gaza Strip where he was received warmly by the residents of Gaza. In turn, the Brazilian Ambassador has expressed his gratitude to the people of Gaza for their hospitability and explained that his visit was to express South America's solidarity with the Gaza Strip against the challenges it endures, and stressed that his country would continue to follow Brazil's supportive approach towards the Palestinian people. The Brazilian delegation also discussed possible cooperation opportunities between Brazil and Palestine in Education, Health and the sports sectors. "It´s an honour and I'm really proud to be here in Rafah of Gaza Strip for the […]]]> 598665 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20221127-the-swimmers-interview-with-syrian-refugee-who-swam-to-europe/ Sun, 27 Nov 2022 09:00:44 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=596642 The Olympics are all about dreams, strength and an undying determination. It takes an extraordinary athlete to reach the Olympics and a supernatural one to swing that gold medal around their neck. Someone like Yusra Mardini, a 24-year-old Syrian swimmer, who swam for three hours in the open sea while pulling along a dinghy carrying mothers and children, to prevent it from sinking. "I had to jump overboard with my sister to stabilise the boat. It was the only way to save all our lives," said Yusra. Forced to flee their home in war-torn Syria in August 2015, professional swimmers Yusra and Sara Mardini, set off from the Turkish coast to Lesbos on a small dinghy that failed to carry […]]]> 596642 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20221123-repackaging-jerusalem-interview-with-palestinian-artist-bashar-alhroub/ Wed, 23 Nov 2022 15:20:38 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=596444 The new Dubai show of Ramallah-based artist Bashar Alhroub looks at his native city Jerusalem as a place with multiple identities. "When you are in Jerusalem," Alhroub told me, "you never feel you are in one single place. You never feel that the city is belonging to anyone, although everyone claims it as theirs." The artist's new show opened on 14 November at Zawyeh Gallery in Dubai, and last until 5 January. Called "Tracing Boundaries", the artist focuses on Jerusalem as a religious symbol, while also looking at it as a subject of pop culture. He traces the boundaries between holiness and material culture and invites the visitor to observe a fine line between spirituality and commercial clutter. "Jerusalem as […]]]> 596444 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20221122-argentina-celebrates-as-it-renames-one-of-its-roads-palestine-street/ Tue, 22 Nov 2022 17:01:22 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=596240 Scores of people waved Palestinian flags as they gathered in the city of Santa Clara del Mar, in Argentina's Buenos Aires State. They had come together to celebrate the renaming of one of its main roads in  the city to "Palestine Street" and to mark the 34th anniversary of the Palestinian Declaration of Independence. The local government of Santa Clara del Mar took the initiative in cooperation with the Embassy of the State of Palestine in Argentina. While the celebration included traditional Palestinian dancing, the dabke, live singers and people wearing traditional Palestinian dress. "We appreciate this step that strengthens the ties between Argentina and Palestine. I expressed solidarity on behalf of the people of this city with the struggle […]]]> 596240 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20221113-weve-got-the-largest-climate-conference-to-which-nobody-was-able-to-get-to-by-sustainable-methods/ Sun, 13 Nov 2022 08:30:40 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=592958 For many, planning a trip involves a few clicks of the mouse and painful decisions on whether you want to go with a vegetarian or meat meal on your flight. Not the case for Dan Hodd. The British musician and environmental activist undertook a journey to the United Nations' COP27 climate conference in Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh without stepping foot on a plane. Using a mixture of his bicycle and public transport, Hodd travelled hundreds of miles across Europe, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Armed with a violin and a map Hodd battled the elements from border guards to language barriers. "Besides some from the Middle East and some from East Africa, I am the only person to have made it […]]]> 592958 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20221111-the-council-of-european-muslims-works-to-help-all-muslims-says-its-president/ Fri, 11 Nov 2022 08:45:14 +0000 , Middle East Monitor , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=592650 Muslims are well established in Europe; those in Eastern Europe in particular have been living in the continent for many centuries. A visible Muslim community has existed in Britain since the late nineteenth century. Modern European states have enabled Muslims to carve out a place for themselves within society and, with notable exceptions, have not prevented them from practising and preserving their faith and cultures as part of a liberal-democratic vision of cultural and ethnic pluralism under a national umbrella. The advocates of such a system say that it strengthens the societies in which it has been adopted. Although Muslims in the West face many challenges on different levels, they have worked to develop community infrastructure to bring themselves together […]]]> 592650 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20221108-meet-the-egyptian-photographer-who-is-at-home-among-the-wildlife-in-kenya/ Tue, 08 Nov 2022 16:03:33 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=592323 For close to 300 days a year, Abdelrahman Hassanein's workmates are lions, cheetahs, buffalo and elephants. Not for him a desk, computer and colleagues engaged in mundane work. Instead, the 39-year-old Egyptian naturalist and wildlife photographer, is the safari director at Talek Bush Camp in Kenya, and usually keeps company with whichever animals he happens to be observing. "I was captivated by wildlife long before the internet era," Hassanein told me. "From a very early age, I would watch documentaries and cartoons related to wildlife and Africa on VHS video tapes that my father would bring home." Now his work is featured by National Geographic, the BBC, Lonely Planet and Forbes among others. He said that he always prefers the […]]]> 592323 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20221024-we-will-stay-here-until-palestine-is-free-says-farmer-beaten-by-jewish-settlers/ Mon, 24 Oct 2022 14:02:00 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=588592 Last month, a 51-year-old Palestinian farmer was tending to his family land on the outskirts of the village of At-Tuwani, where they grow olives, figs, tomatoes and zucchini. A group of five masked Israeli settlers, armed with MI6 rifles, bats and metal pipes, emerged suddenly from the nearby illegal settlement outpost of Havat Ma'on and assaulted him. In an attempt to defend himself, Hafez Hureini lifted his shovel to block their strikes. Despite this, his arms were dislocated and broken. "When the settlers started shooting," he told me, "I used all my energy to get away from them and sat nearby waiting for the ambulance." However, when the Palestinian ambulance crew arrived and started to give him first aid, a […]]]> 588592 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20221017-brazilian-deputy-asks-palestinian-community-to-vote-for-lula/ Mon, 17 Oct 2022 08:39:30 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=586782 A deputy from the Workers' Party in Brazil's Congress, Paulo Pimenta, has called on the Palestinian community in the country to support former president Lula da Silva in the run-off vote of the presidential election on 30 October. Pimenta pointed out that Lula has done a lot for the community over the years, and asked them to return the favour. The request was no surprise, given that Lula da Silva and Brazilian parliamentarians have shown consistent support for the Palestinians. In December 2019, 210 parliamentarians, including senators and federal deputies, backed the launch of the first Parliamentary Front in Defence of the Rights of the Palestinian People. "To our friends from the Palestinian Community in Rio Grande do Sul and […]]]> 586782 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20221012-ex-minister-imf-loan-will-not-end-tunisias-crisis/ Wed, 12 Oct 2022 12:19:40 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=585814 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan which Tunisia is working to obtain will help the country's general budget but not solve its economic crisis, former Minister of Trade and a member of the Political Bureau of the People's Movement Party, Mohamed Msilini, has said. "Deep and comprehensive reforms" are needed to get Tunisia out of its current crises, he added. In an exclusive interview with Arabi21, Msilini confirmed that "negotiations with the IMF will soon end with an agreement between the two parties, and all indications and statements point to that, but it is expected that the amount may not exceed $3 billion or a little less." "Cancelling subsidies for consumables is almost impossible, and the only possible solution is […]]]> 585814 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20221009-in-middle-eastern-culture-food-and-hospitality-are-a-love-language/ Sun, 09 Oct 2022 07:50:53 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=584386 More than five million people follow popular food content creator Ahmad Alzahabi on TikTok, eagerly awaiting the next food recipe to drop on his page. Also known as "The Golden Balance", the first-generation Syrian-American has brought together a world-wide community of food lovers and aspiring cooks online through his wholesome and easy-to-follow recipes. Born and raised in Michigan, the 25-year-old content creator continuously draws inspiration from his mother's cooking, heavily influenced by Middle Eastern cuisine, after growing up helping and observing in the kitchen. Food, he explains, was always the epicentre of his life, and from an early age. With his mother's encouragement, he mastered multiple cuisines and continues experimenting and creating his own mouth-watering dishes. "My relationship with food […]]]> 584386 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220929-shadi-from-a-sidewalk-school-book-seller-to-a-connoisseur-of-books-and-bookstore-owner/ Thu, 29 Sep 2022 17:26:36 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=583590 Shadi Abu Nasser, graduate in English literature, has been working in the book trade field since 2007 up to now. He began to work in the field of books by chance, due to financial difficulties while he was preparing for high school in 2006. Nasser says: I had a number of books that I wanted to sell to help myself and my family, so I came to the gate of Yarmouk University with a friend of mine and started displaying books. I was surprised from the first day by the size of the turnout. It was the first book he sold in high school for $5. The idea was not acceptable to my family, but necessity forced me to do […]]]> 583590 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220925-this-artist-explores-light-and-perception-between-french-impressionism-and-uae-culture/ Sun, 25 Sep 2022 16:10:08 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=582477 There are many artists today inspired by 1800s French Impressionism. But what if the artist in question comes from the UAE? How does someone who grew up in surroundings where the extreme light needs to be shaded by window screens and the climate is sizzling hot, interact with the work of artists from two centuries ago, immersed in cloudy French weather? The answer is to be found in the work of artist and curator Alia Zaal. She presented a show recently – "I Saw Time Passing (I)" — at Foundry Downtown, Dubai, based on her ongoing residency in the former house of the master of Impressionism, Claude Monet, in Vétheuil, France. Responding to Impressionism, Zaal studied the natural landscapes of […]]]> 582477 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220921-on-the-run-lebanon-woman-who-stole-own-savings-says-she-is-not-the-criminal/ Wed, 21 Sep 2022 13:45:04 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=581849 On the run from authorities after forcing a bank to release her family savings at gunpoint to treat her cancer-stricken sister, 28-year-old Lebanese interior designer, Sali Hafiz, insists she is not the criminal. "We are in the country of mafias. If you are not a wolf, the wolves will eat you," she told Reuters, standing on a dirt track somewhere in Lebanon's rugged eastern Bekaa Valley, where she has since been in hiding. Hafiz held up a Beirut branch of BLOM Bank last week, taking by force some $13,000 in savings in her sister's account, frozen by capital controls that were imposed overnight by commercial banks in 2019, but never made legal via legislation. Dramatic footage of the incident, in […]]]> 581849 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220920-rachel-corrie-wanted-to-ensure-she-could-always-return-to-gaza-says-her-mother-in-a-way-she-never-left/ Tue, 20 Sep 2022 14:39:18 +0000 , Middle East Monitor https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/?p=581336 The murder of 23-year-old American Rachel Corrie on 16 March 2003 started a global conversation about how Israel gets away with its terrorism against civilians and human rights defenders in the occupied Palestinian territories. Nineteen years later, Israel is still denying Rachel's family justice and any sign of accountability for her killing. Her parents Cindy and Craig now find themselves following in their daughter's footsteps in trying to keep the Palestinian cause alive. "We knew how strongly Rachel felt about what she was doing in Gaza," explained Cindy to me. "She had educated our entire family and local community in ways neither the media nor anyone elese had ever done before. And it was so important that the accounts she […]]]> 581336