Arab World

Saudi Arabia: Drop Baseless Investigation of US Citizen: US Embassy Should Fully Assist Woman Facing Free Speech Charges

Human Rights Watch – (Washington, DC) – Saudi prosecutors should drop an investigation possibly leading to formal criminal charges against a US citizen living in Saudi Arabia for “disrupting the public order,” Human Rights Watch said today. Carly Morris, 34, believes the allegation relates to her statements on social media voicing concerns about how Saudi […]

Arab World

The Mahsa Effect: Iran protest at enforced Veiling sparks online Debate and feminist Calls for Action across Arab World

The Conversation

By Balsam Mustafa, University of Warwick | – (The Conversation) – Iranian authorities have cracked down on protests which erupted after the death in custody of a 22-year-old woman who was arrested by the morality police for not wearing the hijab appropriately. The death of Mahsa Amini who was reportedly beaten after being arrested for […]

Algeria

“Cheb Macron’s” ode to Algerian gas: French President’s Arab Pop Music Reference Backfires

Global Voices

Written by Mariam Abuadas مريم أبو عدس and Faizah Falah فايزة فلاح | – ( Globalvoices.org) – On August 29, French President Emmanuel Macron concluded his three-day visit to Algeria with a historic stopover in the city of Oran, during which he visited the fortress and the Church of Santa Cruz, two of the country’s […]

Climate Crisis

Egypt, among Countries most Threatened by Climate Emergency, Cripples Environmental Groups

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – The Egyptian government has severely curtailed environmental groups’ ability to carry out independent policy, advocacy, and field work essential to protecting the country’s natural environment, Human Rights Watch said today. These restrictions violate the rights to freedom of assembly and association and threaten Egypt’s ability to uphold its environmental […]

Agriculture

Food Sovereignty vs. Food Aid: Why Small-Scale Farming Suffers

Daniel Martin Varisco

( Tabsir.net ) – The early major civilizations in the Middle East and Asia with their head start several millennia ago had one thing in common: an agricultural base that fed not only people but led to development of states and their services. Major river systems like the Nile and Tigris/ Euphrates, the Ganges of […]

Iran

Did the U.S. Permanently Destabilize Iraq? Will There be an Intra-Shia Civil War?

Middle East Monitor

By Raed Ahmed | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – There is usually a lot of competition between near-equal armed groups in Iraq. Resisting the 2003 US-led invasion provided a good opportunity for emerging groups from Sunni and Shia communities across the country to do just that. Such groups became the main protagonists in […]

Displaced and Refugees

A Syrian Academic at the Fringe: why I put on a Show to reclaim the Stories of Refugees like Me

The Conversation

By Lina Fadel, Heriot-Watt University | – This summer I performed my own one-woman show at the 75th Edinburgh Fringe – a sentence I never thought I would write in my 17 years of living in the UK. But there I was, a Syrian academic on stage in Edinburgh in front of a microphone, high […]

Human Rights

Saudis sentence Leeds doctoral student Salma Al-Shehab to 34 Years in Prison for Human Rights Tweets

Committee on Academic Freedom

Middle East Studies Association | – Committee on Academic Freedom 7 September 2022 His Majesty King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia and Custodian of the two Holy Mosques Fax: (via Ministry of the Interior) +966 11 403 3125, et al. Your Majesty, Your Royal Highnesses, Your Excellency: We write to you […]

Saudi Arabia

Djinns and Glass Palaces: Is New Saudi Desert City Utopia or Horror Story?

Middle East Monitor

By Omar Ahmed | – ( Middle East Monitor) – Saudi Arabia’s The Line has been lauded as the world’s most futuristic city plan, and for good reason. The vertical, walled smart city will run entirely on renewable energy and aims to revolutionise urban planning, putting humans first. Catering for some nine million residents, the […]