History of the Near and Middle East
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Israel after the Hamas attacks of 7 October
The echo of the Holocaust
Many Israelis feel reminded of the Holocaust by the events of 7 October 2023. Others reject such comparisons. The government's stance is ambivalent. A report from Tel Aviv
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Middle East debate in Germany
The bell of Gaza
With its fossilised premise of "raison d'etat" Germany is damaging itself. It is time for change – for constructive partnership in a concerted effort to overcome the Israeli-Palestinian catastrophe
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Middle East conflict
Two peoples' experience of displacement
The Israel-Palestine conflict is multilayered and very complex. The greatest problem is that both sides have reason to believe the other wants to destroy them
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Middle East conflict
Life in Palestine before the Nakba
"Against Erasure" documents the diversity of life in Palestine before the foundation of the state of Israel in 1948, building a solid foundation for sorely needed, well-grounded discourse on the Middle East
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Middle East: Is there a solution to the endless conflict?
Welcome to Abraham/Ibrahim
Who invented it? The Swiss. Why it might be worth looking to the Swiss Confederation in the search for a solution to the Middle East conflict
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Lebanon's Tripoli
Old wounds and new problems on "Syria Street"
Syria Street in Tripoli, Lebanon's second-largest city, was a microcosm of the Syrian Civil War for many years. Nowadays, a fragile calm hides the complexities of Lebanon's past and the resilience of its people
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Israel, Hamas and the war in Gaza
Seven uncomfortable truths
Anyone wanting to fully understand the current Middle East crisis must face up to realities on the ground. For many, however, this is at odds with the schematic picture they have in their heads. Here are seven uncomfortable truths crucial to de-escalating the situation and finding a solution
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Holocaust researcher Omer Bartov
"Germany could help Israel and Palestine on the path to reconciliation"
In interview with Qantara.de, leading Holocaust researcher Omer Bartov talks about the indictment against Israel at the International Court of Justice, the instrumentalisation of anti-Semitism and Germany's possible role in a two-state solution
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Egypt's hundred-year-old whodunnit revisited
Murder in the brothel – Raya, Sakina and the 17 female corpses
A century ago, two sisters in the red-light district of Alexandria became icons of evil as serial killers. But did they really kill prostitutes for a few gold bracelets?
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Marriage, religion and love in Egypt
The long road to modernising marriage
American historian Kenneth M. Cuno talks to Qantara.de about the decline of polygamy in Egypt, the emergence of love when choosing a marriage partner, and what role Muhammad Abduh and Qasim Amin played in promoting new ideas about marriage and the family
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Kurdistan + 100
Stories from a future republic
"Kurdistan + 100" is the third anthology in Comma Press's "future past" series, and a fourth – Egypt + 100 – is set to be published next year. Writers are asked to imagine a moment in the future connected to an event in their shared past
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The Middle East's cosmopolitan tradition
Back to a Levantine future?
As regional and global problems rise, the once mixed cities of the Eastern Mediterranean may offer ideas for how we can escape our distress