Politics

Death sentence for Rapper Toomaj

Tehran's legitimacy crisis

The rapper Toomaj Salehi has been sentenced to death in Iran. His case shows how the regime is fighting to maintain its power, and against whom
By Stefan Buchen
Parliamentary elections in Iran

Tehran's election fiasco

Regime and society in Iran remain on a collision course with the actual turnout in the second round of Iran's parliamentary election last week estimated to have fallen below 40 per cent.
By Ali Fathollah-Nejad
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
By Christian Meier
Daniel Marwecki on German–Israeli relations

Behind the façade of "atonement"

Historian Daniel Marwecki's 2020 book on the early years of German–Israeli relations has now been published in German under the title "Absolution? Israel und die deutsche Staatsräson". In it, the author describes these relations as a history of mutual interest-led politics
By Florian Keisinger
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
By Hans Dembowski
Get out of Gaza

Exploiting the Palestinians

In view of the catastrophic situation in Gaza, Palestinians all over the world are trying to get relatives out of the sealed-off enclave. Unscrupulous Egyptian businessmen are cashing in on people's desperation. Qantara.de reports from Cairo
By Birgit Svensson
Dangerous Instagram?

Iraqi LGBTQ+ community loses safe space

It was always double-edged, but in Iraq, social media was often a comparatively safe place where the local queer community could meet. Recent amendments to Iraqi law are changing all that
By Cathrin Schaer
“From the river to the sea”

How to interpret a slogan

The notion that the slogan is sweepingly anti-Semitic falls short of the mark. But extremist interpretations need to be condemned – on both the Israeli and the Palestinian side
By Kristin Helberg
The discourse about Islam in German politics

From open to latent Islamophobia

Sociologist and Islamic studies expert Imad Mustafa was commissioned by the Group of Independent Experts on Islamophobia (UEM) to conduct the first academic study of the discourse around Islam in Germany's political parties. His findings have recently been published in book form
By Joseph Croitoru
German-Turkish relations

Towards a modern policy on Turkey

Political and diplomatic relations between Germany and Turkey are marked by dissent, but the numerous flashpoints in the Middle East are now bringing the two countries closer together. The German President's deft balancing act on his trip to Turkey points the way toward a pragmatic policy on Turkey
By Yaşar Aydın
Germany and the Netanyahu government

Death zone Gaza: Germany is complicit

For years, Germany has been Israel's second most important supplier of arms. As a result, German weapons have ended up being used in the Gaza war. As evidence piles up of serious legal violations by Israel, the question of whether the German government is complicit in this catastrophic situation must be asked
By Stefan Buchen
Egypt's New Capital

Counter-revolution completed

With Abdul Fattah al-Sisi's move into his new presidential palace and the inauguration of the new administrative capital, the Egyptian military's counter-revolution of 30 June 2013 is complete
By Shady Lewis Botros