Politics

Interview with Sarit Michaeli from B′Tselem

Creeping annexation

The NGO B′Tselem investigates human rights violations committed by the Israeli military in the Palestinian territories. In interview with Kai Schnier, Sarit Michaeli, the organisation′s spokeswoman, explains why a peaceful settlement of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is receding into distance and neither politicians nor generals are interested in reducing the tension
By Kai Schnier
The Mosul offensive

In enemy heartland

Progress is slow in the battle for control of Mosul, with IS jihadists using booby traps and suicide commandos against the liberators. Karim El-Gawhary spoke to Kurdish fighters and refugees in some of the villages recaptured by the peshmerga
By Karim El-Gawhary
Interview with Turkish author Elif Shafak

Democracy in a downward spiral

In interview with Sabine Peschel, best-selling Turkish author Elif Shafak warns against the disintegration of democratic values and the rise of authoritarianism in Turkey and across Europe
By Sabine Peschel
The Mosul offensive

The Caliphate's cubs

In the battle for the Iraqi city of Mosul, Islamic State jihadists are fighting with their backs to the wall. In their desperation, they are increasingly deploying child suicide bombers. Judit Neurink reports from Irbil
By Judit Neurink
Saudi influence in Pakistan

A perilous road

Saudi-supported ultra-conservative worldviews, abetted by successive Pakistani governments, are changing the very nature of Pakistani society. By James M. Dorsey
By James M. Dorsey
Citizenship law reform in Algeria

The tug-of-war over identity

In July of this year the Algerian cabinet passed a controversial law allowing only those with ″exclusive Algerian nationality″ to hold high office. Report by Federica Zoja
By Federica Zoja
US presidential elections

Huma Abedin – the woman in the shadows

Huma Abedin, long-time aide to Hillary Clinton, is someone who prefers to remain in the background. The current election campaign has seen her dragged reluctantly into the limelight however – and confronted her with sex scandals and terror threats. By Mey Dudin
By Mey Dudin
Democracy in Palestine

High hopes, low expectations

Palestinians who hoped municipal elections would eventually pave the way to overdue national ones voice criticism about decisions that led to their postponement. By Ylenia Gostoli
By Ylenia Gostoli
The murder of Jordanian author Nahed Hattar

The same stinking swamp

There′s not much to choose between the IS terrorist who recently gunned down the Islam-critical author Nahed Hattar in Amman and those who murdered Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi in Tunisia. These murders are the result of the Islamist mobilisation against all those who think differently or have a different political standpoint. By Khaled Hroub
By Khaled Hroub
Elections in Morocco

Enough austerity

Morocco′s Party for Justice and Development (PJD) faces a stiff confidence test on 7 October when parliamentary elections are held for the second time since constitutional reforms were adopted in 2011. Moreover, rumours that the Makhzen is finished with the PJD means that the main opposition – the Party for Authenticity and Modernity (PAM) – poses a serious challenge at the polls. Analysis by Matthew Greene
By Matthew Greene
On the death of Shimon Peres

Stranger than fiction

In the blanket homage to the late Israeli politician Shimon Peres there are significant omissions. One should not speak ill of the dead. But nevertheless, the gushing praise demands further clarification. A critical appraisal by Stefan Buchen
By Stefan Buchen
Russia and the Syrian conflict

Drop the dictator!

For there to be any hope of an end to the war in Syria, Moscow has to realise that an orderly handover of power in Damascus is in its own interest, writes Kristin Helberg
By Kristin Helberg