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Multi-religious life in the Jewish Quarter of Damascus

Syrian author Moussa Abadi depicts peaceful coexistence in the Jewish Quarter of 1920s Damascus in ‘The Queen and the Calligrapher’. The characters may be quirky and the stories bizarre, but they show us that the Damascus of yesterday could be a model for our own time.

"The question is: which human rights do the Taliban not violate?"

In August 2021, the USA and its allies withdrew from Afghanistan. Emran Feroz joins the "Deep Dive" podcast to shed light on the human rights situation in the country after three years of Taliban rule.

The uncertainty of freedom

An abandoned Assad-regime torture chamber, Kalashnikov-wielding rebels and a fearful archbishop. Karim El-Gawhary reports from the "new Syria"—a snapshot of history.

"Gaza was where the West went to die"

Trailblazing cartoonist and journalist Joe Sacco reflects on Western coverage of the war on Gaza, oral histories, and comics as a medium for critical journalism.

Songs for a Lebanon that never existed

Lebanese singer Fairuz, now a 90-year-old icon, began her career 70 years ago with mould-breaking musical theatre. Setting artistic milestones alongside the Rahbani brothers, she soundtracked the history of Lebanon through an era marked by suffering and war.

"Syria should be governed federally like Iraq or the UAE"

Elham Ahmed, the foreign representative of northeast Syria, voices concern for minorities in Aleppo following the city’s recent capture. In an interview with Qantara, she outlines her vision of a decentralised Syria and comments on the German debate over the deportation of criminal refugees.

On hope and despair in the Middle East

The Middle East powder keg is threatening to explode. Anyone who still believes in peace must have hope – yet hope is precisely what is lacking. The Israeli writer David Grossman makes this appeal to his countrymen

"For a just reconstruction, the people must have a voice"

Since 2017, Syrbanism has been connecting architects and urbanists across the Syrian diaspora. In the wake of Assad's fall, founders Edwar Hanna and Nour Harastani travelled to Damascus to work on their vision of a democratic reconstruction.

Playing without fear

An amateur women's volleyball team in Gaza is offering displaced people a sense of peace amid the destruction. The women on the team dream of a lasting end to Israel's war on the enclave.

Derna – difficult search for missing migrants

Around 10% of the victims of the recent devastating floods in Libya were from other countries. Some were working there, others likely trying to leave for Europe. By Islam Alatrash in Libya and Cathrin Schaer