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From Basra to Baghdad

Young Iraqis rise up for a life worth living

Major rallies against the nation's political elite have been raging in Iraq for months, so far resulting in 15 deaths and 120 injuries. Birgit Svensson reports from Basra, where the protests first flared up and quickly spread through the entire southern half of the country to Baghdad
Book review: Nadia Hashimi's "Sparks like Stars"

Reclaiming memories long buried

In "Sparks Like Stars", Nadia Hashimi pulls the reader behind the curtain of modern history to peek backstage at the impact of war and terror on individual lives. Richard Marcus read the book
Shia minority in a Sunni state

Afghanistan's repressed Hazaras face a hostile Taliban

Following the Taliban's power grab, members of the Hazara minority fear they will be targeted. Those who can, escape. Others have joined the armed opposition. But for many, there is no way out. Report by Naomi Conrad, Birgitta Schuelke-Gill and Samad Sharif
Sectarian strife in Pakistan

Syria's proxy war widens gulf between Sunnis and Shias

After a period of relative calm, the conflict in Syria is reigniting the tensions between Sunni and Shia Muslims in Pakistan: groups from both sects are involved in the clashes in Syria. The authorities fear a new wave of sectarian violence. Background by Mohammad Luqman
"Under siege": Pakistan's Hazara minority lives in fear and defiance

High walls around the neighbourhoods of Pakistan’s embattled Hazara community in the southwestern city of Quetta are designed to protect them from extremist militants, but also serve as a constant reminder of the threat they face. By Gul Yousufzai and Akthar Soomro
Sunnis in Iran

The Zahedan network

Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Balochistan Province, is one of the few Iranian cities with a Sunni majority population. Here, Sunnis can still practise their faith in relative freedom. Recently, however, the city has become a focus for radical Sunni groups. Philipp Breu reports from Zahedan
Interview with Lebanese poet Zeina Hashem Beck

Our broken languages

Lebanese poet Zeina Hashem Beck talks to Marcia Lynx Qualey about her work in the spaces between languages, communities and political factions. She writes in English, yet her poetry is so infused with Arabic that it becomes its own, liminal language
Arabist Tim Mackintosh-Smith

"Reading Arabic is a bit like playing chess"

Tim Mackintosh-Smith's latest book – "Arabs" – reveals how linguistic developments helped and hindered the progress of Arab history. In interview with Qantara.de, he talks to Elisabeth Knoblauch about how, even in today’s politically fractured post–Arab Spring environment, Arabic itself is still a source of unity and disunity
An eye-catching tableau for resistance: graffiti art in Bethlehem

In 2002, the then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon approved the construction of a barrier wall that would run along the ceasefire line of 1949 with the intention of separating Israeli territories from the Palestinian West Bank. In Bethlehem, graffiti artists have started using the wall as a canvas for political protest and socially critical art. By Laura Overmeyer
Graffiti artist Shamsia Hassani

Giving voice to Afghanistan's oppressed

Afghanistan's first female street artist depicts Afghan women as they face renewed Taliban threats. Despite the danger, she pursues her work of resistance. By Cristina Burack