Society

Qantara review 2014

Your favourite articles of the year

This year, roughly 450 English-language articles were published on Qantara.de. These articles covered a huge variety of topics from the civil war in Syria, the rise of IS, and the Gaza conflict to elections in Tunisia, Turkey, India and Egypt. We also took a closer look at Islamophobia in Germany and worldwide, integration in Europe, and women's rights and freedom of speech in the Islamic world, not to mention a fascinating and colourful range of topics from the world of culture
Interview with Zara Faris

"Feminism is about stereotypes on how women should live"

Zara Faris is a British researcher and speaker of Kurdish/Pakistani descent. She has a quarrel with feminist theology, and her views on gender and Islam have provoked a lot of debate. Claudia Mende spoke to her about these subjects
By Claudia Mende
Research project into "spaces of participation"

Hubs of political protest

From Casablanca to Manama, from Cairo to Istanbul: coffee shops, youth clubs mosques and public areas all play an important role in modern protest movements. A research project at the Centre for Modern Oriental Studies (ZMO) in Berlin is now taking a closer look at such spaces of resistance and hope. By Jannis Hagmann
By Jannis Hagmann
Documentary: "The Green Prince"

A friendship that inspires hope

Green is the colour of Hamas. The documentary "The Green Prince" tells the story of a Palestinian who turned informer and worked for the Israeli secret service for years. Igal Avidan watched the film and spoke to its director, Nadav Schirman
By Igal Avidan
Launch of the digital television channel Alchemiya

A dose of positivity in dark times

A new London-based media start-up seeks to counter the warped portrayal of Islam. The digital television channel Alchemiya intends to showcase only positive content. Sounds a bit cheesy? Perhaps it is, says Jannis Hagmann, but it just might be a smart business idea and one that will catch on
By Jannis Hagmann
Nobel Peace Prize 2014

Serving stereotypes about the subcontinent?

According to Florian Weigand, Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi richly deserved to win the Nobel Peace Prize this year. However, he adds that the Norwegian Nobel Committee's decision to honour a Pakistani and an Indian is symbolic politics; the international community has no idea how to achieve sustainable peace in South Asia
By Florian Weigand
The sudden rise of Germany's Islamophobic Pegida movement

"The product of a nervous society"

In the past week, there have been a number of well-attended marches against the "Islamisation of the West" in German cities. These marches were organised by supporters of Pegida (Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the West). Why has the Pegida movement in Germany grown so much so fast? In this interview with Dennis Stute, sociologist Oliver Nachtwey says that political parties are a key factor and warns against the wrong knee-jerk response
By Dennis Stute
Peshawar school attack

The cynical logic of the Pakistan Taliban

The brutal attack on a military-run school in Peshawar killing well over 100 children and several adults proves once again that even conservative Islamic countries like Pakistan cannot escape the deadly threat of militant Islamism. By Florian Weigand
By Florian Weigand
Morocco's social gulf

The many faces of poverty

Travel guidebooks and tourist agencies are fond of using flowery language to sell Morocco as a holiday destination, describing it as a "nation of contrasts". In view of the omnipresent social disparities that define Moroccan society, this is actually a very accurate description. By Susanne Kaiser in Casablanca
By Susanne Kaiser
Female genital mutilation in Egypt

Using comedy to combat a cruel tradition

The group "HaraTV" in Egypt uses theatre to try to enlighten people about female genital mutilation. Elisabeth Lehmann attended one of their performances
By Elisabeth Lehmann
Exhibition: "SNIP IT! Stances on Ritual Circumcision"

An objective examination of a controversial issue

With its exhibition "SNIP IT! Stances on Ritual Circumcision", the Jewish Museum in Berlin offers surprising and diverse insights into the significance of a ritual about which few people in Germany know very much at all. Igal Avidan went to see the exhibition
By Igal Avidan
The emergence of Islamic State in Pakistan

"They don't negotiate, they don't make partners"

Islamic State (IS) has shocked the world with its bulldozer-like advance over Sunni-dominated areas of Iraq and Syria. Ever since it declared a caliphate, there have been fears that the group may supersede al-Qaida as the vanguard of global jihadist movements. According to Kiran Nazish in Pakistan, IS has been trying to recruit from the jihadist stream in South Asia
By Kiran Nazish