Society
Topics
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Syrian Refugees in IraqExodus into the Unknown
Birgit Svensson visits a refugee camp in Dohuk in Iraqi Kurdistan where she finds Shefat and her brother Omar: they want to tell the world about the terrible things that are happening to the Syrian people
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Interview with Mohammad Mojtahed ShabestariWhy Islam and Democracy Go Well Together
The Shiite scholar Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari is regarded as one of the Iran's most influential Muslim reformist thinkers. In an interview with Jan Kuhlmann, he explains why there is no inconsistency between Islam and democracy.
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German Court Ruling over Ritual CircumcisionKulturkampf against Muslims and Jews
A court in Germany has ruled that circumcision on religious grounds amounts to bodily harm, making it potentially punishable by law. Sociologist of religion Rolf Schieder says this is an unacceptable move that questions the right to religious freedom
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The Shia-Sunni ConflictThe Most Deadly Religious War of our Time
Preachers like the Sunni legal scholar Yusuf Al-Qaradawi or the Shia Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati are propagating sectarian hate and exacerbating the divide between Islam's two major denominations. In this essay, Stefan Buchen explains how the religious war they have helped to unleash within Islam is having a catastrophic effect on the Greater Middle East
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French International Footballer Hatem Ben ArfaBad Boy Coming Good
French striker Hatem Ben Arfa's career hasn't exactly been of the storybook variety. The 25-year-old son of Tunisian immigrants went on strike at Olympique Marseille, became involved in a whole series of escapades, and finally moved on to Newcastle United, where he became the victim of a career-threatening foul. Now, it seems, he has finally come of age. André Tucic reports
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The Turkish Women's Rights Activist Selen Lermioğlu Yılmaz''The Government Is Trying to Intrude in People's Private Lives''
In May the Turkish government announced its plan to limit women's access to legal abortion, later dropping the item from the parliament's agenda after harsh reactions from society. While the debate was a divisive one, it did at least provide an umbrella issue beneath which women's groups rallied, says Selen Lermioğlu Yılmaz in this interview
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Arab WorldEducation Is the Solution!
Egyptian media scientist Hanan Badr believes education is the key to give marginalized groups in society broader access to their country's resources
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Violence against Minorities in IndonesiaDemocracy without Tolerance
The violence against minorities in Indonesia has reached new, terrible heights. While Islamist hardliners target Christians and supporters of the Islamic Ahmadiyya, the state turns a blind eye. Andy Budiman has the details
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Egyptian Women's Rights Activist Hoda BadranWomen as Losers of the Revolution?
Egypt's most prominent women's rights activist Hoda Badran fears a regression in the battle for social and political equality for women. With the newly-founded "Egyptian Feminist Union", she aims to bring the concerns of women to a wider public. Claudia Mende introduces her
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Salafist Propaganda in GermanyMass Conversions in Public Places
The Salafists are distributing copies of the Quran in Germany and making a big noise on the Internet about converting new followers to their cause. The country is now high up on the list of priorities for the Salafist movement, writes Josef Croitoru
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Arab WorldNo Arab Spring in Education
Many of the people taking to the streets in revolt movements in the Arab World are young college graduates. Although they are often better educated than their parents, their chances of finding a job are scant. Loay Mudhoon reports
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Interview with the Algerian Women's Rights Activist Nadia Ait Zai''We need to completely change the system of government''
The recent parliamentary election in Algerian has made little difference to the balance of political power. One thing, however, is new: there are now suddenly five times as many female members of parliament. Martina Sabra asked the Algerian lawyer and women's rights activist Nadia Ait Zai about what was behind this change, and about prospects for the future
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Egypt after the Arab Spring
"We all live in the shadow of the revolution"
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Annick Cojean: "Gaddafi's Harem"
A Monstrous Nexus of Power, Sexuality and Violence
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Cannabis and Islam?
There is no one single answer
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Sex tourism in Egypt
A bride for the summer
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Gender roles in the Arab world
'The idea of male dominance is in crisis'
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The future of Islamic mysticism
Is Sufism under threat?