Society

Tülay Tugcu

President of the Turkish Constitutional Court

For the first time in Turkish history, a woman has been elected to hold the highest judicial position in the country. The predominately male high court judges elected 63-year-old Tülay Tugcu as their President. Yesim Kasap reports
Interview with Angelika Neuwirth

"The Koran – A Book in Many Languages"

Angelika Neuwirth is one of Germany's most renowned Koran experts. In this interview with Kurt Scharf, she talks about the aesthetic dimension of the Koran, the trouble with translating sacred texts, and the notion of "inlibration"
Sufi Traditions in Northern Africa

Mysticism as a Means of Fighting Religious Extremism

Politicians in the Maghreb nations are re-discovering Sufi Islam and its brotherhoods as an effective means of combating religious extremism. Beat Stauffer reports
German Islam Converts

Islam as an Alternative?

The number of Germans converting Islam is on the rise. According to figures released by the Islam-Archive Central Institute, a record number of Christians have converted to Islam since September 11, 2001. Aslan Khassan and Rizki Nugraha report
Interview with Nikola Tietze

Franco-German Perspectives

The sociologist Nikola Tietze has been studying forms of Muslim identity in Germany and France. Susan Javad spoke to her about the different ways of approaching Islam in the two countries
Islam and Modernity

Countering the Rise of Mistrust

Only when fighting words like Islamophobia and Islamofascism are avoided can the issue of Islam and modernity be studied and debated in an unbiased way, argues Claus Leggewie
Cultural Dialogue with the Islamic World

"There Is No Alternative to Intensive Exchange"

European-Islamic cultural dialogue has been made a key weapon in the arsenal of security policy measures. But culture, art, and education lose their inherent strength when they are used as mere tools to create security and solve conflicts, argues Johannes Ebert
The Israeli-Palestinian Radio Station "All for Peace"

Promoting Mideast Dialogue on the Airwaves

The idea of a radio station broadcast in both Hebrew and Arabic is without precedence in the Middle East. But this is exactly what a station in Jerusalem has been doing in recent weeks. Joseph Croitoru reports
Documentary "Bridge over the Wadi"

Jewish and Arab Children Attending the Same School

Sometimes it is children who show adults how simple understanding between Israelis and Arabs can be. The documentary "Bridge over the Wadi" reveals the ups and downs of a joint Arab-Israeli school project. Petra Tabeling reports
Psychotherapy in Kabul

Counseling for Traumatized Afghans

After 20 years of war, many Afghans are desperately in need of psychotherapy. A new approach aims to address the needs of a deeply traumatized nation, as Martin Gerner reports
Afghanistan

Women's Shelters

Two years after the fall of the Taliban, the situation of women in Afghanistan hardly shows any improvement. In an effort to change this, the German aid organization "medica mondiale" is now extending its activities out into the provinces. Janine Albrecht reports
Kofi Annan

Cartoons Have the Power to Inform, and to Offend

In early 2006, a set of cartoons caused violent global protest and outrage. Now, a year later, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan takes a look at freedom of expression and respect for the beliefs and feelings of others, and weighs the case