Society

Visiting the Sufis in Sehwan Sharif

Defying the extremists

It is over a year since an IS suicide bomber blew himself up at the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, claiming the lives of at least 88 people. Followers of the Sufi order, however, remain stubbornly defiant. Philipp Breu reports from Sehwan Sharif
By Philipp Breu
Freedom of speech under threat in India

An army of Hindutva trolls

Disinformation has become a serious problem in India. The ruling partyʹs ideology is divisive and relies on self-serving myths. Fact-based, public-interest journalism is increasingly on the defensive, says Indian television journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani
By Arfa Khanum Sherwani
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon

"I've never forgotten Palestine"

In May 1948, Israel declared its independence. Palestinians such as Hafida Khatib refer to this moment as the "Nakba" (catastrophe). Hafida and her family fled to Lebanon, a country that has never felt like home. Diana Hodali reports from Burj el-Barajneh south of Beirut
By Diana Hodali
The uncertain future of Modern Standard Arabic

A language in decline

Substantial numbers of schoolchildren in the Gulf are losing their ability to communicate in Arabic. The development may well herald the onset of language loss in the region. By Sawsan Khalaf
By Sawsan Khalaf
Controversial manifesto against "new anti-Semitism" in France

Cutting Suras to suit

In France, the publication of a manifesto that calls among other things for the removal of certain verses from the Koran and seeks to pave the way for state intervention in religious matters has triggered heated debate. Farid Hafez has the details
By Farid Hafez
Israeli author Lizzie Doron on Independence Day

"Israel is facing crucial decisions"

Seventy years after the founding of the State of Israel, Lizzie Doron, author of "Who the Fuck is Kafka?", which traces the unlikely friendship of an Israeli and a Palestinian, walks through her evolving feelings over the years regarding 14 May
By Lizzie Doron
Migrating across the Mediterranean

Escape at all costs

For a while, things had quietened down around Spain. Neither Ceuta and Melilla nor mainland Spain were hitting the headlines with fresh streams of refugees arriving there. Yet that could all be about to change. By Susanne Kaiser
By Susanne Kaiser
Egyptian football

Sun god, star, Mo Salah

Just weeks before the start of the FIFA World Cup, excitement in Egypt has reached fever pitch. What's causing the mania? The Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah, currently tipped as the best football player in the world. By Bachir Amroune
By Bachir Amroune
The Syrian Archive

Netting the war criminals

An open source project in Berlin is gathering hundreds of thousands of online videos on the war in Syria in order to investigate war crimes such as the recent alleged chemical weapons attack on Douma. By David Siebert
By David Siebert
Syrian women in Assadʹs prisons

No end to Bashar's crimes against humanity

Thousands of Syrian women are believed to be incarcerated in the Assad regime's prisons. Little is known about their fate, but those who manage to escape tell tales of horror. Julia Hahn reports from Gaziantep
By Julia Hahn
Lebanonʹs rubbish crisis and youth protests

"If not us, then who?"

Something remarkable has begun in Beirut. Massive government mismanagement and the attendant rubbish crisis two years ago inspired and galvanised Lebanese youth to demand more of their government and to hold their leaders accountable. It all began with the closure of the Naameh landfill, which was over-capacity. Kareem Chehayeb recalls the protests
By Kareem Chehayeb
Islamic inheritance law in Morocco and Tunisia

Feminist Asma Lamrabet under pressure

Conservatives in Morocco have forced the Islamic feminist Asma Lamrabet to relinquish her post at the Centre d'Etudes Feminines en Islam in Rabat. A debate on discrimination against women in Islamic inheritance law sparked the conflict, fuelled in part by a draft amendment in Tunisia that would institute an egalitarian law of inheritance there. By Claudia Mende
By Claudia Mende