Human rights

A Palestinian exodus to Egypt?

Is the entire population of Gaza to be relocated to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt? This is what a strategy paper by the influential Israeli Misgav Institute envisages. In interview with Qantara.de, German-Israeli economist Shir Hever explains what the plan is all about

What does 'never again' actually mean?

History puts Germany on Israel's side. For the same reason, Germany must defend international and human rights. This is now a dilemma. A value-driven foreign policy would do well to remember the universalist understanding of 'never again'

What's left of the 'Republican woman'?

The modern, well-educated, progressive woman was a key pillar of the Turkish Republic's social project when it was founded a hundred years ago. How have female visual artists engaged with this ideal and its reality?

Battling public mood, Turkey quietly assimilates Syrians

Mahmud Abdi came to Turkey hoping to return once the bloodshed ebbed. Almost a decade later, the 30-year-old carpenter is looking to open his own workshop in the southeastern Turkish city of Sanliurfa, where a quarter of the two million inhabitants are Syrian

Muslim sceptics, the West and democracy

Events unfolding in the Middle East will have long-term consequences for world politics. Analysing perceptions is crucial to predicting the fallout. So how does the global Muslim community perceive Western governments' support of Israel's siege and aerial bombardment of Gaza?

The sting that bit back

Islamophobic incidents are once again on the rise across the Western world following the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. "Manufacturing the Threat" reminds us what lengths governments will go to to achieve the results they believe people want to see

What happens after Gaza?

Following Hamas's terrorist attack on 7 October, the world affirmed Israel’s right to defend itself. But political leaders on the front lines – and the international community more broadly – must start thinking about how to put the region on a path towards lasting peace and stability. By Carl Bildt

Jewish New Yorkers speak out against 'dehumanisation' of Palestinians

New York's two million-strong Jewish community has suffered anguish in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attacks. While many back the Israeli government's response and have rallied in support of Israel, others are unsettled by the Gaza military campaign and the huge price paid by Palestinian civilians

West Bank a possible 'third front' for Israel

Violence in the occupied West Bank has surged since Israel began bombarding the Gaza Strip and clashing with Hezbollah at the Lebanon border, fuelling concerns that the flashpoint Palestinian territory could become a third front in a wider war

What are the rules, according to international law?

Israel is retaliating after the Hamas terrorist attacks with massive bombings, a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and possibly a ground offensive. What is covered by international law – and what constitutes a war crime? By Matthias von Hein

PEN: No freedom for the word