Qantara Startseite Englisch - Dialogue with the Islamic world
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Architecture in LibyaReclaiming a vanishing colonial heritage
As Benghazi’s Italian-era architecture slowly disappears, an exhibition brings together architects and artists rethinking the city’s history — reassessing the colonial past without celebrating it.
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War crimes in SyriaThe starvation of Yarmouk on trial
A new trial of Syrian suspects has opened in Koblenz, Germany — the first to begin since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, and the first ever to charge starvation as a war crime.
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Palestinian journalist Plestia Alaqad"Our very existence is seen as a provocation"
Plestia Alaqad’s reporting from Gaza in 2023 reached millions worldwide. Now based in Australia, she reflects on fleeing her home and living with survivor’s guilt while representing Palestine to the international media.
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Disarming Hezbollah in LebanonNasrallah on the Pigeon Rocks
When the Lebanese government moved to disarm Hezbollah, the influential militia responded with a symbolic show of force in the heart of Beirut. Is it projecting strength, or masking political weakness?
Politics
More about Politics-
UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-EnanyPolitics over preservation?
Khaled El-Enany has been appointed to lead UNESCO, sparking intense debate. Critics cite the former minister's role in controversial demolitions and redevelopment projects in Egypt, arguing that his approach to heritage was shaped by political considerations.
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Rebuilding KhartoumThe same old tale of power and exclusion
While Sudan's de facto government focuses on reviving the capital, its reconstruction policies follow a familiar pattern: channelling resources to the centre while neglecting the marginalised, war-torn periphery.
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Two years after October 7Making a case for a wide-ranging viewpoint
Two years after October 7, the need for honest analysis has never been more urgent. Real understanding can only emerge when we begin at the right place—by looking beyond recent events and the history of occupation of the Palestinian territories.
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Israel’s former intelligence chief on 7 October"Our actions are the result of fear"
Two years after the Hamas attack, Israel remains in shock, says Ami Ayalon. In this interview, the former intelligence chief explains why Israeli society has failed to learn the lessons of 7 October, why the Gaza war must end, and why he rejects allegations of genocide.
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Syrian newspaper Enab Baladi"We offer an alternative to propaganda and hate"
The team behind Enab Baladi, the revolutionary media organisation founded at the start of the 2011 uprising, has returned to Syria. Co-founder Kholoud Helmi explains why their presence in Damascus is more crucial than ever.
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Syrian President Ahmed al-SharaaThe false saviour
Ahmed al-Sharaa is celebrated for liberating Syria from the Assad regime. But the former militia leader has a dark past. Will the people, out of desperation, once again fall prey to a brutal dictator?
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Egyptian activist pardonedAlaa Abd El-Fattah is free
After years in prison, democracy activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah is free. Egypt's president has officially pardoned the 43-year-old. Read by a selection of texts by and about one of the key figures of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution.
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Hamas in GazaA fractured movement, an absent leadership
Hamas miscalculated. It failed to anticipate the scale of Israel's retaliation after 7 October, which has left Gaza in ruins, eroding support for the movement and provoking the anger of the people it claims to represent.
Society
More about Society-
Child labour in EgyptNew regulations won't end poverty
Whether in supermarkets, workshops or factories, child labour is ubiquitous in Egypt. A new law aims to curb it, but labour laws alone will not solve the structural problems that drive children to work.
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Islah HassniyyehGaza's feminist legal pioneer
Islah Hassniyyeh was the first woman to open a law firm in Gaza. In September, she died under Israeli blockade in Gaza City. A portrait of a trailblazing lawyer and lifelong advocate for women's rights in Palestine.
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Deported from GermanyYazidi survivors confront the harsh reality of return
Thousands of Yazidis fled IS genocide and found refuge in Germany. Now, many have been ordered to return to Iraq, where they face dire living conditions, shattered infrastructure and the threat of further violence.
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"The Misguided Islam Debate" by Teseo La MarcaA plea for a pluralistic Islam
In his new book, Teseo La Marca argues that Germany's debate on Islam swings between extremes and calls for more nuance as an antidote to fundamentalism. But does he practise what he preaches?
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Syrian activist The Darvish"Queerness is freedom and freedom is indivisible"
Belly dancer and queer organiser The Darvish arrived in Berlin in 2016, where they found a welcoming community and room for self-expression. But they warn that, as German politics shifts to the right, this community is under threat and its spaces are vanishing.
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Syria's shadow economySex work, captagon and currency
Having grown significantly during the war, Syria's informal market for sex, drugs and money continues to thrive. Meanwhile, weak regulation is discouraging investment in the formal economy.
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Egypt's TikTok crackdownSuzy el-Ordoneya and the politics of social media fame
A police crackdown in Egypt is targeting TikTok influencers. Among them is Suzy el-Ordoneya (Suzy the Jordanian), whose rapid rise has brought her into conflict with official state morality.
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Kafr Nabl, SyriaTraces of the revolution
When the Syrian revolution began in 2011, Kafr Nabl went from a sleepy, provincial town to a hub of resistance. Today, it resembles a ghost town. Its story may help ensure the revolution's original ideals are not forgotten.
Culture
More about Culture-
Cherien Dabis's "All That's Left of You"Palestinian identity on screen
In "All That's Left of You", Cherien Dabis intertwines a three-generation family saga with the history of Israel and Palestine, placing her within a growing movement of filmmakers negotiating Palestinian identity through cinema.
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"In the Land of the Forgotten" by Aliyeh AtaeiStories of war and the fight for freedom
With a keen sense for nuance, Aliyeh Ataei describes a life between Iran and Afghanistan, one marked by resistance, a search for identity and constant confrontation with social norms.
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Zia Qasemi's "The Midnight Collector"Afghanistan—a restless country
A short life that represents an entire country: in "The Midnight Collector", Zia Qasemi recounts the life story of a man with a physical disability and reveals why Afghanistan has much more to tell us than we often believe.
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Documentary "The Moelln Letters"An indictment of forgetting
In 1992, shortly after German reunification, neo-Nazis in Mölln carried out an arson attack targeting Turkish families. "The Moelln Letters" follows the survivors, who just recently discovered the hundreds of letters of solidarity withheld from them for decades.
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Artists in SyriaReclaiming space, testing limits
Since Assad's fall, Syrian artists and intellectuals have been seeking ways to respond to a transformed reality. Four cultural workers reflect on the shape of the cultural sphere in the new Syria.
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Afghan poet Matiullah TurabA critical voice even the Taliban listened to
Afghan poet Matiullah Turab has unexpectedly died. Turab saw himself as the modest voice of a tormented people—and even the extremists listened.
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Books on Israel-PalestineThe perennial question of the West
New publications on the Israel-Palestine conflict: Alena Jabarine writes about inequality and arbitrary violence in the West Bank, Omar El Akkad settles scores with the West and Gilbert Achcar analyses the ideological roots of Hamas and Zionism.
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Moroccan Gnawa festivalA Sufi tradition on the world stage
A festival in Morocco is bringing Gnawa music to the mainstream. Shaped by migration, slavery and a long struggle for recognition, the once marginalised Sufi tradition is now internationally renowned.
750th anniversary of Rumi's death
750th anniversary of Rumi's death - Qantara.de
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