Qantara Startseite Englisch - Dialogue with the Islamic world
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Reform of Iraq's Personal Status LawAre Shiite forces on the verge of victory?
The Personal Status Law in Iraq encompasses regulations on marriage, divorce, child custody, inheritance and more. It could soon be amended, with dramatic consequences for women's and children's rights. Feminists and left-leaning political parties have mobilised to defend it.
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Hezbollah's new leader Naim QassemStepping out of Nasrallah's shadow
Naim Qassem is a veteran of Hezbollah in Lebanon. A member since its foundation, he could never escape the shadow of Nasrallah. Now, he's the boss, and a man the Israeli government says is living with a death sentence.
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UAE in GazaSecuring a role in the postwar plan
The United Arab Emirates is supplying vital humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza. Behind the scenes, it is working closely with Israel and the US to plan for the future of the enclave—and to secure a role for itself—once the war is over.
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Book “111 Places in Berlin That Teach Us About Islam”Searching for traces of Muslim life in Berlin
The historic Şehitlik cemetery in Kreuzberg, the queer-friendly Ibn Rushd-Goethe mosque in Moabit, the Muslim community's poetry slam i-Slam: Islam is part of Berlin's history, politics and everyday life.
Politics
More about Politics-
Hezbollah's new leader Naim QassemStepping out of Nasrallah's shadow
Naim Qassem is a veteran of Hezbollah in Lebanon. A member since its foundation, he could never escape the shadow of Nasrallah. Now, he's the boss, and a man the Israeli government says is living with a death sentence.
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UAE in GazaSecuring a role in the postwar plan
The United Arab Emirates is supplying vital humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza. Behind the scenes, it is working closely with Israel and the US to plan for the future of the enclave—and to secure a role for itself—once the war is over.
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Geert Wilders and the right-wing populistsHeads they win, tails they win
Geert Wilders' far-right populist party is neck-to-neck in the polls with the governing VVD in the run-up to elections in the Netherlands next week. While it′s unlikely to be part of the next government, many people fear its ideas will be implemented. Thessa Lageman reports from The Hague
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German-Turkish relationsNo real leverage
Repeated demands for Germany to take a firm line with Erdogan and to end the refugee deal with Turkey have become a favourite mantra of many among the German opposition parties. A hardening of the rhetoric alone, however, is hardly likely to induce Erdogan to change his tack. By Ulrich von Schwerin
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Egyptian Copts flee the Sinai"They're slaughtering us like chickens"
Christians living in the Sinai are an easy target for IS jihadists. They began carrying out a series of murders aimed at intimidating the religious minority and causing panic. The result is a Christian exodus from the northern Sinai. Karim El-Gawhary reports from Ismailia
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Angela Merkel′s visit to EgyptBlinkered realpolitik
No head of state looks forward to meeting a national leader known for the brutal silencing of his critics. Had Angela Merkel pursued a more courageous line in foreign policy, she could have saved herself a deal of discomfiture. By Matthias Sailer
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Deportations to AfghanistanNo safe country of origin
Since the middle of December, 78 Afghans have been deported from Germany on charter flights. The most recent of these joint deportation flights to Kabul took off only last week. Despite the fact that war and destruction are still part of everyday life in Afghanistan, other such flights are already planned. By Emran Feroz
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Iranian-Saudi relationsFor better, for worse
The West often reduces the strained relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia to the sectarian Sunni-Shia conflict, but the reality is far more complex. By Joseph Croitoru
Society
More about Society-
Reform of Iraq's Personal Status LawAre Shiite forces on the verge of victory?
The Personal Status Law in Iraq encompasses regulations on marriage, divorce, child custody, inheritance and more. It could soon be amended, with dramatic consequences for women's and children's rights. Feminists and left-leaning political parties have mobilised to defend it.
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Tareq Sydiq’s book “The New Protest Culture”Can protests transform society?
From Iran to the Last Generation, citizens in democracies and dictatorships alike are taking to the streets. Tareq Sydiq analyses these uprisings and asks why some fail while others dramatically change the system.
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Disabled refugee children in JordanThe lesser-known victims of war
Syrian refugee children with disabilities and war injuries are especially in need of help. The Al Hussein Society in Jordan offers them more than just therapeutic support; it also promotes the participation of people with disabilities in society. A report from Amman by Claudia Mende
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Marital traditions in the Islamic worldMarriage first, love later?
The number of arranged marriages in the Middle East and North Africa is decreasing. Matrimony between cousins is still widespread, but matches of this kind now account for at most a quarter of all weddings. A growing number of young people find their partners without mediation; marriage for love is their ideal. By Martina Sabra
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Education in the Arab worldThe emancipation gap
Those seeking to foster openness in the Arab world should focus not on the impact of Islam, but on the education to which the region′s residents are exposed. Essay by Ishac Diwan
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Azerbaijan′s enlightenmentA nation at odds with itself
As the first Muslim country to grant women the vote in 1919, Azerbaijan is rightly proud of its enlightened heritage. Yet increasingly, tensions are arising between an evolving 21st century ″anything goes″ interpretation of religious tolerance and the secular legacy of its literary founding fathers. An essay by Nermin Kamal
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Profile: Nadia MuradOne woman's fight against Islamic State
She escaped from a living hell: Nadia Murad gives a face to the thousands of Yazidi women who were raped by members of IS. She openly tells of her time as a sex slave, her sorrow and her desire to change things. By Sabrina Pabst
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Slavoj Zizek’s exploration of Islam and modernityA Eurocentric perspective
Unlike most of his published work, Slavoj Zizek′s latest essay on Islam and modernity is not left-wing at all. Rather surprisingly, he is favour of restricting the mobility of refugees within Europe and defends a whole range of Eurocentric attitudes. By Tarkan Tek
Culture
More about Culture-
Book “111 Places in Berlin That Teach Us About Islam”Searching for traces of Muslim life in Berlin
The historic Şehitlik cemetery in Kreuzberg, the queer-friendly Ibn Rushd-Goethe mosque in Moabit, the Muslim community's poetry slam i-Slam: Islam is part of Berlin's history, politics and everyday life.
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Album "Mute" by El KhatOn the edge of anarchy
The Berlin-based Yemenite-Israeli band El Khat use handmade instruments to create a chaotic blend of styles and traditions. Behind the raucous noise, they explore themes of silencing, conflict and displacement.
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The German-Afghan jazz singer Simin TanderAn unknown homeland
Simin Tander has undertaken a musical journey to her roots and to herself. The means of transport are varied: poems in Pashto, English and French, a jazz quartet and a finely nuanced, expressive alto voice. The destination is an exceptional album that transcends the boundaries between jazz, singer-songwriting and world music. Simin Tander's new album impresses listeners with its deep sensitivity and disarming honesty. By Stefan Franzen
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Interview with literary translator Hartmut Faehndrich"What I don't see is an on-going interest in Arabic literature"
Hartmut Faehndrich is one of the most renowned translators of Arabic literature in the German-speaking world. He has translated nearly 60 novels into German. In this interview with Ruth Renée Reif, he explains why Arabic literature is undervalued in the German-speaking world
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The Young Danish poet Yahya HassanWhiz kid from the ghetto
Barely 18 years old, Yahya Hassan has thrilled readers and enriched Denmark's literary scene with his first volume of poetry. He also polarises opinion. Daniel Bax on Denmark's new poetry sensation
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Album review: "Mountain Melodies" by QuraishiKeeping the voice of Afghanistan alive
Despite the beauty of Afghan rubab music, it is not well known outside the country and, according to Richard Marcus, infrequently heard inside Afghanistan too. On his new album, "Mountain Melodies", the Afghan-born rubab player Quraishi shares the austere beauty and intricacy of this music and demonstrates his virtuosity
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Portrait: the singer Cigdem AslanSongs of the outcasts
Rebetiko is a musical genre that describes the emotionally charged songs of Greeks who were expelled from Turkey in the wake of the population exchange of 1923. Cigdem Aslan, a young Kurd from London, lends her powerful voice to the stories behind these songs. By Marian Brehmer
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A literary anthology of the Gezi protestsGezi lives!
In "Gezi – A Literary Anthology", a volume of essays that was recently published in German, 19 Turkish authors and a photographer reflect on the motivation and dynamics of the Gezi movement. By Astrid Kaminski
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