Qantara Startseite Englisch - Dialogue with the Islamic world
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Syrians in TurkeyA home for Istanbul's refugees
Based in an inconspicuous room in Istanbul's Beyoğlu district, Addar offers Syrian refugees education, advice and community. But without proper funding, the initiative is struggling to survive.
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The murder of Ben BarkaNew revelations from Israel's archives
The book "L'Affaire Ben Barka" reveals new details about the assassination of Moroccan opposition leader Mehdi Ben Barka. Long-secret Israeli documents show the role of Mossad in one of the 20th century's most mysterious murders.
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Jafar Panahi's film "It Was Just an Accident"Humanism and humour
In the Iranian director's most critical film yet, Jafar Panahi presents a cross-section of society, takes aim at the practice of torture and shows fearless women claiming space. But there's still room for comedy.
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Historical photographs of SyriaAn obsessive archivist
Ahmed Hasan sold his house to pursue a passion for historical photographs. His collection traces Syria's history through everyday life.
Politics
More about Politics-
Syria's economyAusterity and liberalisation won't rebuild the country
Syria's government is pursuing economic growth through liberalisation, foreign investment and cuts to state spending. These moves benefit the new elite but won't lift the majority out of crisis.
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Religion in the armed forcesMilitary imams to be introduced in Germany
From 2026, Germany's Bundeswehr will recruit chaplains for Muslim soldiers, responding to calls from Islamic associations that go back over two decades.
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Refugee rights in Egypt"We are in a legal vacuum"
Egypt hosts more than one million registered refugees, most from Sudan. Recent legislation has stripped away protections, creating chaos in the country's asylum system and violating international law, says Nour Khalil, director of Refugees Platform Egypt (RPE).
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Sumud FlotillaTunisia at the forefront of global convoy to Gaza
More than 50 boats are set to sail to Gaza in an attempt to break Israel's blockade. While European activists dominate headlines, the mission unites participants from over 40 countries, including many from Tunisia, where solidarity with Palestine runs deep.
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The new SyriaA history of violence
For the first time in eleven years, Yassin al-Haj Saleh returned to his homeland. The Syrian writer and dissident found a country torn apart by internal conflicts and beset by worries about the return of tyranny. A historical analysis.
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Tunisia under Kais SaiedCivil society in survival mode
Since his re-election last year, Tunisian President Kais Saied has consolidated his authoritarian rule, silencing dissent and attacking marginalised groups. The EU must support Tunisian civil society rather than reinforcing Saied's populist narrative.
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Political scientist Rahaf Aldoughli"Al-Sharaa must be put under pressure"
Ahmed al-Sharaa promised a peaceful Syria, but violence continues to shape the country's transition. A genuine national dialogue, political participation and a strategy to integrate former fighters into the army are essential, says political scientist Rahaf Aldoughli.
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Reporting on PalestineGermany cannot imagine the suffering in Gaza
For some, the widespread publication of images of starving children from Gaza is a sign of a major shift in the German political and media discourse. Palestinian journalist Asmaa al-Ghoul disagrees.
Society
More about Society-
Education in SyriaReturning pupils face language barrier
Eleven-year-old Ali spent six years in Germany. Now back in Syria, he is struggling with Arabic, his native language, as the new government appears overwhelmed by the task of reintegrating returning schoolchildren.
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Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi"Intersectional long before the term was coined"
A seminal feminist text by Nawal El Saadawi has been translated into English and German for the first time, over five decades after it first appeared in Arabic. Publisher and translator Sophie Haesen explains why it should be essential reading worldwide.
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Public space in SyriaWhere Damascus goes to breathe
Before the war, Mount Qasioun was a refuge for the people of Damascus, a rare space for freedom and intimacy. After Assad's fall, it was briefly reclaimed as a public space, but now large-scale private developments threaten to take it over.
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Sectarian violence in SyriaAssad's long shadow
In Syria, "minority protection" has long been used as a pretext for pitting religious and ethnic groups against each other. We Syrians must refuse the weaponisation of our identities, because the new government is counting on division.
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History and reconstruction in SyriaDictatorship, dispossession and a missing mosaic
A school, a military base, an archaeological site: from French colonial rule to Assad, this family home was seized and repurposed by successive regimes. Now, its owners are fighting to reclaim it.
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Iran's monarchistsProducing nostalgia, courting war
Through satellite TV, viral content, and alliances with Netanyahu and Trump, Iran's monarchist elites are staging a comeback. From exile they are attempting to co-opt Iran's opposition by recasting the Pahlavi dynasty as a golden age of freedom.
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Sudanese music in CairoFinding joy in the face of war
While war rages at home, for Sudanese wedding singers in exile in Cairo, celebration has become a form of resistance.
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"Christ in the Rubble" by Munther IsaacThe Christian case against the war on Gaza
Munther Isaac, a West Bank pastor, rejects Bible-based justifications for war and calls Gaza a "moral compass". In "Christ in the Rubble", he presents a view of the war that is polarising without being destructive.
Culture
More about Culture-
Literature in YemenThe last bastion of beauty
Yemen's cultural scene has been hard hit by years of war, but not completely silenced. While many writers and intellectuals have left the country, the small literary club Alamaqah remains active, a testament to the resilience of Yemeni culture.
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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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Egyptian author Youssef Rakha"The Cairo I've known is being eroded"
Youssef Rakha revisits Egypt's 2011 uprising and its aftermath in "The Dissenters", the author's first novel written in English. The Arab Spring failed, he argues in this interview, because it was a neoliberal movement with no compelling vision for the future.
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"Live in the Khaleej!" by Boom.DiwanA love letter to an ancient tradition
Boom.Diwan's album with Arturo O'Farrill fuses Kuwaiti pearl diving music with jazz, shedding light on the Gulf region's complex musical and social history.
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Cairo's Jewish QuarterThe neighbourhood that shaped a nation
In his new book, Egyptian author Ahmed Zakaria Zaki explores the 19th-century history of Cairo's Jewish Quarter, tracing the social transformations within the city's Jewish community and its reaction to the emergent Zionist movement.
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New anthology "Imprisoning a Revolution"Egypt's political prisoners speak
A new anthology gathers the words, drawings and memories of Egyptian prisoners—some well-known, many anonymous—who document life inside the carceral state.
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"Khartoum" filmmakers"We have a responsibility to preserve Sudanese history"
"Khartoum" blends the work of four emerging Sudanese filmmakers. Its production was derailed by the outbreak of war in April 2023. Now displaced in Nairobi, directors Brahim Snoopy and Rawia Alhag explain why they were determined to finish the film.
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Jan Dost on writing in Arabic and Kurdish"Like being caught between two magnets"
"Safe Corridor" is Jan Dost's first novel translated into English. The prolific Syrian writer explores the hardening impact of war on children and discusses the key differences between writing in Kurdish and Arabic.
750th anniversary of Rumi's death
750th anniversary of Rumi's death - Qantara.de
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