Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Diana Alghoul
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Why is the Arab feminist movement so racist?
A self-proclaimed “humanitarian” and women’s rights activist from Jordan was caught recently taunting domestic workers at a recruitment agency on Snapchat. Ola Al-Fares, an award-winning journalist, lined up six workers for a photo, only to laugh at them in front of her followers. She then ruthlessly mocked the way...
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#ResistAIPAC
Protesters took to Twitter and to the streets to condemn this year’s AIPAC conference. ...
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#LoveArmyForSomalia raises $1m in less than 24 hours
A campaign launched by high profile social media personalities has raised over $1 million in less than 24 hours to fund sending aid over to famine-stricken Somalia. Look at this! the power of social media is INSANE and thank you to everyone who donated god bless you all #LoveArmyForSomalia pic.twitter.com/ud5ERLyrMv —...
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Somali diaspora refuses to stay silent over famine
Halima’s frail body looked away from the camera. She is from the Sool region in Somalia and is living through the country’s famine. “I had 45 goats before the drought, now I only have nine left, and they are dying in front of our eyes,” she said. She tried...
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Twitter scrambles over Turkey cyber-attacks amid ‘Nazi’ row
Dozens of high profile Twitter accounts were subject to cyber-attacks that included swastikas and threats amid a diplomatic spat between Turkey and some western European countries. Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused a various mainland European countries, including Germany and Netherlands of “fascist actions” reminiscent of Nazi times...
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EU court backs employer ban on hijabs
The European Court of Justice has today been criticised for defying the body autonomy of women by allowing employers to ban the headscarf on the grounds that employers are allowed to sustain internal policies stating that employees “dress neutrally”. "Women are oppressed in Muslim countries but they get freedom in...
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Starving for life: Arab women open up about eating disorders
Eating disorders have for long haunted the lives of girls and women all over the world. The thought of a girl as young as 11 scrutinising herself and starving herself is no longer seen as farfetched, but more of a sad reality that millions are forced with. In the...
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#DearSister
In the lead up to International Women’s Day, Arab and Muslim women took to Twitter to combat misogynistic attributes of their communities in a hashtag #DearSister, started by Egyptian-American journalist Mona Eltahawy. Many of the girls and women used the hashtag as an opportunity to bring light to their personal stories. Others...
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Preserving Palestinian history through poetry
'My grandchildren are scattered all over the world, some of whom have never lived in an Arab country. But they are proud Palestinians and I make sure I teach them how to write poetry in Arabic so they can continue to advocate for the Palestinian cause...'...
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‘Different languages, same dialect’: Passion for the cause unites the Palestinian diaspora
No matter where the Palestinian youth have been raised, they always identify with their Palestinian heritage, that was evident from the thousands who turned out to attend the first day of the Palestinians Abroad conference yesterday. Held in the Turkish capital Istanbul, the conference was attended by over 4,000 people...
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The Palestinian diaspora is the resistance
The battle to regain Palestinian rights and lands will continue as long as the Palestinian youth in the diaspora remain, Turkish writer Ismail Yasa tells MEMO. Speaking at the Palestinians Abroad conference in the Turkish capital Istanbul, Yasa says: “Palestinians who are abroad are not less Palestinian, the passion we see...
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Kingdom of the Unjust - Behind the US-Saudi Connection
When writing her book, Medea Benjamin did so with the attempt of “giving readers a basic understanding of how the kingdom holds on to power internally and how it tries to influence the outside world”. The book then aimed to examine the relationship between Saudi Arabia...
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Pro-Israeli settlement MPs are ignoring the basic rights of Palestinians
Israeli settlements were a widely discussed topic throughout 2016, but more so during the latter part of the year. When US President Donald Trump was running his presidential campaign, he routinely appealed to the pro-Israel camp by reiterating his support for Israel and even went to the extent of...
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Trump continuing Obama's ruthlessness in Yemen
“Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has a horrifying history of hiding women and children within militant operating areas and terrorist camps”, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement after murdering an eight-year-old girl in Yemen last weekend. According to Yemeni government statistics, she was killed along...
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'Strengthen the Humanitarian Response' – Yemen
With war, destruction and hunger plaguing Yemen for nearly two years, an event has been held to raise awareness of the humanitarian situation in the country. Organised by a group of organisations including Mercy Corps, Oxfam, Save the Children and WarChild, and chaired by journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy, “Strengthen the...
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Yemen’s Saleh has never been gone in order to ‘return’ to the political scene
War, famine and instability have plagued post-Arab Spring Yemen. After Ali Abdullah Saleh, who ruled Yemen with an iron fist for decades, stepped down as president, hope blossomed slightly when a new leader came to power. Talks of turning the country into a six-region federation were happening at the...
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Sisi’s paranoia demands that he controls the truth, and Egyptians are paying the price
Almost a year after democratic elections were held in Egypt, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi came to power through a bloody coup that immediately killed at least a thousand people. Since then, Egyptians have become prisoners at the hands of the state. Thoughts of dissent must be locked in the minds...
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The future of Taiz; torn between terror and resistance
Over the past few weeks, the Yemeni national army and local resistance forces have made strategic advances in the central province of Taiz. They were successful during the first few days of 2017, as they recaptured the town of Dhubab, situated on the Red Sea coastline, from Houthi and...
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White saviours must stop speaking over Arab women
One of the first viral videos to come out of the Middle East and North Africa region this year was from Saudi Arabia. It was a song sung in a local Saudi dialect that expressed female frustration at the patriarchal system rooted in Saudi and called for the end...
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The Gulf Arabs’ military expansion in the Horn of Africa
At the start of the Saudi-led Yemen intervention in March 2015, the UAE and Djibouti fell out after an Emirati aircraft landed at Ambouli International Airport. Officials in Djibouti claimed that the aircraft landed without authorisation, which then led to them evicting Saudi and Emirati troops, allies in the...
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Saudi-Iran rivalry will see their fortunes fluctuate in a changing world order
The death of King Abdullah in January 2015 gave way to the undeniable rise in power and authority of Saudi Arabia throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region under his successor, King Salman. Those uncomfortable with Iran’s mission to become a hegemonic regional power heaved a sigh...
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Is the UAE trying to split Yemen into two?
In a few months’ time it will be two years since the Saudi-led coalition began its operation in Yemen. The war continues with the Saudi-led coalition reiterating its aim that Houthi and Saleh forces withdraw from the country and President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi be reinstated as premier. However...
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Occupied
“Occupied” by Joss Sheldon is a three-part fiction that takes place in a colony setting. Inspired by the real life political situations of Palestine, the Kurdish question and Tibet, Sheldon creates four main characters and revolves the book around their lives and the political events that surround them into...
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Fighting the taboo of disability in the Arab world
To those familiar with Arab culture, it is no secret that the topic of disability remains a taboo. When speaking about disability in the Arab world, generally, the topic is either met with silence, ignorance, or able bodied people expressing their sympathy. This does nothing short of continuing the...
