Hassina Mechaï – Middle East Monitor

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Hassina Mechaï

Hassina Mechaï

Hassina Mechaï is a French-Algerian journalist based in Paris. Her topics of reflexion are world governance, civil society and public opinion, media and cultural soft power. She has worked for various French, African and Arab media.

May 2, 2023 | Hassina Mechaï

'Modern day heroes are risking their lives to cross seas in search of safety'

Egyptian author Shady Lewis' latest book opens the world of migrants to a Western audience

Published in: Africa, Asia & Americas, Egypt, Europe & Russia, Interviews, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Middle East, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, UK, US, Yemen
December 7, 2020 | Hassina Mechaï

Towards a French Kulturkampf; what's happening in France?

What's happening in France? It's a reasonable question that worries even international authorities, the UN included, not least because independent UN human rights experts have declared that a controversial...

Published in: Article, Europe & Russia, France, Opinion
November 26, 2020 | Hassina Mechaï

'The future lies in taking the Palestinian question in front of the courts'

Interview with Christophe Oberlin by Hassina Mechaï

Published in: Asia & Americas, ICC, International Organisations, Interviews, Israel, Middle East, Palestine, US
November 16, 2020 | Hassina Mechaï

Mathieu Rigouste, December 1960 in Algeria: One Hero, the People

December 1960. In most of Algeria's largest cities, a vast uprising of the "natives" shook the French colonial power. This revolutionary impulse turned the "Algerian people" into a decisive...

Published in: Africa, Algeria, Europe & Russia, France, Interviews
October 6, 2020 | Hassina Mechaï

This book tackles the silence of French conscripts and asks: What did you do in Algeria, Daddy?

What did you do in Algeria, Daddy? is the title of a new book by historian Raphaëlle Branche, and the essence of the question runs throughout the text. She...

Published in: Africa, Algeria, Europe & Russia, France, Interviews
September 22, 2020 | Hassina Mechaï

Remembering the Bentalha Massacre

Where: The town of Bentalha, about 15 kilometres south of Algiers, Algeria When: During the night of 22-23 September 1997 What happened It took one night to massacre more...

Published in: Africa, Algeria, On this day, Opinion
September 17, 2020 | Hassina Mechaï

Who is Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, the oldest political prisoner in Europe?

On 25 October, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah will begin his 37th year as a prisoner. This communist activist and resistance hero of the Palestinian cause has been imprisoned in Lannemezan,...

Published in: Europe & Russia, France, Interviews, Lebanon, Middle East, Palestine
July 15, 2020 | Hassina Mechaï

Celebrating Palestine in Paris is what Ardi is all about

I'm in the north of Paris, in an area where residential buildings are increasingly common. Along a peaceful street, there it is: Ardi, the Arabic for "my land". The...

Published in: Europe & Russia, France, Interviews, Israel, Middle East, Palestine
June 16, 2020 | Hassina Mechaï

Egypt Writer Alaa Al-Aswany's work as a perpetual 'opponent' highlights aspects of dictatorship

Alaa Al-Aswany is probably the most famous living Egyptian writer in the world. Since the success of The Yacoubian Building in 2006, which told us about the life of...

Published in: Africa, Egypt, Interviews
May 4, 2020 | Hassina Mechaï

Idir, the Berber poet is gone

Algerian singer Idir died in Paris on Saturday night at the age of 70. He was a leading figure of Algerian music and with him the memory of Algerian...

Published in: Africa, Algeria, Opinion, Profiles
April 18, 2020 | Hassina Mechaï

Yassin Adnan takes us inside Morocco in the age of the internet

Hot Maroc is the first novel by Moroccan journalist, poet and short story writer Yassin Adnan. It immerses the reader in today's Morocco, between the real world and the...

Published in: Africa, Interviews, Morocco
January 8, 2020 | Hassina Mechaï

Major sporting events in Saudi Arabia 'sportwash' the dire human rights situation

The Paris-Dakar Rally, inaugurated in 1978 and now known as The Dakar Rally, or simply The Dakar, was originally staged from Paris to Senegal in West Africa. After being...

Published in: Article, Europe & Russia, France, HRW, International Organisations, Middle East, Opinion, Saudi Arabia, Yemen
November 24, 2019 | Hassina Mechaï

Another way of talking about Gaza

Film director Iyad Alasttal talks to Hassina Mechaï

Published in: Europe & Russia, France, Interviews, Israel, Middle East, Palestine
September 9, 2019 | Hassina Mechaï

Redouane Boudjemaa: 'The Algerian hirak is a rebirth of the Algerian nation'

The people of Algeria have been protesting for more than six months — every Friday since 22 February, at least — with the demand that "they all leave". For...

Published in: Africa, Algeria, Interviews
August 27, 2019 | Hassina Mechaï

'The universality of human rights is a Jewish principle, which Israel violates every day.'

An interview with Hagai El-Ad, Director General of Israeli NGO B’Tselem

Published in: Asia & Americas, Interviews, Israel, Middle East, Palestine, US
May 25, 2019 | Hassina Mechaï

Israel journalist: 'The deal of the century is the joke of century'

The voice is clear, a slight Hebrew accent can be detected when Gideon Levy speaks English. He is precise and concise, showing off maybe some "chutzpah", but his way...

Published in: EU, Interviews, Israel, Middle East, Palestine, US
March 17, 2019 | Hassina Mechaï

'Establishing a connection between Israeli politics and French Jews is very dangerous'

Emmanuel Macron's statement on 20 February was a surprise. Speaking at the annual dinner of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF), the French President said that,...

Published in: Europe & Russia, France, Interviews, Israel, Middle East, Palestine
March 14, 2019 | Hassina Mechaï

The Algerian regime is 'politically dead' so there is cause for optimism

Algeria has been experiencing continuous popular protests against a possible fifth term in office for President Abdelaziz Bouteflika since 22 February. On Monday, he finally renounced the idea of...

Published in: Africa, Algeria, Article, Opinion
December 28, 2018 | Hassina Mechaï

The PA wants to give Hamas' weapons to Israel

French surgeon Christophe Oberlin has spent 17 years travelling to Gaza. He tells MEMO about the evolution of wounds throughout the years as a result of the changes in weaponry

Published in: Europe & Russia, France, Interviews, Israel, Middle East, Palestine
November 10, 2018 | Hassina Mechaï

Alaa Al-Aswany: 'I write because I don't agree'

Since The Yacoubian Building was released in 2002 Alaa Al-Aswany has become Egypt's most emblematic writer. Sometimes compared to Naguib Mahfouz the author has recently released a new novel,...

Published in: Africa, Egypt, Interviews
July 30, 2018 | Hassina Mechaï

Niger's President makes himself indispensable to the Sahel region

MEMO attended the 31st African Union Summit held in Nouakchott, Mauritania and talked with Niger's president, Mahamadou Issoufou

Published in: Africa, African Union, Algeria, Chad, Europe & Russia, France, International Organisations, Interviews, Libya, Mali, Mauritania
April 13, 2018 | Hassina Mechaï

'I became an invader in my own land' — a Palestinian Bedouin's struggle

Aziz Al-Turi endeavours to be as accurate as he can when he explains the situation of his village, Al-Araqeeb, and the narrative that the Israeli authorities are forcing onto...

Published in: Interviews, Israel, Middle East, Palestine
March 19, 2018 | Hassina Mechaï

French-Algerian activist Houria Bouteldja: 'The left is struggling in France'

Houria Bouteldja is the spokesperson and a founding member of Le Parti des Indigènes de la République, The Indigenous of the Republic, or PIR. PIR started off as a...

Published in: Africa, Algeria, Europe & Russia, France, Interviews
February 22, 2018 | Hassina Mechaï

From Jewish ghettos to Palestinian ghettos; Elias Khoury on his new novel

Elias Khoury is a Lebanese writer whose latest novel, "Les enfants du ghetto: Je m'appelle Adam" (Children of the ghetto: My name is Adam) was published last year. As...

Published in: Europe & Russia, Interviews, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Middle East, Palestine
November 23, 2017 | Hassina Mechaï

Interview with Victoria Brittain: 'Literature is resistance'

One member of the team behind the six-year-old MEMO Palestine Book Awards in London is Victoria Brittain, a journalist and author herself. She is now one of the trustees...

Published in: Europe & Russia, Interviews, Israel, Middle East, Palestine, UK
November 14, 2017 | Hassina Mechaï

Elsa Lefort Hamouri: 'My husband's arrest is political'

It's been 84 days since the French-Palestinian lawyer Salah Hamouri was imprisoned in Israel after being arrested at his home in East Jerusalem. Since then he has been placed...

Published in: Europe & Russia, France, Interviews, Israel, Middle East, Palestine
October 2, 2017 | Hassina Mechaï

Lost in Palestine: A quest for identity

Palestinian filmmaker Alaa Ashkar investigates his heritage and that of his family who live within the Green Line. An intimate account of the filmmaker's quest for identity, "You reap...

Published in: Europe & Russia, France, Interviews, Israel, Middle East, Palestine
September 29, 2017 | Hassina Mechaï

Morocco expands Africa policy, opens Africa-Atlantis business school

Morocco has been building an ambitious Africa policy and is in the process of becoming a key player in economic partnerships with sub-Saharan countries. Morocco has become the main...

Published in: Africa, Article, Morocco, Opinion
August 18, 2017 | Hassina Mechaï

Tunisian singer Emel Mathlouthi filled the Carthage Festival with emotion

The first time that Emel Mathlouthi made her voice heard was during the Arab Spring in January 2011, when she sang Dhalem (Tyrant). "You tyrant, kill me, I will...

Published in: Africa, Interviews, Tunisia
July 11, 2017 | Hassina Mechaï

Teaching people about Emir Abdelkader is the best antidote to the lure of Daesh

A new documentary by the Algerian director Salem Brahimi is the best antidote to the lure of Daesh. Abd El Kader is based on the life of Emir Abdelkader...

Published in: Africa, Algeria, Review - Films & Documentaries, Reviews
June 24, 2017 | Hassina Mechaï

'There is a mythology about what return is'

Hassina Mechaï interviews Palestinian film director Reem Shilleh on her latest documentary “Perpetual Recurrences” which weaves together archive footage from militant filmmakers in the revolutionary period 1967 - 1982

Published in: Interviews, Israel, Middle East, Palestine
June 12, 2017 | Hassina Mechaï

'If there was no US invasion there would be no Daesh'

The "Corpse Washer" is acclaimed Iraqi novelist and poet Sinan Antoon's second novel. The main character, Jawad, is from a Shia Muslim family. He is a sculptor in a...

Published in: Africa, Asia & Americas, Interviews, Iraq, Libya, Middle East, US