Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Hassina Mechaï
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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 well as being a novelist, Khoury is a critic, an essayist and a columnist. His previous books include “Little Mountain”...
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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 who choose the judges each year, having been one of them herself for the first three years of the initiative. Victoria...
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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 under administrative detention and imprisoned for a renewable period of six months by order of the Minister of Defence Avigdor...
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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 what you sow” is Alaa Ashkar’s second film. The simple storyline takes the audience along a journey with a Palestinian filmmaker who...
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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 investor in many African regions. It is also a diplomatic hub; King Mohamed VI recently decided to rejoin the African Union....
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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 write songs, hurt me, I will tell stories,” sang this daughter of a university professor. Mathlouthi covers Bob Dylan, Joan Baez...
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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 (Ibn Muhieddine, 1808-83), within whose story we can find contemporary themes such as political Islam, Arab uprisings and religious coexistence. Emir...
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‘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...
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‘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 ruined Baghdad but will have to take over his father’s job as a corpse washer which will trap him into...
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There’s nothing cliché about Israeli-Palestinian actress Hiam Abbass
What strikes us with Hiam Abbass is her demeanour, subtle and sharp at the same time, her voice is calm but clear, her gaze is straight, her eyes do not flicker. It is obvious that this Israeli-Palestinian actress has serene strength. She plays the lead role in Algerian actress...
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Kamel Daoud is angry
Kamel Daoud is an angry man and it is difficult for him to conceal it. You can tell by the way he speaks, as if he is slapping away his words. Not only that, but he is in a hurry, hungry for life. He was 20 years-old when the...
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BDS is the French exception to international boycotts
French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron said on 24 January, “Boycotting Israel has been condemned by France and there’s no reason why we should discuss the matter again.” By sheer coincidence, on the same day, a French Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement activist appeared in a court in Metz...