Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Jessica Purkiss
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Video game maker Navid Khonsari on revolution and the Islamic Republic of Iran
The images above are screenshots of the video game, “1979 Revolution: Black Friday”. It’s 1978 in Iran. The Iranian Revolution that will eventually unseat the US-backed Shah and change the course of Iran’s future is only just underway and the streets of Tehran are alive with protests. This is the setting...
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The dangers of Western military action in Libya
In April, the French and British foreign ministers visited Tripoli to show support for Libya’s UN-backed unity government. France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault urged Libya’s neighbours to get behind the government, adding, “There is no other possible path.” Reports have however recently surfaced showing that Western forces, including France,...
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The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land In Between
It’s 2012 and Hisham Matar waits anxiously with his wife and mother in the departures lounge of Cairo International airport. They are bound for Libya. It has been thirty three years since they last set foot in their home country; then Hisham was just eight years old. Forced into...
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Ban Ki-moon’s farewell to the occupied Palestinian territories
On Tuesday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon finished his farewell trip to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. He is due to step down in December and used the occasion to urge some political will for a two-state solution as “the only way to meet the national aspirations of...
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Farming on the frontlines
A mushroom farm in Jericho, an heirloom seed library, a project to introduce Kale to the Palestinian market and a local farmers’ cooperative – these small agricultural projects are the latest weapon in the fight against the Israeli occupation. They aim to tackle the policies that make Palestine dependent...
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Disarming sexual violence as a weapon of war in Iraq and Syria
This weekend marked the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict. We take a look at sexual violence in Iraq and Syria as the conflicts in both countries continues. A 21-year-old married 22 times, undergoing a surgical procedure to “rebuild her virginity” before each forced wedding. Another...
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Retaking Fallujah may be a short-term success, but sectarian violence beckons
During the Iraq invasion and war, its aftermath and the subsequent protests against the US-installed government, Fallujah and its residents have paid a heavy price. As the Iraqi government and allied militias ostensibly battle Daesh for control of the city, accusations of torture and assassinations have been levelled against...
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Egypt’s battle to eradicate FGM
Last week, 17-year-old Mayar Mohamed Mousa and her twin sister were admitted into a private clinic in Egypt’s Suez province for a life-changing procedure. While under anesthetic, Mayer suffered from a heavy bleed and passed away. She was undergoing an operation to cut away part of her genitalia- known...
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The dual system of laws governing the West Bank
Israel’s new Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman is a controversial figure. He recently attended a court case in support of a soldier caught on camera executing a wounded Palestinian and has called for the toppling of the Palestinian Authority and the bombing of Egypt’s Aswan dam. Lieberman has also tried...
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Mona Hatoum: Mixing the familiar with the strange
“No one has put the Palestinian experience in visual terms so austerely and yet so playfully, so compellingly and at the same moment so allusively,” Edward Said on Mona Hatoum’s work A cheese grater scaled up and turned into a room divider, a photo of the artist walking with Doc...
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New report breaks down the Israel lobby in the European Union
Today in London a new report entitled The Israel lobby and the European Union is being released. Researched and written by Public Interest Investigations and Spinwatch and published by EuroPal Forum, it seeks to explore a number of Israel lobby groups in the European Union, the power they wield and the...
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The recapture of Syria’s Palmyra: A defining moment in the coverage of the conflict
Russia’s renowned Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra took to the stage on Thursday. They were not performing in their usual setting, the grandiose of Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, but on the ruins of Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra. The Syrian regime, with the help of Russia, recaptured Palmyra from Daesh...
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Islamophobia in Conservative party unreported
The response of the likes of Conservative Mayor of London Boris Johnson to Labour’s anti-Semitism row highlights that the party is not beyond religious-based discrimination...
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Aleppo: The theatre for regional and international conflicts
On Sunday, US secretary of state John Kerry announced that a “provisional agreement” on the terms of a “cessation of hostilities” in Syria had been reached between the US and Russia. This follows the “cessation of hostilities” agreed in Munich a fortnight ago, which failed to come into...
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The shrinking space for pro-Palestinian activism in the UK
In Luton, school boy Rahmaan Mohammadi was questioned for wearing a “Free Palestine” badge to class and carrying a leaflet advocating Palestinian rights by pressure group Friends of al-Aqsa- a group that recently had their bank account shut down without explanation by a UK bank. Meanwhile, news was surfacing of a...
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What we forget about the Kindertransport
Today Britain marks the 71st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest of the Nazi death camps. We remember Britain’s response to the Jewish refugees and look at its response to today’s refugee crisis. In the dead of night, herds of parents watched their children embark on a train...
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Can the new UN-backed government solve Libya’s problems?
A new UN-backed Libyan government was unveiled earlier this week. It is the result of over a years worth of mediation on the part of the United Nations in efforts to stabilise the country. It is tasked with ending the civil war and stemming its side effects, such as...
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The decline of the FSA
This is the second article of a three part series examining the Syrian revolution and the five years that followed it. Part I looks at the beginnings of the Syrian revolution. Read Part I here. Part II The Free Syrian Army announced its formation with the stated aim of protecting unarmed...
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The beginnings of the Syrian revolution
This is the first article of a three part series examining the Syrian revolution and the five years that followed it. Part II looks at the decline of the Free Syrian Army. Read it here. Part I The uprising in Syria did not begin in one of its major cities like...
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Life after torture for Jordan’s refugee population
Ibrahim owned a shop located near several security and intelligence offices in the Syrian town of Deraa. He was arrested there on three separate occasions simply because of his shop’s location. While in prison, he was beaten with the barrel of a rifle and still has broken teeth. He...
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Dimming Bethlehem’s Christmas celebrations
Normally around this time in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, Christmas festivities are in full swing. This year, however, the municipalities decided to tone down their public Christmas celebrations amid escalating violence in the Holy Land. In Bethlehem, while the famous tree lighting ceremony went ahead, albeit with...
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Do we overestimate Daesh’s capabilities?
John Kerry has branded the members of Daesh as psychopathic monsters; François Hollande calls them barbarians; and David Cameron describes them as a death cult. Simultaneously, they have been described as the greatest threat facing the US by Kerry, while Cameron has said that Britain will “never be safe”...
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Cameron enters war without military strategy or exit plan
On Wednesday, British MP’s voted overwhelmingly in favour of Prime Minister David Cameron’s proposal to extend airstrikes into Syria. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn vehemently opposed the proposal, claiming that the PM had failed to answer crucial questions on issues such as military strategy and British security. Examining these questions...
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5 women who have sacrificed in the defence of human rights
November 29 marked International Day of Women Human Rights Defenders, here MEMO remembers some of the female activists who have paid heavily this year for their dedication to human rights. In 2015, human rights defenders still face intimidation, arrest and death for their work. Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs)...