Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Jehan Alfarra
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Discover the Great Mosque of Djenne, Mali
Djenne is one of the oldest known towns in sub-Saharan Africa. Dating back to 250 BC, it flourished as an important link in the trans-Saharan gold trade and is often described as the ‘twin city’ of ancient Timbuktu. Sitting on the bank of the rivers Bani and Niger in Mali,…
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Israel’s occupation is Gaza’s main medical problem, insist professionals
The main medical problem in the Gaza Strip is the Israeli occupation, Norwegian doctor and humanitarian Mads Gilbert told viewers during a webinar organised by the Middle East Monitor yesterday in association with PalMed Europe, an organisation of Palestinian doctors based across the continent. Gilbert and the other members of…
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The Road to Knesset: The rise of Naftali Bennett
Israel’s longest serving prime minister has fallen, after 12 years at the helm of Israel’s government and Naftali Bennett is the man crowning the end of the Benjamin Netanyahu era. The right-wing ultra-nationalist and former Netanyahu ally, once described as his protege, emerged as the kingmaker in Israel’s March 2021…
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Discover Ur, Iraq
Wearing their traditional cassocks and scarlet fascias, and with large golden crosses around their necks, members of the Vatican delegation to Iraq paced across the ruins of the House of Abraham in the ancient Sumerian city of Ur. Not long after, Pope Francis arrived to hold an interfaith prayer service…
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MEMO in conversation with Samia Halaby
Born in Jerusalem in 1936, Samia Halaby was forced out of Palestine during the Nakba in 1948 along with her family. They moved to the United States three years later. Today, Halaby is a leading abstract artist and a very influential scholar of Palestinian art. She has been active in…
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Discover the Great Mosque of Algiers
Unlike the thriving tourism industry in neighbouring Morocco, Algeria’s tourism infrastructure has often been criticised for being underdeveloped. Africa’s biggest country, however, is home to a plethora of jaw-dropping and hidden gems that showcase its long and rich history. Aside from its most prominent attractions in the Sahara desert, Algeria…
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Discover the Iron Ore Train, Mauritania
Mauritania is one of the least visited countries in the North of Africa. After its independence from France in 1960, European tourism developed slowly in Mauritania, partly due to the Western Sahara War of 1975-1991 in which Mauritania was briefly involved. With a population of just over four million, nearly…
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Discover Mar Saba Monastery, Palestine
Despite the dark shadow of the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine, the birthplace of Jesus continues to attract millions of tourists who flock to the holy city of Bethlehem every Christmas. But the historical significance of the Palestinian city goes beyond its renowned Church of Nativity, built above the grotto…
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Discover the Heart of Chechnya, Russia
Ravaged by two devastating wars in the 1990s, Grozny, the capital city of the Republic of Chechnya, became known as ‘the most destroyed city on earth’. For the past two hundred years, the Chechens, a largely Muslim ethnic group that has lived for centuries in the mountainous North Caucasus region,…
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Tunisia’s road to democracy
On 14 January 2011, Tunisia’s long-time President of 23 years Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was forced to step down after mass protests broke out in the country in the aftermath of Mohammed Bouazizi’s self-immolation. The young fruit seller’s act of despair after being insulted by a local policewoman who…
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Discover Wadi Rum, Jordan
Picture this: You open your eyes after a deep, uninterrupted sleep, make your way from the bed to the window and draw the curtains to reveal a vast canvas of red sand dunes and sandstone plateaus stretching as far as the eyes can see. You have spent the night in…
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Discover the Acropolium of Carthage, Tunisia
‘Carthago delenda est’; Carthage must be destroyed. These were the words of Roman statesman Cato the Elder, who was said to have repeated this statement after every one of his speeches urging the Romans to strike the ancient civilisation. Carthage’s close proximity to Rome meant confrontation between the two western…
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Discover Baalbek, Lebanon
One would assume that the largest Roman temple ever built would be in Rome, but it is in fact the Middle East that is home to the biggest Roman temple complex in the world. Perched atop a hill overlooking modern-day Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, Baalbek is one of the ancient world’s…
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Discover Kobe Mosque, Japan
When US war jets bombed the Japanese city of Kobe in 1945 during World War II, nearly wiping out the entire city, many residents sought refuge and sanctuary in an unlikely location: Kobe Mosque, Japan’s oldest surviving Muslim place of worship. The earliest documentation of Islam in Japan dates back…
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MEMO in conversation with Victoria Brittain
Our interview with British journalist and author Victoria Brittain about her book ‘Love and Resistance in the Films of Mai Masri’, the first book-length study of renowned Palestinian filmmaker Mai Masri, regarded as one of the Arab World’s most prominent female film directors at 3PM GMT (4PM UK TIME) on 21…
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Discover Dilmun Burial Mounds, Bahrain
The small island nation of Bahrain in the Arabian Gulf is home to one of the world’s largest ancient cemeteries, dating back to the 4,000-year-old Dilmun civilisation. Dilmun is one of the oldest trading civilisations in the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula and occupies a significant place in the…
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Discover the Malwiya Minaret of Samarra, Iraq
It is no surprise that Iraq today, despite all the destruction and conflicts inflicted upon it over the centuries, is still brimming with fascinating archaeological and world heritage treasures. Historically known as Mesopotamia, the region was called the cradle of civilisation for a reason as it was the home of…
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Remembering Saladin’s liberation of Jerusalem
On 2 October 1187, Ayyubid Sultan Salah Al-Din (known in the West as Saladin) liberated Jerusalem from the Crusaders nearly a century after they captured the holy city from the Fatimid Caliphate. What: Saladin’s liberation of Jerusalem Where: Palestine When: 2 October 1187 The Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem With a…
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Discover Buyuk Han (The Great Inn), Cyprus
Renowned for its breathtaking white sand beaches, crystal clear waters, and sunny weather, the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus is a fascinating destination for politics and history enthusiasts and has much more to offer visitors than picturesque coastal towns and villages. Populated by both Greek and Turkish Cypriots, the island…
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Sudan’s devastating floods will happen again and again without international support
Sudan’s struggling economy and healthcare sector, already crippled by the coronavirus pandemic, have been pushed to their limits in recent weeks as devastating floods, the worst in nearly a century, have swept the country. With a record rise of over 17.5 metres of the River Nile’s level triggered by heavy…
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Discover the Old City of Sanaa, Yemen
You will often hear about Yemen on television, but for all the wrong reasons. The country has been constantly in the news since it plunged into war after the Iran-backed Houthi group seized the capital Sanaa in late 2014, triggering one of the world’s biggest humanitarian crises. Before then, many…
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Discover the Meroe Pyramids, Sudan
When we hear the word ‘pyramid’, our minds immediately go to Egypt. There is one other country, however, which hosts more pyramids in a small stretch of the desert than all of Egypt. While Egypt is home to the world’s biggest and most famous pyramids, it is Sudan which holds…
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Discover Hagia Sophia, Turkey
At the heart of the Old City of Istanbul stands a genuine manifestation of the spirit of the marvellous place that has long bridged Europe and Asia, East and West. Hagia Sophia is a striking testimony to the tremendous histories of Islam and Orthodox Christianity. The majestic church-turned-mosque-turned-museum-turned-mosque has stood…
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Remembering the handover of ‘one Palestine, complete’
On this day in 1920, the first High Commissioner for Palestine, 1st Viscount Samuel, Herbert Samuel, was handed the administration of the country by the British government and signed a receipt acknowledging that he had received “one Palestine, complete”. It was still another three years before the Mandate for Palestine granted to…