Israel’s Bombing of Syria: It’s Domestic Politics, Baby
Yazan al-Saadi* | 18 Mar 2013
A sign showing the distances to Damascus and a cut out of a soldier are seen at an army post from the 1967 war at Mt. Bental in the Golan Heights, overlooking Syria. (Photo credit: AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov) On January 30, 2013, an Israeli strike inside Syria reportedly hit a convoy of anti-aircraft weapons heading to Lebanon according to Israeli and western news...Who Decides?: Western Knowledge and Arab Revolutions
Magid Shihade* | 19 Feb 2013
Celebrations in Libya. [Image via Diario El Tiempo, All Rights Reserved]Much of this piece was written more than a year ago, when debates and discussions focused on two questions: 1. the proper term to describe events in the Arab world – were they revolutions, uprisings, or a “spring?;” and 2. whether events in the region were genuine and indigenous,...Photo Essay: Egypt’s Presidential Elections
Nancy Elshami | 5 Jun 2012
On May 23-24, 2012, Egyptians went to the polls to participate in round one of voting to elect the country’s first president since the toppling of its autocratic leader, Hosni Mubarak, on February 11, 2011. The following photo essay from Muftah staff writer, Nancy Elshami, captures the atmosphere during and after the elections. (Photo credit: Nancy...Fuel Subsidy Reform in Post-Revolutionary Yemen: A Participatory Approach
Rafat Al-Akhali* | 29 May 2012
It is safe to say that the Transitional Government in Yemen, sworn into office in December 2011, faces daunting political and security challenges, let alone the economic and fiscal challenges that rarely make the headlines. One of the challenges at the top of the list is the fiscal imbalance caused by subsidizing fuel products in Yemen. This paper examines the...Art and the Arab Uprisings
Laith Ulaby | 21 May 2012
Poster of Bashar al Assad in the Old City of Damascus (Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oliverlaumann) There is no doubt that visual culture was a big part of the protest movements that swept across the Arab world starting in December 2010. In a fascinating lecture, Professor Charless Tripp examines the nexus of visual expression, power, and resistance...Fact Sheet: Emad Burnat and 5 Broken Cameras
Muftah Editors | 27 Feb 2013
Emad Burnat In honor of Palestinian filmmaker Emad Burnat’s Oscar nomination for his documentary 5 Broken Cameras, below is a fact sheet about the filmmaker from the Institute for Middle East Understanding… -...A Look in the Press: Understanding Saudi Protests in Qatif
Mareike Transfeld | 24 Aug 2012
Protests in the Qatif following the arrest of Sheikh Nimr Al-Nirm on July 8, 2012 (Photo credit: Occupy Qatif/Facebook) Ever since protests in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province were re-ignited by the arrest of...Egypt’s Emergency Law Lapses After 31 years
Joseph Farag | 1 Jun 2012
"Dancing to the Tune of Revolution - No to Emergency Laws" Friday, June 1, 2012, marked the first day in 31 years that Egyptians would no longer live under draconian Emergency Laws instituted after the...Egypt’s Copts Face an Uncertain Political Future
Avi Asher-Schapiro* | 21 May 2012
Egypt's Coptic Christians at a protest march in Shubra, Cairo Photograph: Stringer/EPA During the eighteen-day uprising that toppled the Mubarak regime, the Coptic Orthodox Church urged its members to stay...An Ode to Warda
Massoud Hayoun* | 18 May 2012
Warda Just last weekend, I randomly met an Algerian, roughly my parents’ age, in Washington DC’s DuPont Circle. We talked about the recent elections in Algeria and France, about colonialism and its vestiges,...
