Status/الوضع

Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA). Shahram Aghamir spoke with Peyman Jafari, a historian at Princeton University about the latest wave of anti-government protests in Iran. On Friday, Nov 15, protests broke out in 30 cities across Iran after a surprise announcement by the government to ration gasoline and raise prices by 50 percent. Some of the protests swiftly became an...

In the first of a series of interviews that aims to profile the newest and noteworthy academic institutions in the MENA region that are helping to advance critical learning, Jonathan Adler of the Middle East Studies Pedagogy Initiative interviews Katy Whiting of the Sijal Institute. The Sijal Institute is an intensive language and cultural school and institute in the Jabal Amman neighborhood of Am...

Courtesy of VOMENA. Protesters took to the streets of Baghdad once again on October 25 calling for radical changes to the existing political and economic system. Ever since a new wave of protests erupted in Baghdad on October 1 and quickly spread to several southern cities, Iraq has been rocked by demonstrations and acts of civil disobedience rooted in long-standing grievances over unemployment, i...

In this interview, Jonathan Adler, the managing editor of Tadween Publishing, sits down with Adel Iskandar to revisit one of Tadween’s first books, Mediating the Arab Uprisings, and to discuss the continually contested arena of media politics in the Middle East.

Jadaliyya’s Iran Page brings Iranian feminist experiences of the 1979 revolution and its aftermath together in a new audio interview series. In the first episode, Jadaliyya’s Iran Page co-editor, Manijeh Nasrabadi, interviews Homa Hoodfar on revolutionary upheaval, the contested role of women in the national liberation project and to reflect on what feminism means to her.

On 17 September 2019, Ismail Ziada, a Dutch national of Palestinian descent, brought a civil suit against Benny Gantz, head of Israel’s Blue and White Party and the Israeli Army General Chief of General Staff during the 2014 Gaza onslaught and Amir Eshel, Israeli Air Force Chief. The suit alleges war crimes for the killing of six of Ziada’s family members including his mother, three brothers, sist...

An interview with renowned writer and artist, Molly Crabapple, on Syria, decolonization in Puerto Rico, generational memory, and international solidarity. Interviewed by John Kallas | English

On 24 September 2019, Jadaliyya Co-Editor Noura Erakat joined Professor Duncan Kennedy to discuss her new book, Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine at Harvard Law School. Erakat comments that the conversation was particularly significant because she uses Kennedy’s concept of “legal work” to shape her analytical framework regarding the relationship between international law and Pale...

Twenty five years after the first democratic elections in South Africa, Noah Black sat down with Islamic liberation theologian & anti-apartheid activist Farid Esack to reflect on Esack's interpretive framework.

Artists Tania El Khoury and Roy Dib in conversation focusing on Dib's practice, cultural policy in Lebanon, the growing censorship against Lebanese artists and activists, and the recent case of Mashrou' Leila.

With the protestors successful in ousting Bouteflika, those who take to the streets are hoping to keep this revolutionary spirit alive. Khalil Bendib of VOMENA speaks with Algerian scholar and activist Hamza Hamouchene about the ongoing movement, its endurance, and its promise for the future of Algeria.

Last May, Donald Trump unilaterally violated the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran, the United States, and 5 other world powers, and followed this up by reimposing harsh economic, trade and financial sanctions against Iran- Back in July of 2015 Iran, the US, along with Russia, China, and the European Union had agreed to a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA.) Under this agreement, Iran wou...

Omar Shanti looks back on the raucous, rebellious, and symbolically rich life of the late Rachid Taha, including a never-before published interview with the Algerian musician in May 2018, only four months before his untimely death.

In the summer of 1988, thousands of political prisoners were systematically executed in Iran. The killings were horrific, not only in scale, but this was done in total secrecy. To this day, the Iranian regime has never openly acknowledged these executions. In this interview, VOMENA host and producer Malihe Razazan speaks with Iranian historian Nasser Mohajer, who researched and documented the horr...

Yemen’s southern secessionist forces appear to have taken effective control of the port city of Aden, seat of the internationally recognized government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. In this latest conflict, fighters loyal to Southern Transitional Council (STC), which seeks an independent south Yemen, began an offensive against the government forces on August 7. Both sides have been part of...

Ilana Feldman discusses the geography of near displacement—Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, the five fields of UNRWA operations in the Middle East. This talk explores the intersecting, but not identical, experiences of both providers and recipients while looking critically at the politics of humanitarianism.

Every year, the Arab television industry releases many new soap operas (musalsalat) during the month of Ramadan. But how has the Syrian conflict affected its film industry, which still sometimes releases dozens of shows per year. Mira Nabulsi asked Christa Salamandra, professor of anthropology, about how writers and directors are navigating the unstable political landscape.

This interview is on the recent waves of deportations, detentions and relocations of migrants and refugees in Turkey, the majority of whom are Syrians. This wave is accompanied by rising xenophobia, systematic harassment of and discrimation against the Syrian population in Turkey, who are blamed for the increasingly complex political and economic problems of the country. We discussed the precariou...

Almost nine years after its Jasmine revolution, Tunisia is now poised for its third round of presidential elections since the 2010-2011 revolution. Khalil Bendib spoke with scholar Mohammed Hammami about the upcoming elections, including the increasing unrest rising from serious socio-economic problems and the effects of Tunisia's unstable neighbors.

Osama Esber, host of "In Their Own Voices", speaks with the Algerian poet Onfuwan Fouad about themes in her writing.

Osama Esber, host of "In Their Own Voices", speaks with the Syrian poet Bassma Shaikho about themes in her writing.

In this talk, based on her recently published book, Dr. Maha Nassar argues that despite the double-erasure that Palestinian citizens of Israel faced from the state and from the Arab world, intellectuals within this community insisted that they were a part of regional and global cultural projects of decolonization. Through a critical examination of a wide array of Arabic writings, Nassar demonstrat...

In this talk, based on her recently published book, Dr. Maha Nassar argues that despite the double-erasure that Palestinian citizens of Israel faced from the state and from the Arab world, intellectuals within this community insisted that they were a part of regional and global cultural projects of decolonization. Through a critical examination of a wide array of Arabic writings, Nassar demonstrat...

Osama Esber, host of the Status Hour program "In Their Own Voices", speaks with the Palestinian poet Mariam Shareef about themes in her writing. Interviewed by Osama Esber | Arabic

Jadaliyya's managing editor, Kylie Broderick, interviews Arash Davari and Sina Rahmani on their article, "Divorce, Iran-America Style". In it, Arash and Sina talk about the historical evolution of the relationship between Iran and America, recent tensions between the two states, and why Iran occupies a unique position in the mindset of American politics. Their article can be found here: https://ww...