In his new piece for the New Yorker, “Revolution on Trial: The strange world of the Muslim Brotherhood court cases,” Peter Hessler brings his readers into the courtroom of the ongoing trial against former Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, and his co-defendants. Morsi and a number of other Muslim Brotherhood members are charged in connection with multiple […]
After less than half an hour of joint session talks on Saturday, February 15, the second round of the Geneva II conference on Syria has abruptly ended. In a press conference shortly after, joint United Nations-Arab League negotiator, Lakhdar Brahimi apologized to the Syrian people for the almost complete failure of the negotiations, “I am […]
This past week, radical Islam reared its ugly head again, this time in a seaside suburb of Tunis. On Monday afternoon, the National Guard was called in to investigate a reported terrorist hideout in the Raoued suburb of Tunis. The 24-hour standoff that ensued resulted in the death of seven militants and one police officer, […]
This past Sunday al-Qaeda Central (AQC) released a statement disowning its Iraqi-Syrian affiliate, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). The declaration—which spread across jihadi online forums and eventually published by the BCC—proclaimed: “[Al-Qaeda] has no connection with the group called the ISIS, as it was not informed or consulted about its establishment. It […]
In Egypt today there remains only one Arabic language broadcaster that has not succumbed to the pressures of the military government and condemned the newly outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. Though Qatari based, Al Jazeera is one of the most influential news networks in the Middle East and was particularly praised for its coverage of the 2011 […]
On January 9, Ali Larayedh dutifully resigned as the Prime Minister of Tunisia, fulfilling his promise to end the political deadlock in Tunisia following the crises that ensued as a result of the assassination of secular politician, Mohamed Brahmi in July 2013. Although strikes and protests have plagued the country since 2011, the transition to […]
There are many—both in the East and the West—who have been confidently betting on the overt plan to marginalize, and, in due course, eradicate the Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan) as a sociopolitical movement. In light of the on-going vicious Ikhwanophobia and emboldened brutality of the coup regime, it is hard to counter such contemptuous optimism. But, […]
Last week Egypt’s secular military dictatorship continued its increasingly brutal campaign to suppress dissent. In the span of just a few days it formally accused the deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood associates of participating in a far-fetched terrorist plot and sent security agents to raid the office of the Egyptian Center for […]
By Manuel Langendorf In the absence of other alternatives, Islamists were elected by default. Political Islam is among the most controversially discussed issues in the Middle East and North Africa. While modern Islamist political thought traces its origin back to a rejection of European encroachment into the Muslim world – as the work of Jamal al-Din […]
Credit: frontporchaustin.org In just the past ten days, irate Palestinian negotiators briefly suspended peace talks after an Israeli army raid in the Qalandiya refugee camp ended with the deaths of three Palestinians, the pro-peace organization Minds of Peace held a public summit between regular Israelis and Palestinians in the streets of Jerusalem and signed a […]
Journalism has never been an easy job. The conditions get worse when a journalist is dealing with an authoritarian government such as the Islamic Republic of Iran. The 2013 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders ranks the Islamic Republic of Iran 174 amongst 179 countries for its respect for media freedom. The […]
The General’s Pretext Unless it is averted by transcendental intervention or by the collective effort of those who possess the political or economic capacity to influence the Egyptian Army, the stage in Egypt is set for bloody massacres, or worse, a civil war. The excerpts below would underline a thinly-veiled pretext. Today, July 24, 2013, […]
Egypt’s recent political shifts are likely to have mixed mixed implications for Iran. Egypt’s turmoil that was marked with the overthrow of President Mohammed Mursi on July 3, 2013 is unsettling for the volatile and war-weary and Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region. Iran’s rival, Saudi Arabia has been cheering for recent events in Cairo […]
To coup or not to coup? Who cares? Whatever label it is being given, coup or revolution, what the Egyptian military accomplished less than one week ago is removing a government supposedly democratically elected. This comes on the heels of a previous removal of a long-standing dictator — Hosni Mubarak — just over two years […]
A floating orchestral score pours over the walls of an Edinburgh concert house, its quick notes and fantastical tones taking full advantage of the famed acoustics of Usher Hall. The Royal Scottish National Orchestra is playing “The Oryx and the Unicorn”, an uplifting arrangement originally penned by Qatari composer Wael Binali for a 2012 charity gala […]