Tag Archives: Middle East & North Africa

Gender, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Algeria Feature | Indigenous Berber Women

Video

The Shaped Stories of Ideki

Found in the heart of indigenous Kabyle Berber communities in the Kabylia region of Algeria, the traditional form of Berber pottery known as ideki continues to live on as contemporary Algerian women work with ceramicists to produce the colorful containers. CCTV Africa explores its symbolic language, production process, and threats in the age of globalization.

Watch the CCTV feature on YouTube.

Gender, Ideology + Affiliation

Iran News | Women Dissidents

Iranian human rights activist languishes in jail as sentence expires
  • Bahareh Hadayat, an activist who spoke out on women’s rights issues and government suppression, was in and out of jail before being sentenced to sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in jail for threatening national security, insulting the supreme leader, and insulting then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
  • Many expected parts of Hadayat’s sentence to be commuted, but police threats and Hadayat’s continued activism from behind bars have diminished that prospect.
  • Hadayat’s husband reports health complications have exacerbated the effects of Hadayat’s stay at the Evin prison, where around 18 other female political prisoners are held.

“The authorities have put pressure on us because of speaking out about Bahareh’s situation in jail. … They’ve threatened us, and have told her in jail that they’ll arrest me if we keep speaking out. They want to keep us silent.”

Read the full story at the Guardian.

(Image Credit: Facebook, via The Guardian)

Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

Israel News | Ultra-Orthodox Jewish

Israel detains third far-right Jewish Israeli suspected of extremist ties
  • Israeli police have placed the three men in “administrative detention” for six months, allowing them to be held without charge.
  • Police have accused the men of being involved in terror attacks, although no evidence has been presented for formal charging.
  • The arrests follow the recent arson attack by Ultra-Orthodox Jewish extremists against a Palestinian family’s home in the West Bank that left a toddler and his father dead.

“Right now there are three detentions. In the coming days it could be 30, and we could end up with 300. … These orders endanger the entire justice system.”

Read the full story at Reuters.

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Israel News | Palestinians

1 Comment
West Bank arson attack suspected to be work of Jewish extremists leaves Palestinian infant dead and family critically injured
  • Witnesses reported Israeli settlers firebombed two homes in the town of Duma around 2 a.m., leading to the infant’s death and the serious injury of his parents and 4-year-old brother.
  • The government was swift to condemn the violence as “an act of terrorism in every respect,” but Palestinian leaders called for the Israeli government to be held responsible as it continues to green-light Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank.
  • The act was the latest in a string of violent acts traded between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank, where mosques have been burned and an Israeli man murdered in the last month.

“Your soul cries out and cannot find solace — the murder of a child by Jews and the burning of a house is the murder of Abu Khdeir all over again.”

Read the full story at The New York Times.

(Image Credit: Alaa Badarneh/European Pressphoto Agency, via The New York Times)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Israel News | LGBT

Assailant stabs six at Jerusalem Pride
  • Yishai Schlissel, an ultra-Orthodox Jew, had been released from prison three weeks earlier for good behavior after having been imprisoned for stabbing three at 2005’s Jerusalem Pride.
  • Schlissel had released a threatening letter and railed against the celebration in an interview prior to the event, which is attended by thousands.
  • While politicians denounced the attack, attendees sharply criticized the police for the lack of security precautions given Schlissel’s release.

“We won’t allow a single excuse for violence of any kind. Jerusalem is a place for all, and we will continue to fight together with the Israel Police against all who attempt violence to harm another. … We will continue to support all groups and communities in Jerusalem and won’t be deterred by those who try perverse ways to prevent this.”

Read the full story at The Times of Israel.

(Image Credit: Screen capture/Channel 2, via The Times of Israel)

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.A.E. Feature | Jewish Israeli

Video

Eli Beer: Diplomatic Daredevil

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVDj86g9D7E

Middle East Eye interviews Eli Beer, an Israeli citizen who traveled to Dubai and recorded a video greeting despite the U.A.E.’s lack of diplomatic recognition of Israel. Raising money on a dare for the volunteer ambulance service he founded in Israel, Beer speaks about his perception of Dubai, his home country’s place in the Middle East, and the future of the Arab world’s relations with Israel.

Read the full interview at Middle East Eye.

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

Western Asia Feature | Middle-Eastern Christians

The Twilight of Christianity in the Region of Its Birth

The Middle East has seen its culturally diverse population fractured by ever-increasing fault lines over the last century, from colonialism and nationalism to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to Sunni-Shia sectarianism to fundamentalist Sunni extremism.  As a dwindling religious minority, Christians in the Middle East have seen the threat to their existence multiply exponentially after nearly two millennia of peaceful coexistence with other religious communities in their homeland.  The New York Times Magazine explores Christianity’s decline and contemporary existential threats in a region where extremism has subjected the community to exile, forced conversion, and execution.

Read the full feature at the New York Times Magazine.

(Image Credit: Peter van Agtmael/Magnum, for The New York Times)

Gender, Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.A.E. News | Black Women

Black hotel visitors receive apology from five-star hotel in Dubai after being asked to leave
  • A Nigerian event manager and her friend had been out for the evening at the lounge in the Mövenpick Hotel Jumeirah Beach, where a waitress reportedly refused to serve them and a security guard told them to leave.
  • The hotel issued an apology for the “misunderstanding” and claimed that such measures were not standard practice at the beachfront hotel.
  • Black women in Dubai face targeting under suspicion of prostitution–particularly at hotels–leading to racial profiling.

“A female staff came out and tried to hush up the matter saying ‘Obama is the President of US’ as if that had anything to do with us. I want the management of the hotel to realise that this isn’t 1930. This is 2015. You cannot walk up to random black women and tell them you will not serve them because they are black.”

Read the full story at Gulf News.

(Image Credit: Wanderforth.com)

Nationality + Migration

U.A.E. News | Seychellois Visitors

Seychelles added to list of countries whose residents can travel to the UAE visa-free
  • The Indian Ocean archipelago’s 90,000 residents will now be able to travel to the United Arab Emirates for up to 90 days without a visa, with typical restrictions against working or studying applying.
  • Seychelles is the first African nation to be added to the UAE’s visa-free list, and according to one report is the African nation with the highest mobility as measured by passport-power.
  • The UAE is the most popular travel destination for Seychellois, with more than 9,000 trips to the country made in 2014.

Read the full story at the Seychelles News Agency.

(Image Credit: Wikipedia, via Seychelles News Agency)

Gender

Morocco News | Women

Moroccan women cleared of indecency charges
  • The two Moroccan women had faced charges of public obscenity for wearing too tight of skirts, which carries a penalty of up to two years in prison.
  • The women’s defense attorney indicated that the women will be pursuing legal action against the merchants who harassed them over their dress in the market where the conflict occurred.
  • More than 27,000 had signed a petition of support for the women, and solidarity protests were held in Agadir and Casablanca.

“This is a victory not only for these two women, but for all members of civil society who mobilised.”

Read the full story at the Guardian.

Religion + Belief

U.A.E. Feature | Religious Minorities

Dubai’s Religious Minorities

Though strict in terms of public expression, Dubai has allowed rich, diverse communities to develop behind the walls of churches, temples, and other non-Muslim houses of worship.  The BBC examines the growth of Dubai’s minority religious communities–including various Christian sects, Hindus, and Sikhs–and the extent of the freedoms they enjoy in the rapidly modernizing city.

Read the full feature at the BBC.

(Image Credit: BBC)

Religion + Belief

Iraq News | Muslims

Displaced Iraqis find support across sectarian lines in central Iraq
  • In cities like Najaf and Hillah, Sunni and Shiite Muslims alike have provided humanitarian support to those displaced by Islamic State violence regardless of affiliation.
  • Communities have rallied to include all in free evening iftar dinners and other forms of charity during Ramadan, with new arrivals discovering new economic opportunity as well.
  • In late June, the UN put the number of internally displaced Iraqis at 3 million, mostly from the northern and western provinces.

“In reality, the situation is very different from what media outlets interested in political spats report. … You will not find sectarianism here. Sectarianism is found among political elites and armed factions, especially those who came from outside of Iraq, most notably IS.”

Read the full story at Al-Monitor.

(Image Credit: Ahmed Saad/Reuters, via Al-Monitor)

Gender

Morocco News | Women

1 Comment
Two women charged with indecent dress head to trial in Morocco
  • The women were arrested in Agadir in mid-June after passersby reported them for wearing too tight of dresses.
  • One women’s organization leader reported that 500 lawyers signed up to represent the women, but only 200 could fit into the courtroom
  • With “public indecency” and “gross indecency” offenders subject to up to two years of jail time, protests in solidarity with the women are set to take place in Agadir and Casablanca later in the week.

“The only sensible thing here would be for the case to be dropped and police officers in Morocco instructed not to make arrests in cases like these in the future. Meanwhile, the authorities need to set about amending a whole range of highly discriminatory laws including on rape, abortion, divorce and child custody.”

Read the full story at the Guardian.

(Image Credit: Abdelhak Senna/EPA, via The Guardian)

Nationality + Migration, Religion + Belief

Qatar News | Christian Immigrants

Evangelical mega-community in Qatar granted construction permission for church
  • The Evangelical Churches Alliance Qatar (ECAQ), home to a multi-ethnic community of 1,200, will construct its building outside of central Doha.
  • The granting of building permits to churches is a recent phenomenon, with the first officially sanctioned church since pre-Islamic times going up in 2008.
  • Only Abrahamic faiths are officially recognized in Qatar, and within Christianity, churches must belong to a select group of sects or receive sponsorship from one of the recognized sects.

“They have supported us throughout. … The government has been very supportive in providing us permissions to hold worship sessions, meetings and other celebrations like our Family Days over the years.”

Read the full story at Doha News.

Nationality + Migration, Religion + Belief

U.A.E. News | Visitors & Religious Minorities

Dubai food courts open for non-fasters during Ramadan, easing restrictions for non-Muslims and non-observants
  • While eating in public during the day is criminalized in Dubai during Ramadan, food courts have been given the legal option to cover their entrances and open their services in designated areas to those not fasting.
  • The allowance is particularly welcome by tourists visiting Dubai’s sprawling malls, now able to eat in one of the Mall of the Emirates’s food courts and the Dubai Mall food court.
  • In addition, non-fasting Muslims including children and those abstaining for health purposes are able to access the designated eating areas.

Read the full story from the Khaleej Times at Yahoo! News Maktoob.

(Image Credit: via Yahoo! News Maktoob)