China Cracks Down on Language
Two years ago, a linguistic and political Pandora’s box was opened: Under new rules, tutors were no longer allowed to hold private classes in person or online for students based in China. Private tutors across the globe found themselves without work.
In Search of My Family’s Home in Pre-Nakba Palestine
Having been raised on the words “once we return to Palestine,” the current catastrophe represents to me and others — inside Palestine and within the diaspora — a new milestone in the long history of the Nakba. It will be remembered as one of its most tragic chapters.
A Portrait of James Joyce’s Lessons in a Kuwait English Class
What can Euro-American modernism mean to an undergraduate student of literature in Kuwait today? My students are much more focused on claiming identity than appreciating the power of not belonging. What this desire to identify forecloses, however, is contingency, openness, transformation — the possibility that things might be differently arranged.
Language Is a Powerful Weapon in the Israel-Palestine Conflict
The language used by those who wield power in Israel and the West reveals an overarching theme — the dissociation of Israeli violence from its lethal consequences. The normalization of violence is perpetuated through overlapping linguistic patterns that have emerged from the last 75 years of Israeli statehood and occupation.
A Controversial Irrigation Canal Is a New Symbol of Hope for Haiti
An irrigation canal is at the heart of a diplomatic standoff between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. For Haiti, which is beset by gang violence and facing a humanitarian crisis, this is about more than just a canal. It is about a country’s right to exploit its own resources.