Egypt
Writing Home
It is widely acknowledged that the extinction of a language is a devastating cultural loss for ethnic minorities, but these Nubians raise a different question: What happens when an alphabet disappears? And is it possible — or even desirable — to save a script?
A Legacy of Contradictions
Saad Eddin Ibrahim spent his life and career speaking up for civil society and democratization in the Arab world, building bridges between his work in academic sociology and his political advocacy. Then he abruptly degenerated into an apologist for authoritarian counterrevolution.
The Cost of Leaving Gaza
Palestinians desperate to leave Gaza have one way out, through the Rafah crossing. But Egyptian brokers require a bribe of up to $10,000 per person, while Israeli authorities demand astronomical fees from registered citizens for their legal right to repatriation. The bureaucracy takes weeks, the bombs fall and hunger rages.
The Shifting Cultural Role of Clothes
Every society has its traditional clothing and almost every society has moved radically away from these traditions in recent times. Nevertheless, clothes play a significant cultural role in creating a sense of belonging, unity and collective identity.
Today’s Libya Won’t Be Easy For Gadhafi’s Son
In the final years of Moammar Gadhafi’s rule, tensions between the autocrat’s two most prominent sons embodied the key ideological question of how — and if — governance ought to be reformed. The ferocious rivalry contributed to the regime’s disjointed response to the 2011 uprisings — and helped bring about its end.
A Libyan Revenant
For one militia commander, a battlefield defeat was payback to the aspiring Libyan strongman Gen. Khalifa Haftar. But it also illustrates in stark clarity how the Middle East’s proxy wars and ideological rivalries have spilled across borders, ensnaring both the innocent and not so innocent.
Facing Midlife Womanhood in the Middle East
In time, we will come to terms with growing older, as we must do, as the women in these series have done. But for now, we must look at ourselves with love and accept that the seasons are changing and that we, alone, are the authors of our destiny.