In conversation with Shahram Aghamir, Dr. Utku Balaban discusses the connection between industrialization and what some call 'Islamic Revivalism' in Turkey. Babalan argues that focus on the Islamic-Secularist rift overemphasizes the cultural and political causes of tensions between the secularists and Islamists, and overlooks connections between Islamic Revivalism and industrialization of Muslim majority countries after the 1970s. Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).
On March 1, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a ruling allowing 4 Palestinian families slated for eviction in East Jerusalem to stay in their homes for now. What is the significance of this ruling? Jerusalem-based Palestinian activist Amany Khalifa speaks with Malihe Razazan about Israel's forced expulsion of Palestinians from Jerusalem and the south. Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).
This week, we speak with Jody Sokolower about her new book Determined to Stay: Palestinian Youth Fight for Their Village. Later in the program, Madhdis Keshavarz of the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association joins us to talk about the organization’s recent statement in response to the biased coverage of the Ukraine crisis. Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).
We discuss green energy and its relationship to colonialism in North Africa with Hamza Hamouchene. Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA). --- Hamza Hamouchene is a London-based Algerian researcher-activist, commentator and a founding member of Algeria Solidarity Campaign (ASC), and Environmental Justice North Africa (EJNA). He previously worked for War on Want, Global Justice Now and Platform London on issues of extractivism, resources, land and food sovereignty as well as climate, environmental, and trade justice. He is the author/editor of two books: “The Struggle for Energy Democracy in the Maghreb” (2017) and "The Coming Revolution to North Africa: The Struggle for Climate Justice" (2015). He also contributed book chapters to “Voices of Liberation: Frantz Fanon” (2014) and “The Palgrave Encyclopaedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism” (2016). His other writings have appeared in the Guardian, Middle East Eye, Counterpunch, New Internationalist, Jad...
From 2011 on, Professor Natasha Iskandar documented labor practices on Qatari construction sites. In her new book, "Does Skill Make Us Human? Migrant Workers in 21st Century Qatar and Beyond," Prof. Iskandar explores how migrants are recruited, trained and used. Listen to the second part of her conversation with VOMENA host Malihe Razazan. Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA)
From 2011 on, Professor Natasha Iskandar documented labor practices on Qatari construction sites. In her new book, "Does Skill Make Us Human? Migrant Workers in 21st Century Qatar and Beyond," Prof. Iskandar explores how migrants are recruited, trained and used. Listen to the first part of her conversation with VOMENA host Malihe Razazan. Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).
A conversation with well-known South African peace and justice activist Na'eem Jeenah about the erasure of Desmond Tutu's support for Palestinian rights from obituaries in mainstream media. In the second part of this episode, we speak with Tara Sepehri Far, Senior Iran Researcher at HRW about the death of jailed Iranian poet and filmmaker Baktash Abtin. Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).
Khaled Barakat is a Palestinian-Canadian activist and writer, currently based in Vancouver, who was recently subjected to a media and political campaign aimed at silencing him and those fighting for Palestinian rights in Canada. Attempts to criminalize Barakat originated in an article published in the right-wing newspaper The National Post, and quickly became subject of debate in the Canadian Senate, with a conservative senator going so far as to asking the government to expel Barakat, a Canadian citizen, from the country. The campaign against Khaled Barakat is one of many smear campaigns being launched against pro-Palestinian voices, a phenomenon that seems to be increasing nowadays. Security in Context is a podcast project from the research network of the same name, aimed at promoting new thinking on security from a global perspective. The Security in Context podcast features discussions about key questions on peace and conflict, the political economy of security and insecurity, m...
In early April 2022, president Kais Saied dissolved the parliament after parliament members challenged the autocratic powers he exercised since his self-coup last July. Lawmakers held an online meeting, defying Saied’s warning that the session was illegal, and a majority voted against his power grab, which they said violated the country’s Constitution. Elected in a landslide in 2019, the president has been ruling by decree since July, jailing opponents, suspending parts of the Constitution, dismissing the Supreme Judicial Council and restricting press freedom. Khalil Bendib spoke with Tunisian correspondent Mohammed-Dhia Hemmami about the current political situation in Tunis. Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).
At the end of March 2022, in a bold and historic step backwards for the cause of peace in the Middle East, Morocco was one of four Arab countries meeting in a special summit with Israel and the US. Although distant Iran was central to the discussions held during this meeting, the central issue of Palestine never broached during this summit, which took place in the heart of historic Palestine. Khalil Bendib spoke with Samia Errazouki, a journalist formerly based in Morocco and a PhD candidate in early modern Northwest African history at UC Davis, about Morocco’s participation in this summit and what might be motivating the Moroccan regime to go against the wishes of its own people. Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East and North Africa (VOMENA).