The Arab World, Heritage and Civilization

Jun 10, 2014 | 'The Arab World, Heritage and Civilization' is a documentary produced in the framework of UNESCO's Arabia Plan, that provides an overview of the history of the rich Arab civilization.

Activists Discuss Being LGBTQ+ in the Arab World | NowThis | Reupload

Jul 15, 2018 ‘There was nothing wrong with me. It was the people around me that were wrong.’ — These LGBTQ+ Arabs want others like them to know there is hope.

These LGBT activists want other Arabs who happen to be gay, lesbian, transgender or trans, bisexual, queer, pansexual, intersex, gender non-conforming, non-binary, or questioning their gender or sexuality in general, to know that they are not alone.

These LGBT advocates encourage others to take pride in their sexuality and gender, providing LGBT advice, and reminding all people that LGBT rights matter because they are HUMAN rights.

The Women Bringing Sex Ed to the Arab World

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Activists are using social media to do what Arab countries have failed to do: teach women about their bodies. They are aiming for nothing less than a cultural awakening.

CAIRO — When Nour Emam decided to devote herself to educating Arab women about their bodies, the subject was so taboo that one of her first challenges was figuring out how to pronounce the word “clitoris” in Arabic.

“I had never heard it,” said Ms. Emam, 29, a women’s health activist from Cairo. “No one uses it, so there’s nowhere to find the right way to say it.”

After careful research, now she knows, and so do her hundreds of thousands of followers on social media, where she hosts one of the leading platforms for sex education in the Arab world.

With formal schooling on sexuality minimal to nonexistent in much of the Middle East, and a patriarchal culture that has left many Arab women ignorant and ashamed of their own bodies, Ms. Emam and a growing number of activists have built online platforms to try to fill the gap. » | Mona El-Naggar and Sara Aridi | Thursday, November 18, 2021

Global Journalist: Gay Rights in the Arab World

Sep 22, 2016 • One of the hardest regions of the globe to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender is the Arab world.

In Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the punishment for the crime of sodomy is death by stoning, and many other countries impose prison sentences.

Also challenging is the fact that the stigma associated with being LGBT is so great, many people feel they can’t come out even to their family or closest friends.

On this edition of Global Journalist, a look at the uncertain lives of LGBT people in Arab nations.

Joining the program:

*Saleem Haddad, the Jordanian-born author of the new novel "Guapa," about the outing of a young gay man in an unnamed Arab country.

*Graeme Reid, director of the LGBT rights program at Human Rights Watch.

*Esra'a Al-Shafei, a Bahraini activist and director of Mideast Youth, network of online platforms that amplify marginalized voices in the region.

*Antoun Issa, a senior editor at the Middle East Institute who has written extensively on LGBT issues in the region.


Interview: Saleem Haddad: 'I put everything into this novel and it was a relief' »

Activists Discuss Being LGBTQ+ in the Arab World | NowThis (2018)

‘There was nothing wrong with me. It was the people around me that were wrong.’ — These LGBTQ+ Arabs want others like them to know there is hope.

These LGBT activists want other Arabs who happen to be gay, lesbian, transgender or trans, bisexual, queer, pansexual, intersex, gender non-conforming, non-binary, or questioning their gender or sexuality in general, to know that they are not alone.

These LGBT advocates encourage others to take pride in their sexuality and gender, providing LGBT advice, and reminding all people that LGBT rights matter because they are HUMAN rights.

How Dangerous Is It to Be a Journalist in the Arab World? l Inside Story

Turkish sources say investigators have found 'important samples' at the Saudi consulate in the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi.

The case of missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has shocked and capitvated the world, as information trickles out about his disappearance, and possible murder inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Beyond the gruesome details, at the core of this story is a journalist, who had been threatened for his reporting and opinions.

Khashoggi wrote critically about the Saudi government, warning the world, that Saudi Arabia could never be a democracy under the current crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. He highlighted the plight and struggles of journalists in his country, saying there was no space for free speech since journalists and intellectuals are often jailed for expressing their views. So, how much of a threat are journalists to Arab governments?

Presenter: Hazem Sika | Guests: Saad Al-Faqih - Saudi dissident; Ravi Prasad - Director of Advocacy with the International Press Institute; David Hearst - Editor in Chief of the Middle East Eye.

Empire - What Future for the Arab World?

Saudi Arabia 'Destabilising Arab World', German Intelligence Warns

Prince Mohammed bin Salman is believed to have played a key
role in Saudi Arabia's decision to intervene in Yemen

THE TELEGRAPH: It is unusual for the BND spy agency to publicly release such a blunt assessment on a country that is considered an ally of the West. Germany has long-standing political and economic ties with Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is at risk of becoming a major destabilising influence in the Arab world, German intelligence has warned.

Internal power struggles and the desire to emerge as the leading Arab power threaten to make the key Western ally a source of instability, according to the BND intelligence service.

“The current cautious diplomatic stance of senior members of the Saudi royal family will be replaced by an impulsive intervention policy,” a BND memo widely distributed to the German press reads.

The memo focuses particularly on the role of Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the 30-year-old son of King Salman who was recently appointed deputy crown prince and defence minister.

The concentration of so much power in Prince Mohammed’s hands “harbours a latent risk that in seeking to establish himself in the line of succession in his father’s lifetime, he may overreach,” the memo notes. » | Justin Huggler, Berlin | Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Syrian Poet Adonis: Progress Impossible in the Arab World without Separation of Religion and State

Ibrahim Al-Buleihi: Progress for Arab and Islamic World Can Only Come from Western Civilization

Saudi Shura Council Member Ibrahim Al-Buleihi: Progress for Arab and Islamic World Can Only Come from Western Civilization 
The Internet, Rotana Khalijiya TV (Saudi Arabia) - July 23, 2012

MERCATORNET: The castle of backwardness: A Saudi scholar laments his culture’s aversion to rational discourse. » | Ibrahim al-Buleihi | Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Russian View: The Murky Side of Exceptionalism: US Military Footprint All over Arab World

After declaring captured Iraqi territory an Islamic State, ISIS reveals its plan to take over a dozen countries. They call on jihadist fighters to help build an Islamic caliphate. What is Washington's role in this story? RT's Marina Portnaya finds out.

The New Jihadists Make Al-Qaeda Look Like Tired Old Has-beens

Al-Qaeda's Ayman al-Zawahiri, above, is seen as the godfather
of Islamist terrorism – but an increasingly isolated one

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The creation of a de facto Islamic state in Syria could act as a springboard for a takeover of the Arab world

There is something rather laughable about the fugitive leader of al-Qaeda railing – as he has been recently – against the violent tactics employed by a new generation of Islamist militants.

This, after all, is an organisation that is no stranger to committing wanton acts of unprovoked violence, such as last year’s assault on Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall. Judging from reports this week, it may also have radicalised the first British man to carry out a suicide bombing in the Syrian civil war.

But what really seems to be bugging Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s ideological linchpin, is not so much the violent methods being employed by militants fighting in Syria and Iraq, but the fact that they are no longer prepared to take orders from him. He is the godfather of Islamist terrorism – but an increasingly isolated one.

This is certainly the view of American intelligence officials, who closely monitor every aspect of Islamist activity around the world.

“What we are looking at is the replacement of al-Qaeda by a new generation of Islamist militants who have a far more radical and focused agenda,” a senior US counter-terrorism official told me in an interview in Washington. “The new generation of these terrorists are far more ambitious. They are not just content with plotting terror attacks against the West: they are determined to create their own Islamist state.” » | Con Coughlin | Thursday, February 13, 2014

Islam und Sex: Die arabische Lust in allen Details
DIE WELT: Shereen el Feki hat ein Buch über Sex in den arabischen Ländern geschrieben. Von der Ehe bis zur männlichen Prostitution verrät es dem Westen sämtliche Geheimnisse des islamischen Geschlechterlebens.

Im Frühjahr 2011 spürte der deutsche Schriftsteller Navid Kermani auf dem Tahrir-Platz in Kairo die revolutionäre "Zärtlichkeit der Massen". Nun wird fast täglich über sexuelle Übergriffe, Grabscher und Vergewaltigungen vom Ort der arabischen Freiheit berichtet. Die Journalistin und Immunologin Shereen el Feki, in Kanada aufgewachsene Tochter eines Ägypters und einer walisischen Mutter, ist in tausendundeinem Tag vom Tahrir-Platz aus durch Ägypten, dem Maghreb und Mittleren Osten gereist, um herauszufinden, ob und wie sich vor und nach dem Sturz der Despoten das Verhältnis der Männer und Frauen zueinander verhält und verändert hat. Es ist eine Anamnese des Zustands der Sexualität in der islamischen Welt, wie sie so bisher unbekannt war.

Der Titel des Buches von Shereen el Feki "Sex und die Zitadelle" bezieht sich auf die von Saladin 1176 gegen den Ansturm der Kreuzritter errichtete Festung, die über Kairo thront. Auf Seite 350 erklärt sie dieses Wortbild: "Was die Sexualität anlangt, so könne man meinen, die arabische Welt gleiche einer Zitadelle, einer uneinnehmbaren Festung, deren Außenmauer jeden erdenklichen Angriff auf die Bastion heterosexueller Ehe und Familie abwehrt."

El Feki beschreibt die Geschlechterbeziehungen dieser in sich und ihrer Kultur geschlossenen arabischen Welt, aber auch die Öffnungen in den Mauern, die sie auf Veränderung hoffen lässt. Aber wie inzwischen fast jeder "im Westen" ausgebildete Wissenschaftler, der über den Orient und die islamische Welt schreibt, will sie sich zunächst von der unterstellten Bevormundung Arabiens durch die koloniale Sicht distanzieren, um sich nicht dem "Orientalismus"-Vorwurf etwa eines Edward Saids auszusetzen. » | Von Necla Kelek | Dienstag, 02. April 2013

Sex und die Zitadelle: Liebesleben in der sich wandelnden arabischen Welt »

Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World »

Decoding Facial Hair in the Arab World

BBC: During the Mubarak-era, beards were a no-no in Egypt - but now they're back in fashion with a vengeance. In the Arab and Muslim world, facial hair signifies a lot more than personal style, writes Cairo-based journalist Ashraf Khalil.

A couple of years ago, I was with my parents in a mosque near Chicago. They introduced me to an old family friend - a lady who'd known me since I was a kid but hadn't seen me for years. She embraced my mother and shook hands with my father, but when she turned to me she stood about a foot away from me, didn't offer to shake my hand and instead sort of awkwardly waved.

My father asked her why she had been so distant and she said it was because of my beard. She assumed that my facial hair was symbolic of a deep Islamic religiousness and was afraid that if she offered her hand to shake, I wouldn't take it. My father, who knows exactly how non-religious I am, still LOVES to tell this story.

In the Arab and Muslim world, facial hair means far more than just style and grooming. It's a sociological signifier, a shorthand that often tells you who you're dealing with and what they're all about before they can even speak. There are a couple of different styles in play, and as a journalist you learn to develop a sort of internal chart.

In Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood members generally tend to go with the full but well-groomed beard and moustache. However Salafists - the ultraconservative fundamentalist Muslims - like to let their beards grow long and wild, often leaving their upper lip clean-shaven as a nod to how the Prophet Mohammed wore his own beard 1,400 years ago.

Some within the Salafist camp take things an extra step and dye their beards with henna, producing a range of colours from maroon to bright pumpkin orange. » | Ashraf Khalil | Saturday, February 02, 2013

Saudi: Corruption, Dictators the Enemy, Not Israel
THE JERUSALEM POST: Saudi journalist says that the ‘real enemies of Arab world’ are corruption and dictators, not the Jewish state.

An article by a Saudi journalist challenging the conventional wisdom in the Arab world – in particular the view of Israel as the root of the region’s problems – is enjoying skyrocketing popularity online and sparking debate about the Arab Spring.

Under the headline “Arab Spring and the Israeli enemy,” the writer used the occasion of the Yom Kippur War in 1973 to wonder aloud about the resources spent on war, in particular the War of Independence in 1948 and the Six Day War in 1967.

“What was the real cost for not recognizing Israel in 1948 and why didn’t the Arab states spend their assets on education, health care and the infrastructures instead of wars?” asked Abdulateef al-Mulhim in the Arab News, a Saudi Arabian newspaper in English whose website “gets hundreds of thousands of hits every day” from around the world, according to the paper’s site.

“But, the hardest question that no Arab national wants to hear is whether Israel is the real enemy of the Arab world and the Arab people,” wrote al-Mulhim.

“I decided to write this article after I saw photos and reports about a starving child in Yemen, a burned ancient Aleppo souk in Syria, the underdeveloped Sinai in Egypt, car bombs in Iraq and the destroyed buildings in Libya. The photos and the reports were shown on the Al-Arabiya network, which is the most watched and respected news outlet in the Middle East,” he wrote.

“The common thing among all what I saw is that the destruction and the atrocities are not done by an outside enemy. The starvation, the killings and the destruction in these Arab countries are done by the same hands that are supposed to protect and build the unity of these countries and safeguard the people of these countries. So, the question now is that who is the real enemy of the Arab world?” he asked.

Al-Mulhim continued later in the column: “The real enemies of the Arab world are corruption, lack of good education, lack of good health care, lack of freedom, lack of respect for the human lives and finally, the Arab world had many dictators who used the Arab-Israeli conflict to suppress their own people.” » | Ilene Prusher | Wednesday, October 10, 2012

The Arab Spring Is Not Blossoming

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Telegraph View: The personal cost of tyranny in the Arab world is rising.

The personal cost of tyranny in the Arab world is rising. Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali escaped from Tunisia to Saudi Arabia, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt is to stand trial for murder and corruption, and now Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen has been evacuated to Riyadh with burns and a shrapnel wound.

In each case, the president, once supported by the West as a stabilising factor, resisted the demands of protesters and became a liability. Mr Saleh, who repeatedly equivocated over a peace plan proposed by the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), had long passed that point. Instead of the “honourable exit” which he said he sought, he has suffered the humiliation of being injured in a rocket attack on his palace in Sana’a and forced to seek medical treatment abroad. Read on and comment » | Telegraph View | Monday, June 06, 2011

Saudi Arabia Shuns Thought of Arab Spring

BBC: Saudi Arabia has not seen the large-scale protests of the kind sweeping many Arab countries - it is a place which, above all, values stability.

There were hundreds of them, migrant workers, from South and East Asia, coming to Saudi Arabia to work for meagre, but tax-free, wages.

And their arrival in Riyadh coincided with my flight, making for a teeming but fairly orderly passport hall.

The queues were not moving much, however, and so one tall, thin Indian man decided to sit on the floor.

Not for long though.

Out of nowhere, one of the guards shoved his way into the line - spraying people left and right - and hauled the man back on to his feet.

Moments later, the same guard kicked the arm of another migrant worker who could not figure out how to operate the biometric scanning machine.

All this had taken place within 20 minutes of me setting foot on Saudi soil.

It was my first impression of the country - and to the extent that the incidents highlight the authoritarian, uncompromising nature of Saudi society, not to mention the appalling manner in which some low-skilled migrant workers are treated, then it has proven fairly accurate.

I have travelled the breadth - if not the length - of this desert kingdom over the past week or so, and the lesson I have learned again and again is that there is a Saudi way of doing things which is quite unique.

'Un-Islamic'

A tribal, hierarchical society defined almost exclusively by its religion tends not to tolerate much dissent - and looks suspiciously at any new behaviours and ideas.

A suggestion last week, for instance, from the education minister that it was maybe time to consider sending boys and girls to mixed-sex primary schools led to one opponent claiming the idea would turn boys into transvestites.

Any notion that Saudis had that the uprising in other Middle Eastern countries might take root here was brushed aside a few weeks ago by an edict from the country's religious leaders that dissent and protest were un-Islamic, and that Saudis should obey their rulers.

We do not challenge our parents in the house, one man told me, and so what makes you think we are going to challenge our government in the streets?

Beside a big stick, a rather large carrot has also been dangled in front of Saudis. » | Michael Buchanan, BBC News, Riyadh | Saturday, May 21, 2011

Empire - War & Revolutions: Europe and the Arab World
Empire asks: Does this NATO operation epitomise Western double standards? Why is Europe reacting strongly in Libya, but indifferent to what is happening in Syria and playing nice with Bahrain?

Obama Vows Fresh Start with Arab World

Al Jazeera Frames - Spring Movements