Defying Baghdad’s violence, volunteers are re-opening the city’s historic theatre

by Nazli Tarzi  This article first appeared in Niqash and has been republished here with their permission. In Baghdad’s Salihiya neighbourhood, a group of volunteers are staging a different kind of protest. They have cleaned up a deserted theatre and started performances there again. Rows of empty seats coated in dust are the first thing… Read More

“Where are the Arab Intellectuals?” and other obsessions that won’t die

by Elizabeth Suzanne Kassab Five years into the uprisings that swept the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, protests continue to mark the region’s political climate. While its pioneers Tunisia and Egypt are in some sort of post-revolutionary stage, the capitals of Iraq and Lebanon are being shaken by the tireless work of activists… Read More

Malala Yousafzai and the White Saviour Complex

by Assed Baig When Malala Yusufzai was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen simply because she wanted to gain an education it sent shockwaves around the world. The Western media took up the issue, Western politicians and the public spoke out and soon she found herself in the UK. The way in which the… Read More