Portuguese shopkeepers using ceramic frogs to ‘scare away’ Roma
Al JAZEERA (4/2/2019) Portugal’s ceramic frogs croak racism. Al Jazeera reveals racist practice that plays on superstition among Roma who consider frogs symbol of bad luck. Porto, Portugal – Surrounded by baskets of oranges and tangerines, a bright green ceramic frog stands at the entrance of Helena Conceicao’s grocery shop. “Everybody has frogs here,” she said. […]
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A língua do outro
CERCHI NELL’ACQUA (DEZ 2018) Em Março de 2016, Hasan Aldewachi, um cientista iraquiano, foi expulso de um voo Easyjet porque a mensagem que estava a escrever no telemóvel em árabe foi vista como suspeita por outros passageiros e denunciada à polícia. Em Outubro do mesmo ano, Khairuldeen Makhzoomi foi obrigado a sair de um avião […]
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Gentrification in Porto: will the city turn into a hotel?
OPEN DEMOCRACY (9/1/2019) Tourism is booming in Portugal, but so is housing speculation. Gentrification has been causing the displacement of the poor, a proliferation of hotels and shrinking public space. “The bookshop closed, the greengrocer and the florist closed. The city will turn into a tourist’s hotel”, sings the band Samba sem Fronteiras. They sing in the Worst […]
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War is hell for animals too: In Jordan, bears, lions and tigers have found a sanctuary
MIDDLE EAST EYE (20/12/2018) Animals rescued from Aleppo, Mosul and Gaza have found new lives in a peaceful sanctuary surrounded by mountains north of Amman When he was eight years old, Loz was evacuated from Aleppo. It was July 2017, seven months after Syria’s second-largest city finally fell to the forces of Bashar al-Assad’s government. […]
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The Jordanian women fighting for labour rights
EQUAL TIMES (4/12/2018) In Jordan, more women than men are going to university and girls have been consistently outperforming boys academically. Yet women’s participation in the workforce remains one of the lowest in the world. Meet some of the women trying to change this. When Dina Saad attended a job fair in Jordan’s busy […]
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Retratos dos despejos no Porto
JORNAL MAPA (SET/NOV 2018) A especulação imobiliária desencadeada pela explosão do turismo tem feito com que a habitação no Porto seja cada ver mais vista como um investimento e não como um direito. As rendas têm vindo a disparar, e são cada vez mais os inquilinos com ordens de despejo ou com contratos que não […]
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“Baynatna – the Arabic library promoting inclusion in Berlin”
AL JAZEERA (12/10/2018) On Friday evenings in Mitte, Berlin’s central district, the sound of an oud travels up from the public library’s ground floor. The Middle Eastern string instrument is being played in a room in Stadtbibliothek, Berlin’s municipal library, where Baynatna has found a home. It is the first Arabic-language public library in the German city. An […]
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Cruising through Jordan with ‘Nancy’, the vintage Mercedes covered in books
MIDDLE EAST EYE (25/9/2018) A 1974 Mercedes, wrapped in a blanket of books, stands still on Rainbow Street – one of the oldest and busiest streets in central Amman. Curious pedestrians stop to take a look at the rare model and do not hesitate to flick through the pages of books that catch their eye. “It’s like a […]
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Portugal, país acolhedor? Refugiados partilham histórias de discriminação
BUALA (6/8/2018) Em 2016, o primeiro-ministro António Costa anunciou a disponibilidade para aumentar a quota de refugiados. Desde então, o governo português tem reiterado o seu compromisso de receber pessoas refugiadas. Os discursos de boas-vindas aos refugiados contribuem para reforçar a auto-imagem que Portugal se abona como país acolhedor e tolerante. No entanto, segundo um relatório publicado pelo Alto […]
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Kashmiris turn to art to challenge Indian rule
AL-JAZEERA (20/3/2018) Kashmir has a rich tradition of artisan culture. Intricate woodcarvings, colourful papier-mache and exquisite cashmere scarfs made the Himalayan valley renowned for its fine handcrafts. Cashmere scarfs are usually embroidered with flowers and birds, but the artists Mahum Shabir and Mir Suhail wanted to challenge conventional representations of Kashmir and its crafts by designing […]
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