How a country in lockdown celebrates freedom
CSMONITOR (24/4/2020) For the past four decades, Col. Vasco Lourenço has spent every April 25 on the streets of Lisbon celebrating Freedom Day. This year will be different. There will be no parades, no concerts, no crowds walking down Freedom Avenue carrying red carnations. In 1974, Colonel Lourenço was one of the young Portuguese officers […]
Read →
Gentrification and grassroots resistance in Amman’s historic district
AL ARABY (3/4/2020) ‘STARBUCKS OPENING SOON’, announces a large billboard placed next to an unfinished building just off the main square of Jabal al-Weibdeh, in central Amman. With no cars on the streets since the Jordanian government implemented a curfew to stop the spread of the coronavirus, the neighbourhood feels unusually quiet. Forced to stay indoors, residents of Weibdeh can’t wait for life […]
Read →
‘He just wanted dignity’: the tragedy that captured the mood of a nation
THE GUARDIAN (27/2/2020) Anas al-Jamra carried more burdens than he could bear. As the eldest of 16 children, the fruit and vegetable vendor was the main provider for his parents, brothers and sisters, in addition to his own four young children. But continuously harassed by police and city officials, who confiscated his stock, the 28-year-old […]
Read →
The anger on Jordan’s streets
AL ARABY (12/2/2020) Carrying two bundles of flags, Mohammed(*) moves swiftly between hundreds of protesters as chants grow louder in downtown Amman. He holds Jordanian flags on his right hand, and Palestinian flags on his left hand. It’s been a busy, tumultuous start of the year for the Jordanian-Palestinian flag-seller. Since January, hundreds have braved […]
Read →
Jordanians voice concerns over imports of Israeli gas
AL JAZEERA (30/1/2020) With her clenched fists raised high, Ibtisam stands at the vanguard of hundreds of protesters who have gathered in Amman to rail against a gas deal. “The people of Jordan do not compromise! What a shame, what a shame! An agreement full of shame,” the protesters chant in unison. It’s Ibtisam’s second […]
Read →
For these Syrian artists, humor is essential to coping with oppression and war
WASHINGTON POST (14/1/2019) When they hear shelling outside their apartment in Damascus, close to the front line, Rand and Hala start to laugh. They were just talking about artillery. “Rand called a bomb and it came immediately,” jokes Hala. “Call God,” she tells her friend. “But God won’t come,” she continues, as they keep laughing. […]
Read →
“Ideas cannot be killed with weapons” – remembering Raed Fares
QANTARA DW (22/11/2019) “Black Friday Special Offer“ read a banner held by activists in Kafranbel, a small town in northern Syria. “Bring your enemy and come to fight in Syria for free“. When the Syrian uprising against the authoritarian regime of Bashar al-Assad began in 2011, Kafranbel protesters displayed eye-catching messages on a weekly basis. “ASSad is the source of […]
Read →Yazidis: o genocídio esquecido (2/2)
FUMAÇA (21/11/2019) O que mais assusta na viagem entre Erbil, a capital da região curda do Iraque, e Dohuk, perto da fronteira da Síria, é a forma como o Majed conduz. O rádio do carro toca música popular curda com o volume no máximo e ele tira as mãos do volante para bater palmas e […]
Read →Yazidis: o genocídio esquecido (1/2)
FUMAÇA (7/11/2019) Muito antes do mundo conhecer a palavra genocídio, inventada em 1943 pelo advogado judeu polaco Raphael Lemkin, para descrever as tentativas nazis de exterminar os judeus, os yazidis – uma comunidade religiosa com origens no Médio Oriente – já usavam a palavra firman para se referir às perseguições que sofreram durante séculos. Em agosto de 2014, o autoproclamado […]
Read →Crimes sem honra
EXPRESSO (10/8/2019) Kifaya tinha 16 anos quando a família decidiu que devia morrer. O irmão mais velho amarrou-a à cadeira da cozinha, deu-lhe um copo de água e pediu-lhe para rezar a sua última oração antes de a esfaquear. A jornalista Rana Husseini foi enviada para cobrir o assassinato num dia quente de Verão em […]
Read →