2048:
a peace odyssey
May 2008 –
The
man behind the prophet
April 2008 – Muhammad was one of the most
influential figures in human history. But who was the man behind the icon? Read on
In
search of Arab authors
April 2008 – The Arab world is in desperate
need of more novelists in the English language to bring home the realities of
the region through fiction. Read on
Moroccan
women in 3-D
April 2008 – My recent visit to
Diversity,
not adversity
March 2008 – Turks in
Critical
mess
March 2008 –
Wisdom,
not intelligence
February 2008 –
Glimmers
of hope
February 2008 – Palestinian and Israeli peace
activists have joined forces to demand the lifting of the
A
widening gulf
November 2007 – The controversial visit to
Perils
of the moral high ground
November 2007 – The US Congress’s cynical
manipulation of the Armenian genocide is hypocritical and a slur on the
memories of those who perished. Read on
The
roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
November 2007 – This year’s debate will
consider the question of whether Israeli intransigence is at the root of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Read on
Empowering
the average Mo
November 2007 – In the traditional Arab
mindset, men who do not fit the conventional ideal of manhood are regarded as
inferior. Read on
Femme caramel
October 2007 – A film set in a
Middle
Eastern cult heroes
October 2007
– With political disillusionment at an all-time high, a certain brand of hardline Middle Eastern leader is being elevated to the
status of cult hero. Read on
Ahmadinejad’s image problem
October 2007 – Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad’s unpolished
The art of peace (2)
September 2007 – Last week, I invited Arabs to
come out of their trenches and explore the no-man’s-land of the Arab-Israeli
conflict. Now it’s the turn of the Israelis. Read on
The art of peace
September 2007 – It is time for Arabs to come
out of their trenches and explore the no-man's-land of the Arab-Israeli
conflict. Read
on
Castles made of sand
September 2007 – The spirit of the 1960s
touched the Arab world too, but rapidly faded away. Read on
September 2007 – There is no military solution
for the
Faith
and punishment
August 2007 – In Islam, apostasy and
faithlessness are sins, but they are not worldly crimes. Those who claim
otherwise are making a mistake. Read on
A
song for the deaf
August 2007 – I’m sick of hearing the same old
tune about how Muslims are silent in their condemnation of terrorism. Time for
a song. Read on
A
Christian jihad?
August 2007 – Many in the West fear
the threat posed by political Islam. But there is a more ominous menace closer
to home. Read
on
Uri Avnery v Khaled Diab –
One state or two?
July
2007 – Could a ‘one-state’ solution end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Read on
The
other right of return
July 2007 – Palestinians have not been the
Sex and
the medina
July
2007 – The time is ripe for a Middle Eastern sexual revolution and there are
signs that a quiet one is in progress. But will young Arabs openly stand up for
their right to get laid? Read
on
The Muslim faithless
July 2007 – Ridiculing and questioning Islam,
Muhammad, the Qur’an and religion in general is an
ancient tradition in Muslim countries. Read on
A war on error
June 2007 – It is time to dispel the myths
surrounding Muslims – namely, that we are all terrorist anti-feminist
teetotallers. Read on
A war on error (2)
June 2007 – It is time to dispel the myths that
conservative Muslims often propagate about 'the west'. Read on
Small bombs, big trouble
Katleen Maes
June 2007 – There are renewed hopes of an
international treaty on cluster munitions – although the only way forward is to
ban them. Read
on
Without a
road map –
Travels
in Israel and Palestine
May 2007 – Khaled Diab travelled through
A better weapon
May 2007 – Palestinians are beginning to discover the value
of non-violent resistance. Read on
Pint-sized peace
May 2007 – Boozing for a good cause in
Behind
the ‘Zion
May 2007 – Just as Arabs do not realise just how 'Middle
Eastern' Israelis are, Israelis don't realise how 'western' millions of Arabs
are. Read
on
Arab League should enter uncharted territory with
Israel
April
2007 – The Arab League’s reaffirmation of the Saudi Peace Plan is a good step
in the right direction, and the Israelis should seize the opportunity it
offers. The Arabs can boost the prospect for peace by recognising Israel
The War on Error begins
April
2007 – The War on Error seeks to shatter the myths about ‘us’ and ‘them’
distorting the views of one another held by ‘Westerners’ and ‘Muslims’. This
series takes a number of misconceptions on both sides and deconstructs them. Read on and Readers’ reactions
International
Women’s Day –
A tale
of two sisters
March 2007 – To mark International Women’s Day (8
March), Khaled Diab
reflects on the status of women in
Madrid
February 2007 – Some 15 years after the Madrid
conference which launched the now defunct Israeli-Palestinian peace process,
former statesmen and stateswomen from both sides got together to try to revive
the quest for peace. What we now need is to complement this crème-de-la-crème
peacemaking with a gritty ‘Madrid for the people’, Khaled
Diab argues in a letter to former Israeli Foreign
Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, one of the figures who
spearheaded the initiative. Read on
Arabs and Israelis held hostage by a common enemy
February 2007 – Salom Now! And METalks are two experimental initiatives
which sought to rewrite the script of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and give
ordinary people a starring role in the quest for peace. Those involved
experienced profound changes to their outlook and took the first steps towards
forging a new, more inclusive narrative for the
Part I – War and elusive
peace
Part II – Talking under
fire
Part III – Dangerous liaisons
Part IV – Constructive
ideas
Part V – Let’s talk about
you and ME
Part VI – Terrorised by a
common enemy
Part VII – Existential
angst
Part VIII – Moving forward
Exchange of friendly fire
February 2007 – Anat
el-Hashahar, an Israeli and founder of METalks, debates the Arab-Israeli conflict – from
By Katleen Maes After decades of war and confrontation and
years of trying to reach a lasting peace, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
has become a very complex issue to solve and one in which it is virtually
impossible to deal with each of the problems separately. Nevertheless,
windows of opportunity to ease the tension can be found. This study
explores how the partial resolution of certain complex issues can provide
the momentum for a peaceful settlement of the conflict. Read on
No
defeating hate
Talking
settlements
February 2007 – Marina Werbeloff
gives her opinion on the METalks experiment. Read on
Saddam Hussein:
In desperate pursuit of a hero
January 2007 – The US-UK occupation of
Part I – Anti-heroics and
wishful thinking
Part II – Champion or
villain of the Arab cause?
Part III – The dead don’t
talk
Part IV – Emulating
history
Under the veil of sexuality
December
2006 – In modern-day Muslim societies, the struggle for greater sexual liberty
is hampered by social taboo. Two recent titles attempt to remove the veil of
modesty and secrecy surrounding homosexuality and the oft-neglected issue of
female sexuality. They deliver surprises both to critics and defenders of
Islam. Read
on
A letter to the Israeli premier
December 2006 – Tom Kenis
urges the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to soften his government’s toughening policy towards
‘family unification’ in the Palestinian territories. Read on
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Madrid II: towards a civil peace in the Middle East
November 2006
– Prompted by the dire situation in Gaza , Spain , France
and Italy have floated an
unexpected Middle East peace drive. This
initiative will almost certainly join other similar aborted road maps and peace
plans slowly decaying in the graveyard of international diplomacy. What the EU
needs to do is to abandon the deadlocked political level and organise a
high-profile Madrid II conference targeted at civil society to set in motion a
‘people’s peace process’. Read on
How I learned to start worrying and hate the bomb
November 2006
– With North Korea’s recent nuclear test and Iran’s suspected nuclear designs, Khaled Diab explains why he
learned to start worrying and hate the bomb and suggests how the proliferation
of nuclear weapons can best be arrested – and reversed. Read on
Pitch gender battles in Iran
October 2006 – Jafar Panahi’s Offside is a football film that is about almost everything but the beautiful game. It is onside and on target when it comes to providing a farcical and perceptive insight into the position of women in contemporary Iranian society. Read on
Het
stadium is geen plaats voor vrouwen!
‘Offside’ van de regisseur Jafar Panahi is een voetbalfilm
die bijna alle onderwerpen behandelt behalve het spel. De film biedt een
lachwekkend en diepgaand inzicht, een schot op doel, in de positie van de vrouw
in de hedendaagse Iraanse samenleving. Lees meer
Give ‘salom’ a chance
September 2006 – The
best lessons to draw from
Salom now!
Reaching out for a people’s peace in the Middle
East
Peace is so important to Arabs and Israelis
that they use it to greet friends and strangers a like – ‘salam’/’shalom’,
they say. Despite this, the
Using
a carrot and stick for peace
September 2006 – Given the fragile situation in
Salom now!
Mobilising the untapped power of Arab and Israeli
peaceniks
August 2006 – Arabs and Israelis have a common
way of greeting people and it is to wish them ‘peace’. As advocates of violent
solutions chalk up another victory in the Middle East and the international
community fails the test again in
Part I – Silent world
Part II – Peace begins at
home
Crisis
in
From
complete failure to comprehensive solutions
July 2006 – Israel ’s
massive onslaught against Lebanon
– and before that Gaza
Intolerant cruelty
May 2006 – Five years after the tide turned
against homosexuals in
Talking about ‘unspeakable love’
May 2006 –
Brian Whitaker talks to Khaled Diab
about his new book Unspeakable love. Read
on and readers’
comments
Rivers of deceit
May 2006 – On 11 May 2001, 52 men were arrested
in and around the Queen Boat floating nightclub in Zamalek,
Cultural rainbows
May 2006 – As Hollywood does gay in a big way, the issue of
homosexuality in the Arab World is slowly coming out of the cultural and media
closet. Read
on
Getting to the grassroots of the Middle
East conflict
By Khaled Diab and Katleen Maes
April 2006 – The new Kadima
party’s election victory in
Part I: Getting to the grassroots of the
Middle East conflict
Part II: The end
of the road for unilateralism?
The EU’s new Palestine
February 2006 – It may be better for the EU to
provide more carrots and fewer sticks for Hamas,
writes Khaled Diab. Read on
Graven images and poor reflections
February 2006 – It is perplexing that a few
crude cartoons can spark an international crisis overshadowing war, political
oppression and economic and social injustice. It has hurt the image of Muslims and reflects
poorly on their tolerance, while unmasking the uglier face of western
prejudice. Read on and readers’
comments
Abuse freedoms and we all lose
February 2006
– It is not freedom of expression that is under threat, but the right to human
dignity, argues Tom Kenis. Read on
Extraordinary renditions –
The playwright and the president
January 2006 – Jeff Sommers, Khaled Diab and Charles Woolfson explore the dynamics between playwright and president as American foreign policy stands in the dock. Read on
Extended
analysis
Dressed
to kill –
Under
the cloak of Bush’s foreign policy
December 2005
– Jeff Sommers, Khaled Diab and Charles Woolfson expose
what lies beneath the cloak of US President George W Bush’s foreign policy. Read on
Conversion is not a crime
December 2005 – Muriel Degauque
has the dubious distinction of being the first white European female suicide
bomber. Shocking as this is, suggestions that we have reached a dangerous
turning point and that converts are brainwashed fanatics and their partners are
comic-book villains are unfair to the vast majority of converts and to
non-converts married to Muslims.. Read on
Walk first, then surf
December 2005
– Trying to level the cyberspace playing field without
addressing poverty, illiteracy, disease and unfair trade practices is an exercise
in futility. Read on
A
revision of Salman Rushdie’s
vision –
We need ijtihadis, not jihadis
September 2005 – Salman Rushdie’s
proposed Islamic Reformation touches on the urgent need for reform in most
Muslim societies. But his vision needs serious revision if it is to work. Read on
Turkey and Europe must get ready to go back to
the future
April 2005 –
Islam and Europe :
Clash and mash
April 2005 – Khaled Diab and Katleen Maes examine the myths driving
anti-Islamic fervour in the EU. Read on
Time
to rethink the EU’s role in the Middle East
January 2005
– If Yasser Arafat’s death is to signify anything
more than the symbolic start of a new era, the European Union must radically
rethink its role as a mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to persuade
the two peoples to work towards a new dawn. Read on
Commission
wants closer EU-Israeli ties
January 2005
– The European Commission and the EU’s former envoy
to the Middle East have both come out in favour of enhancing economic and political
ties with
Remembering
the Sultan of Style
December 2004
– Ziryab is a name you’re unlikely to have come
across. One sensible reason for this is that the guy died over a millennium
ago. But his single-handed moulding of modern tastes should earn him a place in
fashion’s Hall of Fame. Read on
Raising
a new olive branch
December
2004 – Following the loss of Yasser Arafat – for
decades, the international face of the Palestinian struggle for statehood – it
is time for the Palestinians to rethink radically how they defend their cause. Read on
Taking
up peace, putting down arms
September 2004 – Sistani won his peaceful protest in Najaf.
But Gandhian methods in the
Gaza
August
2004 – The latest Egyptian diplomatic initiative to revive the peace process is
sustained by a belief that the art of the possible will pave the way for the
wishful. However, an Egyptian presence in the Gaza Strip will not expedite
peace and may have dire long-term consequences. Read on
Libya
May 2004 – Spectacular diplomatic coups have
been flying out of
Why set menus for
By Katleen Maes
May 2004 – “Why all the fuss?” was the question
recently asked on the pages of the Globe and Mail, a liberal Canadian daily,
regarding US President George Bush’s support for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon’s latest unilateral blow to prospects for peace in the Middle East. Read
on
Behind
the gates of hell
April 2004 – The mayhem and anarchy gripping
Arab world and African nations both struggle for EU-style unity
March 2004 – As the European Union prepares to
expand eastwards, it success in achieving security and prosperity through
economic integration has become an example for the rest of the world, yet Arabs
and Africans are finding it tough to forge their own regional blocs. Read on
Alternative peace plan for
Katleen Maes and Khaled Diab
February 2004 – THE
Peace and its alternatives
Katleen Maes and Khaled Diab
February 2004 – As
prominent European politicians come out in favour of an alternative
A state of conscience
Khaled Diab and Katleen Maes
November 2003 – Building a single homeland for
Israelis and Palestinians may be the only viable solution to the decades-old
conflict in the long-term. Read on
Joy
and fury at Belgium
February 2003 – As a global army of millions of
peace protesters attempts to stop the march towards a US-led war in
Murder
prompts riots
December 2002 – Antwerp Arab leader arrested
after unrest following “racist” killing. Read on
Arab
pride on the streets of Antwerp
November 2002 – An Arab community group has
organised patrols on