Support for Italy’s Matteo Salvini may be rising, but his dehumanizing vision of migrants represents only a minority of Italians. While international observers are right to be anxious when Italy’s deputy prime minister quotes wartime fascist leader Benito Mussolini, the attitudes of Italians towards migrants and migration are far more nuanced than those of its populist government. (More…)
The Labour Party is once again engulfed in the anti-Semitism scandal that has managed to reproduce itself continuously since Jeremy Corbyn became party leader. (More…)
The Assad government’s rapid advance through southwest Syria since June 19 displaced 330,000 Syrians in one of the largest and fastest displacements since the beginning of the seven-and-a-half-year war. Among them was Logain Almelehan, a 32-year-old Syrian activist and journalist for Horriya Press, a pro-revolution news platform founded in 2015. (More…)
If the world’s cameras were to move a little deeper into Gaza, into the streets and behind the doors of people’s homes, they would see the desperation in almost every home. After 10 years of siege, the 2 million people of Gaza, living packed on a tiny strip, find themselves without work, their economy killed off, without the bare essentials for decent life. The siege is fracturing minds, pushing the most vulnerable to suicide in numbers never seen before. (More…)
As the UK enters the final countdown to Brexit, the country is divided and polarised. Everyone has to take a side. (More…)
In a final “Fuck You” to the German press, soccer star Mesut Özil chose to publish his long-awaited statement on the controversy surrounding him in the form of a series of English-language social media posts spread out throughout last Sunday, ruining more than a few editors’ weekends. (More…)
For years, Eritreans fleeing their homeland have known that, even if they make it to Libya, they will be kidnapped and ransomed. The extortion is systematic. Since the fall of Moammar Gadhafi, the southeast of Libya has been under the partial control of the Tubu tribe, which has established a successful cross-border trade in goods, drugs and people. Kidnappers in this region are ruthless, holding people in appalling conditions and torturing individuals. (More…)
At first glance, the Germans clambering over the Berlin Wall were a welcome sight. Finally, the DDR had imploded, and the countdown to reunification had begun. But, the Cold War wasn’t over just yet, and my distrust of the coverage made me wonder about the darkness that might yet follow the protestors West. (More…)
These days, I hear everyone talk desperately about leaving Gaza (except they say “damned Gaza”). The people of Gaza have lived through three brutal wars and we have had enough. Life in Gaza is a vicious circle and we are getting dizzy from the endless cycle of violence and boredom. (More…)
Winning a war means conquering hearts and minds — even when the cause is justified. The US gained great sympathy throughout the world when it played a leading role to save Bosnian Muslims from Serbian oppression, but the US today is totally different because of its policies in Iraq and Israel. (More…)
The Tri-Border Area (TBA) between Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina is an important area for Hezbollah’s global activities. It is a highly profitable international criminal hub – with illicit activities ranging from drug and tobacco smuggling to weapons trading – and host to a large expatriate Lebanese Shiite community. (More…)
The port city of Oran in the northwest of Algeria is a historically cosmopolitan city that has been both a workplace and way station for generations of migrants. But over the last year, it has emptied of African migrant workers, as a campaign featuring mass arrests and even house-to-house searches has seen hundreds deported and many more volunteer to leave. (More…)