Stories from and

Palestine: Fighting with the Poem

  4 February 2013

Amira Abd El-Khalek, an Egyptian blogger who studied English literature and anthropology in Egypt and UK, wrote on the Arabic Literature blog about an evening of Palestinian poets, Asma’a Azaizeh and Marwan Makhoul, which was hosted by Banipal magazine and the Mosaic Rooms in London. During discussions that followed the...

MENA: Acclaimed Authors’ Favorites of 2012

  29 December 2012

M. Lynx Qualey, blogger, who is interested in Arab and Arabic literature, wrote a series of posts introducing acclaimed Arab poets, novelists, and short-story writers’ favorite Arab reads of 2012. She started with a list of nonfiction books, then followed by a list for poetry [En] and fiction [En].

Candles Lit for Gaza in Bulgaria's Capital

  23 November 2012

About 100 people gathered in Sofia's central square to show their support for the victims of Israel's recent Operation Pillar of Defense in the Gaza Strip. Facebook page “Together for Palestine” [bg] has this photo of commemorative candles lit in Bulgaria's capital; another page, “Bulgaria supports Palestinian independence in the...

Why is the GCC Quiet about Gaza?

  17 November 2012

“Gulf countries awfully quiet about Gaza,” tweets Foreign Policy editor Blake Hounshell. Lebanese journalist Antoun Issa adds: @antissa: Amazing how eager GCC are to arm Arabs to fight each other, while disappearing completely when it comes to Palestine. #Gaza The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is made up of Bahrain, Qatar,...

Hong Kong: Peaceful protest in solidarity with Gaza

  16 November 2012

Outraged by the Israeli air strikes attacks in Gaza earlier this week, peace activist in Hong Kong has organized a peaceful protest in the coming Sunday (November 18, 2012) to express their solidarity with the victims in Gaza.

Worldwide Protests Planned in Support of Gaza

  15 November 2012

On Twitter, Egyptian Nora Shalaby shares the link to a document which contains a constantly updated list of demonstrations being planned in support of Gaza worldwide. The list is being maintained by Omar Robert Hamilton (@RiverDryFilm) and @southsouth.

Palestine: A 1920 Eid Celebration in Jaffa

  28 August 2012

The Facebook page Tradition in Palestine shares a picture which reflects Eid celebration in Jaffa in 1920 with the following comment: as in my parents description to Eid: magic lantern, rope swing and ice cream and juice vendors

Palestine: Swedish Ship Attempting to Break the Blockade Sails to Gaza

  8 August 2012

Scandinavian ship SV Estella will attempt to sail to Gaza in an attempt to break the blockade on the Palestinian enclave. The ship sailed from Oslo on August 7, 2012, and is backed by mostly Swedish and Norwegian groups. Organizers hope that other ships will join them before they reach...

Tunisia: The Plight of Palestinians in Iraq

  31 July 2012

Tunisian blogger Nawel Abdullah posts an interview [ar] she conducted with the founder of The Australian Society for the Palestinian-Iraqi Refugee Emergency Yousef Alreemawi, who speaks to her about the plight of Palestinian refugees living in Iraq and efforts to resettle some of them in Australia.

Palestine: Letter to Fellow Arabs

  16 July 2012

Palestinian blogger Abir Kopty writes an open letter to Arabs. “From Egypt to Yemen, from Bahrain to Libya, from Tunis to Syria, we watch your revolutions disrupted, stolen and countered. The same forces that helped keeping us away from our freedom, are the same working today against you,” she notes.