Slavery

Music of the Sahel

Jarama – echoes of the Sahara

It's a long way from Hungary to Morocco, both geographically and culturally. For expatriate Moroccan Said Tichiti, the distance finally caught up with him in 2018. Stuck musically and seeking inspiration he and two of his Chalaban band mates made the long trip to his former home. New release "Jarama" is the musical outcome
French-Moroccan band Bab L'Bluz

Morocco's electrifying abundance

Swaken is the title of the second album from French-Moroccan quartet Bab L'Bluz. The band based around singer Yousra Mansour delves even further into the facets of the music found between the Atlantic coast and the Sahara
The Netherlands apologises for slavery

A dark period in Dutch history and its modern legacy

The government in the Netherlands, one of the last European nations to abolish slavery, has made an historic apology. But some feel that there is still a long way to go. By Ella Joyner
Discrimination against black people in the MENA region

Not just a Western problem

Racism exists in the Arab world. People with dark skin are discriminated against and often see their rights curtailed. Activists have had enough of such treatment and are starting to rise up. The greatest progress has been made in Tunisia. By Mona Naggar
"A Slave Between Empires: A Transimperial History of North Africa"

Decolonising Maghreb history

M’hamed Oualdi presents the story of a manumitted-slave-turned-dignitary in the Ottoman province of Tunis and the posthumous conflicts over his estate as a case study to deconstruct the modern history of Tunisia and the wider Maghreb region. Muhammed Nafih Wafy read the book
Muslim racism and imperialism

Power and exclusion

The outpouring of solidarity worldwide following the violent death of George Floyd should prompt us to step back and fundamentally question racist structures and privileges based on injustice – wherever they exist in the world. An essay by Tayfun Guttstadt
Album review: Bab L'Bluz's "Nayda"

Rocking the gateway to the desert

The Franco-Moroccan band Bab L'Bluz has named their debut CD "Nayda!" after the musical youth movement. Stefan Franzen introduces the unique music combo
Charlotte Wiedemann: "Now is the time for utopias"

The end of white dominance

In her latest book – "Der lange Abschied von der weissen Dominanz" – recently published in German, journalist Charlotte Wiedemann describes the upheaval in our changing, multi-polar world with startling clarity. By Christopher Resch
Pursuing prosecution in Germany

Justice for Yazidi survivors of Islamic State genocide

The extremist group "Islamic State" attempted to wipe out the Yazidis. Many thousands died, and survivors tell horrific tales of abuse and enslavement. Now, German investigators have taken up the fight for justice. By Matthias von Hein
Human rights in Lebanon

Kafala and its ʹcommoditiesʹ

"Where is your bint from?" is not an unusual question in Lebanon. 'Bint' means girl in Arabic, but here refers to housekeepers, maids or nannies working in Lebanon under kafala sponsorship. It is a loaded term that refers to thousands of African and Asian workers arriving in Lebanon every year. By Antoine Abou-Diwan
Slaves of Islamic State

The fight to find the missing Yazidis

Islamic State is fighting its endgame with Yazidis waiting anxiously. Angered by Iraqi government silence following reports that IS killed 50 of their women, they are pushing for real action to find 3,000 of their own. By Judit Neurink
Jerusalemʹs Africans

Alienation and counter-alienation

Yasser Qous, son of African-Palestinians, explains the feeling of foreignness experienced by Africans in 1970s Jerusalem and the alienation of African parishioners from each other at the time