Arab world

New Choukri translation

The absurdist frame

In Mohamed Choukri's varied and experimental collection "Tales of Tangier" the hyperreal meets the bizarre. The off-kilter stories put forward by the late author seem to be set spinning on their edges, so fast and wild they might just fly off the page
War in Gaza

When children are seen as the enemy

A racist view of Palestinian children contributes to an acceptance of the fact that they are dying in their thousands in Gaza
Syrians in Lebanon

Not safe to stay, not safe to go home

Desperate Syrians are weighing up whether to stay in an increasingly hostile Lebanon or risk a precarious existence in areas held by the Syrian opposition. The return journey is deadly and conditions in Syria are tough
Zakaria Tamer's "Sour Grapes"

Always subversive

Playing with language in his short-short collection "Sour Grapes" – now in English translation – Syrian writer Zakaria Tamer doesn't hesitate to employ the winking humour, quick reversals and archetypes that are a part of his wide appeal
Lebanon celebrates art amid crisis

Lebanon has suffered economic turmoil for years and its arts and culture sector hasn't been spared. The "We Design Beirut" expo aims to revive the scene and throw a lifeline to artisans
Book review: Joseph Croitoru on Hamas

The dark power of the "liberators"

How did Hamas come to rule over the Gaza Strip? And what developments led to 7 October? Historian Joseph Croitoru has the answers. His level-headed assessment of the facts lends this book a particular importance.
Reform Islam

Transcending the secular-sacred divide

Sherman Jackson's "The Islamic Secular" makes a compelling case for an alternative understanding of 'secular', which is neither outside religion nor a rival to it
Najat Abed Alsamad's "Kein Wasser stillt ihren Durst"

Searching for life

Najat Abed Alsamad's award-winning novel, "La Ma'a Yarwiha", has been published in German translation as "Kein Wasser stillt ihren Durst" (No water quenches her thirst). In it, she tells the story of a young Druze woman who roundly rejects the traditional rules imposed on her by her parents and relatives and begins a long fight for her freedom
Islamists in Idlib

Syrian protesters rise up against Hayat Tahrir al-Sham

Opponents of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad seeking refuge in Idlib are now protesting against local Islamist hardliners Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. The group is accused of becoming increasingly dictatorial
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
Aziza Brahim's "Mawja"

The voice of Western Sahara

Aziza Brahim's childhood as a Sahrawi refugee in Algeria naturally shaped her music, but as her latest album, "Mawja" shows, while she has not forgotten where she comes from, she has long since tuned her ears to a world beyond the camp perimeters
Daniel Marwecki on German–Israeli relations

Behind the façade of "atonement"

Historian Daniel Marwecki's 2020 book on the early years of German–Israeli relations has now been published in German under the title "Absolution? Israel und die deutsche Staatsräson". In it, the author describes these relations as a history of mutual interest-led politics