Yassin al-Haj Saleh: “Syria is a unique symbol of injustice, apathy and amnesia”
In an exclusive interview, prominent Syrian writer and dissident Yassin al-Haj Saleh talks about Syria’s past, tragic present and uncertain future.
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UN’s Insecurity Council risks tipping world over the edge
The UN Security Council has a long track record of failing to resolve conflicts. Now it is also in danger of bringing the major powers to blows.
Read MoreA Syrian ‘ode to joy’ on Europe’s border
A violinist’s inspired and impromptu choice of music at the Greek-Macedonian border tells us a lot about the Syrian refugee crisis.
Read MoreWar and peace in the Middle East and Europe
Europe’s history of total war and mass displacement can help create more sympathy for today’s refugees and keep hope alive in the Middle East.
Read MoreArabic: The language of confusion?
If an Arab says he’ll kill you, don’t worry – he wants to buy you dinner. Whether Arabic dialects are a single language is political, not linguistic.
Read MoreThe Arabs, apartheid South Africa and Israel
Reactions to apartheid South Africa differed across the Arab world and were coloured both by anti-colonial solidarity and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Read MoreUS intervention in Syria: Not kind, but cruel
Punishing a dictator for killing his own people by killing yet more of them is not the answer. It didn’t work in Iraq, and it won’t work in Syria.
Read MoreRobert Mugabe and ethical tourism
Was Robert Mugabe’s appointment as UN ‘tourism ambassador’ an unforgivable travesty or can ‘guilt-edged tourism’ trigger reform in dictatorships?
Read MoreIsraelis for an independent Palestine
Left-wing Israelis do not buy Netanyahu’s scare tactics and look forward to living side by side with an independent Palestine.
Read MoreAre we now ‘friends’ of al-Qaeda in Libya?
Belgium was one of the ‘Friends of Libya’ in Paris. But does the prime minister realise that these Libyan ‘friends’ include a former al-Qaeda fighter?
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