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26th September 2015
Maryam Namazie: "Criticising religion is not incitement of hatred against people."
Why Warwick university was wrong to ban ex-Muslim speaker Maryam Namazie
There are numerous countries, especially in the Middle East, that have laws against "defaming" or "insulting" God and… Read more
24th September 2015
The municipal elections in Saudi Arabia scheduled for December will be the first in which women have been allowed to take part. Now that registration of voters and candidates has closed it is possible to get a clearer picture of the actual levels of female participation.
Across the kingdom, there… Read more
23rd September 2015
Anne-Marie Lizin: EU resolution was "neither constructive nor fair"
Rights activist defends Azerbaijan
GNRD 'high commissioner' accuses European Parliamen
A senior figure in the Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD) has come to the defence of Azerbaijan following… Read more
22nd September 2015
Jeremy Corbyn, the new leader of the Labour party, is likely to stir up some much-needed debate about British foreign policy, especially in relation to the Middle East.
Corbyn's emphasis on promoting human rights and avoiding military adventures in the region is certainly… Read more
15th September 2015
A lot of misinformation is being circulated about the crane accident on Friday which killed more than 100 people at the Grand Mosque in Mecca during a storm. Several spurious claims have gained credence simply because no one bothered to check them against the abundant photographic evidence.
One… Read more
13th September 2015
More than 100 people died on Friday when a crane toppled over during a storm and crashed on to the Grand Mosque in Mecca.
An engineer on the construction site around the mosque described this as an act of God. "It was not a technical issue at all," he told Agence France Presse. "I can only say… Read more
4th September 2015
Two anonymously-registered websites – one in English, the other in Arabic – are circulating wild claims about the police investigation into GNRD, the Emirati-funded human rights organisation based in Norway.
The Stavanger headquarters of GNRD (the Global Network for Rights and Development) and the… Read more
4th September 2015
Bribery claim in GNRD 'money-laundering' case
Mystery websites smear Norwegian prosecutor
Two anonymously-registered websites – one in English, the other in Arabic – are circulating wild claims about the police investigation into GNRD, the Emirati-funded human rights… Read more
3rd September 2015
For the first time in Saudi Arabia's history, women will be allowed to take part in municipal elections scheduled for December. The big question, though, is how many will actually do so.
With only 11 days left in the voter registration process, it seems that women have not exactly been queueing up… Read more
2nd September 2015
Bahrain has become the latest Gulf state to propose a formal ban on critical discussion of religion.
In a report of last Sunday's cabinet meeting, the government news agency says:
"A draft law on criminalising contempt of religions, such as insulting divinity, defaming divine books, prophets, Allah… Read more
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
