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The Muftah website has just published a collection of articles about LGBTQ sexualities in the Middle East. Noting that many analyses extend no further than a cursory look at the "persecution of gays" in "Muslim countries", Muftah says the aim of its collection is to broaden popular,… Read more
Hot on the heels of the "gay bath-house" raid in Cairo just over a week ago, there was news yesterday that Egyptian authorities have forcibly closed an "atheist cafe".
Besides atheists who were allegedly "spreading misconceptions about heavenly religions" in the cafe, it is also said to… Read more
Early days of the Arab Spring: Students at an engineering institute in Tunis arrange themselves to spell out the words "Tunus hurra" (Free Tunisia), January 2011.
Two articles about current trends in the Middle East: one depressing, the other more optimistic.
Writing for Your Middle East,… Read more
An advisor to Egypt's Grand Mufti caused a good deal of amusement this week by announcing, apparently in all seriousness, that there are 866 atheists in Egypt (out of a population of around 90 million).
This extremely precise information is said to have come from international research by an "… Read more
For several weeks now, a Twitter account known as Le Makhzen or @chris_coleman24 has been posting what appear to be leaks from the Moroccan foreign ministry’s email traffic.
This has mostly gone unnoticed outside Morocco, perhaps because the leaks have so far revealed little that was not… Read more
Twelve British MPs have signed a parliamentary motion criticising the government's decision to establish a "permanent" naval base in Bahrain. The motion says:
"This House is appalled that Britain has signed an agreement with the government of Bahrain to establish a permanent military base… Read more
The Queen Boat in Cairo – scene of the 2001 police raid
The massive police raid on a hammam in Cairo – instigated by a pro-regime TV channel – is the latest and most dramatic development in a crackdown against gay men that has been going on for months, even though… Read more
Mina Salman in Bahrain, which is to become a "permanent" British naval base. Photograph: Royal Navy
In Britain, the phrase "east of Suez" is replete with imperial echoes, including the once-popular poetry of Rudyard Kipling:
Ship me somewheres east of Suez,
where the best is like the worst… Read more
King Hamad of Bahrain. Tearing up his photograph can land you in jail.
Britain announced yesterday that it is to build a new naval base in Bahrain, in what Sky News describes as "a landmark deal". The BBC notes that this will be Britain's first permanent military base in the… Read more
Last week ISIS announced the shutdown of almost all mobile phone services in the Iraqi city of Mosul. The move is certainly not winning friends for the Islamist militants who control the city: it's causing enormous disruption for businesses and individuals as well as depriving… 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
