Issue 26, summer/fall 2018 https://doi.org/10.70090/MAD18SNC Scroll down for the Arabic abstract. Despite the importance of volunteerism for sustainable development objectives and youth investment of time in such useful volunteer work, the practice of voluntary social work differs from one context to another, as does its efficiency and effectiveness. This study …

Issue 26, summer/fall 2018 https://doi.org/10.70090/LB18MAVA Abstract This essay, based on the author’s fieldwork on Palestinian music and oral history, examines the position of singer and Arab Idol winner Mohammed Assaf in relation to the contemporary Palestinian struggle and the wider play of power in the Arab world. The issues discussed …

Issue 26, summer/fall 2018 https://doi.org/10.70090/YY18YMRC Abstract Recently the Moroccan public had to grapple with what was perceived to be a worrying upsurge in youth crime related to Tsharmil or (cyber) bullying in the Moroccan vernacular. Mainstream media coverage of this issue ushered in an overwhelming sense of panic towards “deviant” …

Issue 26, summer/fall 2018 https://doi.org/10.70090/HT18NMNA Abstract Music is the language that everyone understands. As an element of culture, music evolved with the development of civilizations. Some of the religious subgroups produced a unique type of music that echoed in the Arabian Peninsula as well as nearby civilizations, such as Andalusia …

It was the go-to pan-Arab newspaper that noted journalists, analysts, and anyone worth their salt wrote for, and that readers seeking professional reporting and deconstructing of events picked up for balanced coverage, diverse views, and hard-hitting editorials—all relatively speaking, of course. Quite a tall order for a daily in a …

Sitting in a Cairo cafe in a crowded mall surrounded by crowds of people I watch Egyptian fans cheering for their favourite team to win the World Cup final match as if cheering for their own nation. The majority were rooting for the Croatian team—a fact that was very obvious from where I …

Since the uprisings that spread across the Arab region took hold in Libya in 2011 and forced the removal of longtime ruler Muammar al-Gadhafi, the country’s fortunes have spiraled downwards. Despite an unsustainable system of governance, Gadhafi’s harsh rule had maintained relative stability in a country with a history of …

In September 2015, I traveled back to Benghazi. I wanted to see what had happened to the city since the launch of Operation Dignity and why the fighting had been so protracted. I came in through a northern suburb called Kuwayfia, the only route open. Filled with date palms and …

The following is an excerpt from Andrew Hammond's chapter "Producing Salafism: From Invented Tradition to State Agitprop" in the volume Salman's Legacy, edited by Madawi Al-Rasheed and published by Hurst (2018).  Saudi foreign policy did not begin to play with Islamic themes until the 1960s. Wary of any scheme of meaningful …

It isn't enough that every well-known super-successful private sector Egyptian businessman probably has at least one or more TVRO (TV Receive Only) satellite dishes on his roof and could conceivably be subscribing to Orbit and/or Showtime and/or ART's lstNet, not to mention scanning the more interesting free-to-air properties available to …