MER Article The Diaries of Yossef Nachmani The Diaries of Yossef Nachmani (Dalia Karpel). New York: First Run/Icarus Films, 2006. Joel Beinin • 3 min read
MER Article Everyday Orientalism Bernard Rougier, Everyday Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam Among Palestinians in Lebanon (translated by Pascale Ghazaleh) (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007). Laleh Khalili • 9 min read
MER Article The Forgotten Refugees of Balochistan While the US “war on terror” in Afghanistan and areas in bordering Pakistan occupies the imagination of millions in the West, the simmering conflict in the Pakistani province of Balochistan (Baluchistan) an its disastrous effects on the civilian population evade the radar of popular media. In 2005, Stephen Dedalus • 6 min read
MER Article Letter from al-Tuwani The village of al-Tuwani in Masafir Yatta, or the South Hebron Hills of the West Bank, is the poorest and most desolate place I have seen. In June 2007, I accompanied Rebecca Vilkomerson on her visit to Hafiz Hurayni, a representative of al-Tuwani’s popular committee. Rebecca is working with the pop Joel Beinin • 3 min read
MER Article A Different Kind of Memory “Who is trying to change the names of Haifa streets to the street names in the period prior to the War of Independence?” This question led an article in the December 15, 2004 edition of the Israeli daily Ma’ariv. Someone -- “people from outside,” said the mayor -- had placed signs in Arabic that lab Meera Shah • 12 min read
MER Article Of Reactivism and Relief As with every crisis that befalls the Palestinians in Lebanon, the Lebanese army’s siege of the Nahr al-Barid refugee camp impelled hundreds of people to pitch in with the relief effort. After fighting broke out in late May, and over 30,000 Nahr al-Barid residents fled to the nearby Baddawi camp, vo Mayssun Sukarieh • 3 min read
MER Article The Road to Nahr al-Barid How long will the state erect military checkpoints in residential areas, treating them as though they were camps sheltering wanted people and gunmen, while all the Palestinian camps, which shelter criminals and wanted people, enjoy freedom of movement, politically, militarily and in terms of securit Diane Riskedahl, Muhammad Ali Khalidi • 14 min read
MER Article Jordan's Unwelcome "Guests" Ask any Jordanian in Amman about Iraqis in their country, and they will immediately tell you that Iraqis have driven up the prices of virtually everything in the capital. Apartments cost double what they did five years ago. The prices of food and gasoline have soared. Iraqis arrive with suitcases fu Stefanie Nanes • 10 min read
MER Article The Politics of Refugee Advocacy and Humanitarian Assistance Despite advance warnings of entrenched conflict and the displacement of tens of thousands of people, in 2003 the Bush administration embarked on a regime-changing war in Iraq with little consideration of the human costs. The Iraq war has created a flow of forced migrants, both within and across nati Kathryn Libal, Scott Harding • 12 min read
MER Article Refugees in Limbo Long lines of Iraqis form early in the morning at the compound of a Damascus non-profit agency that provides social services for Iraqi refugees. About 100 men, women and children patiently wait their turn to meet with the agency’s case workers. Some of the older women begin to tire and move slowly a Madona Mokbel • 16 min read
MER Article Unsettling the Categories of Displacement The Middle East has long had the dubious distinction of being one of the world’s major producers of refugees. By the beginning of 2007, the Middle East was generating 5,931,000 refugees out of a world total of 13,948,800. Over the past century, not just conflict but development projects, environment Julie Peteet • 18 min read
MER Article From the Editors (Fall 2007) A grim irony of MERIP’s history is that demand for our work rises at times of extraordinary turmoil in the region we cover. This was true during the 1987-1993 Palestinian uprising and the 1990-1991 Gulf war, and it is true today. By almost every measure, from subscriptions to Middle (Author not identified) • 2 min read
