MER Article Editor's Picks (Summer 2000) Banipal Magazine of Modern Arab Literature 7 (Spring 2000). B'Tselem. Builders of Zion: Human Rights Violations of Palestinians from the Occupied Territories Working in Israel and the Settlements (Jerusalem: September 1999). B'Tselem. Legislation Allowing the Use of Physical Force and Mental Coerc The Editors • 1 min read
MER Article Le lute de Bagdad Given the rich lyricism and pointed social quality of contemporary Arabic poetry, it's no accident that politically motivated Arab music is usually vocal rather than instrumental. The close collaborations between Marcel Khalife and Mahmoud Darwish or Egyptian singer Shaykh Imam and Egyptian poet Ahm Elliott Colla • 4 min read
MER Article Betwewen Iraq and a Hard Place The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 triggered the most comprehensive regional realignment since the Sadat peace initiative of 1977. Most Arab states, including Egypt, Syria and all the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), opposed Iraq and joined the US-led coalition. But noticeably absent from that coalition Curtis Ryan • 9 min read
MER Article Shaykhs and Ideologues The reconstruction and state manipulation of tribes and tribalism are prominent features of contemporary Middle Eastern politics, notably in Jordan and Iraq. Under the totalitarian Ba'thist regime in Iraq, two major patterns have developed. One may be called etatist tribalism -- a process in which tribal lineages and symbolic Faleh A. Jabar • 14 min read
