Breaking the Fourth Wall—Reading Sadallah Wannous in a Time of Genocide
Robert Myers and Nada Saab, Sentence to Hope: A Sa’dallah Wannous Reader, Yale University Press, 2019. At the end of Sadallah Wannous’ 1970 play, The Adventures of the Mamlouk Jabir’s Head, the action takes an abrupt, dark but entirely predictable turn. Wannous—a Syrian playwright who was born
Artificial Humanitarianism—The Data-Driven Future of Refugee Responses
In Jordan’s Za’atari refugee camp, to pay for food at one of the World Food Programme (WFP)’s distribution centers, Syrian refugees must lean into an iris scanner that registers their biometrics. The scanner then logs their transaction onto the program’s blockchain network: Building Blocks. Za’atari
Narratives of 'the Oppressed'—The Dialectic of Resistance Behind the Axis
Since its formation, the Axis of Resistance has embodied a defiant stance against imperialism and Zionism. The phrase itself first circulated in the English-language media, in the early 2000s—a response to then-President George W. Bush’s ominous talk of the “axis of evil.” By 2010, at the latest, the
Iran, Palestine and the Axis of Resistance
Tehran's meydan-e Felestin—Palestine Square—is a historic site when it comes to the country's relations with Israel and Palestine. Before the 1979 revolution, it hosted Israel’s embassy and went by a different name: Kakh (Palace) Square. In February of 1979, days after the revolution&