MER Article Michael Tanzer TRIBUTE: MICHAEL TANZER (July 1935 – January 2024) Mike Tanzer, writer, scholar and activist intellectual, was a great friend of MERIP’s from its early days. He was always generous to and supportive of the publication as a donor and occasional contributor to our pages. Sometimes his support took the most Joe Stork, James Paul • 1 min read
MER Article MERIP’s Place in the Political and Media Landscape — An interview with Joe Stork and Chris Toensing Joe Stork is one of the founders of MERIP and served as the editor of Middle East Report until 1995. He went on to be deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa division. Chris Toensing was executive director of MERIP and editor of Middle East Report from 2000 to 2017 and s Joe Stork, Chris Toensing, Lisa Hajjar • 17 min read
MER Article Reflections on MERIP’s First 25 Years I was among a small group of activists who started the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) in early 1971 and was chief editor of its monthly flagship publication, MERIP Reports (later Middle East Report) until 1995. Some of us had served in the Peace Corps or other volunteer organiz Joe Stork • 5 min read
161 Current Analysis From the Archive: Political Aspects of Health The coronavirus pandemic is highlighting glaring inequalities and the lack of resources for vulnerable communities worldwide. Joe Stork, in a prescient analysis from 1989, explains how health care is always mediated through politics and power. With vivid examples from across the Middle East, this ar Joe Stork • 14 min read
newLackner MER Article Helen Lackner, Yemen in Crisis: The Road to War Few people from the West know Yemen better than Helen Lackner. Her experience and insights make this book essential for understanding the multiple dimensions of Yemen’s crisis. Joe Stork • 5 min read
Current Analysis Bahrain's Medics Are the Targets of Retribution At about 11 pm on May 2, Bahrain’s criminal investigations directorate summoned Nedhal al-Khalifa, a 42-year-old dermatologist. Her father dropped her off at their headquarters at the ministry of interior at about midnight. Her family, including her four young children, didn’t hear anything from her Joe Stork • 2 min read
Camille Mansour, Beyond Alliance Camille Mansour, Beyond Alliance: Israel and US Foreign Policy (Columbia, 1994). This long overdue inquiry into what Camille Mansour, with typical understatement, calls “the privileged character of American-Israeli relations”(p. xi) provides an exceptionally lucid analysis of a central feature of Joe Stork • 3 min read
An Interview with Muhammad Sahnoun Muhammad Sahnoun is a former Algerian diplomat who served as the special representative of UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali in Somalia prior to the US military intervention there. He is presently a fellow at the International Development and Research Center in Ottawa. Joe Stork spoke with Joe Stork • 11 min read
An Interview with Mark Duffield Mark Duffield visited Croatia and Bosnia between January 9 and 22, 1994, as part of a study of complex political emergencies. Joe Stork spoke with him on January 28, 1994. In your field report you refer to the failure to provide protection as representing a political failure of historic consequence Joe Stork • 8 min read
Washington's Game Plan in the Middle East The more things change, the more they stay the same. Nowhere does this cynical adage seem more descriptive than regarding United States policy in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Rashid Khalidi, Joe Stork • 9 min read
"Poverty Is Not the Issue" Henry Selz was for the last nine years the Middle East representative of American Near East Refugee Aid, based in East Jerusalem. He spoke with Joe Stork and Tom Russell in Washington in late August 1985. You worked in the West Bank for nine years. How has your assessment of the situation changed f Joe Stork • 4 min read