Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

Ziad Abu-Rish

Ziad Abu-Rish is Co-Director of the MA Program in Human Rights and the Arts at Bard College as well as Co-Editor of both Arab Studies Journal and Jadaliyya.

MER Article

Municipal Politics in Lebanon

The municipal system has been a key pillar of debates on administrative decentralization, economic development and political participation in Lebanon. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, activists sought to stop the demolition of the 1924 Barakat Building on the basis that it was a heritage site.

Ziad Abu-Rish • 22 min read

MER Article

Garbage Politics

In late July 2015, mounds of garbage began piling up across Beirut and the towns of Mount Lebanon to the capital’s east. While not without precedent in poorer neighborhoods, such heaps of rubbish had never appeared in more affluent areas. By mid-August, Lebanese government officials, businesspeople,

Ziad Abu-Rish • 14 min read