Current Analysis Nowruz Mobarak It’s been a long, cold, snowy winter across much of the globe, so we thought we’d do something to celebrate spring. Nowruz is the traditional Persian new year’s holiday, observed in Iran, Afghanistan, Kurdish lands and beyond where Persian culture has had an influence. A pre-Islamic holiday, Nowruz The Editors • 3 min read
Current Analysis A Darkly Intimate Thriller The first time I watched Omar [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2852406/], the latest Oscar-nominated work [http://www.merip.org/mero/interventions/paradise-nows-understated-power] by Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0009463/?ref_=tt_ov_dr], I nearly leapt out of my seat as Max Weiss • 3 min read
Current Analysis Saudis' Mass Expulsions Putting Somalis in Danger In 2013, Mohamed, a 22-year old Somali, was making a living washing cars in Saudi Arabia. Late that year, due to increasing government pressure on employers of undocumented workers, he was fired. In December, after several weeks without a job, Mohamed handed himself over to the police. He spent the Laetitia Bader • 9 min read
Current Analysis Spring Break Reading Guide [/sites/default/files/200px-Adujivitam.jpg]For those fortunate enough to find a bit of time to read books not directly related to work over spring break or the summer, MERIP solicited recommendations from editors and contributors. Reading is often part of daily professional work, even a form of drud The Editors • 4 min read
Current Analysis Saudi Bullying of Qatar Just ahead of a planned state visit [http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-plans-visit-to-saudi-arabia/2014/02/03/bd0463ec-8d03-11e3-95dd-36ff657a4dae_story.html] from President Barack Obama, Saudi Arabia is brandishing the threat [http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/asia-pacific/saudi-arabi Sheila Carapico • 2 min read
Current Analysis Introducing the MERIP Blog's Guest Editors MERIP’s blog aims to complement our time-honored long-form analysis in Middle East Report and Middle East Report Online with a more spontaneous, ongoing conversation. MERIP’s blog is produced by our staff (Chris Toensing [http://www.merip.org/author/chris-toensing] and Amanda Ufheil-Somers [http://w The Editors • 1 min read
Current Analysis New Documentary on US Military's Migrant Workers Starting today, Al Jazeera’s “Fault Lines” will air “America’s War Workers [http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/3/7/after-12-years-ofwarlaborabusesrampantonusbasesinafghanistan.html],” a documentary by MERIP editor Anjali Kamat (@anjucomet [http://twitter.com/anjucomet]) on the use of migrant Darryl Li • 2 min read
Current Analysis "Journalists Are the Eyes of the World" on Guantánamo Lisa Hajjar’s spring lecture tour, entitled “Let’s Go to Guantánamo! An On-the-Ground Perspective on the Military Commissions,” explores secret renditions, black sites, torture, suppression of evidence, clandestineness and what it means to provide “legal counsel” to detainees in the post-September 1 Sheila Carapico • 2 min read
Current Analysis The Battle for Nazareth By order of the Israeli Supreme Court [http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/1.573700], Nazareth will reconduct its mayoral election on March 11. The city is once again the site of an acrimonious political battle. Municipal elections were held in Nazareth, along with the rest of the country, on Octo Leena Dallasheh • 3 min read
Current Analysis Analyze This In her column on the Haaretz website yesterday, Carleton University political scientist Mira Sucharov bemoaned the tendency [http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/the-fifth-question/.premium-1.577688 ] of “some of the cleverest minds on Israel and Palestine” to “devolve” into Manichean thinking about Israel Shira Robinson • 2 min read
Current Analysis Our Primer on Israel-Palestine Some 43 years ago, a group of activists in the movement to end the war in Vietnam founded the Middle East Research and Information Project. The impetus was that the American public, including the anti-war left, was poorly informed about the Middle East and the US role [https://www.jacobinmag.com/20 The Editors • 2 min read
Current Analysis The Ongoing Fantasy of Israeli Democracy Before 1967 The past week has a witnessed a flurry of debate in the American and Israeli media over the growing call [http://www.bdsmovement.net/] to boycott companies and institutions that profit from or are otherwise complicit in the ongoing 47-year occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Shira Robinson • 3 min read
