MER Article

Iraqi Women’s Activism—20 Years After the US Invasion

What the last two decades have meant for Iraq's women's movement.

Zahra Ali • 9 min read

MER Article

The Politics of “Unskilled" Labor in Qatar—An Interview with Natasha Iskander

With the approach of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Natasha Iskander speaks to Arang Keshavarzian about the politics of labor that underpin the tournament – and their devastating effects. From the deliberate framing of migrant workers as “unskilled” to the regulation of workers protests, minimal refor

Natasha Iskander, Arang Keshavarzian • 14 min read

Current Analysis

The Politics of “Unskilled" Labor in Qatar—An Interview with Natasha Iskander

With the approach of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Natasha Iskander speaks to Arang Keshavarzian about the politics of labor that underpin the tournament – and their devastating effects. From the deliberate framing of migrant workers as “unskilled” to the regulation of workers protests, minimal refor

Natasha Iskander, Arang Keshavarzian • 14 min read

Current Analysis

The Lasting Significance of Egypt’s Rabaa Massacre

The Egyptian military's massacre of nearly 1,000 supporters of deposed president and Muslim Brotherhood leader Muhammad Mursi at Rabaa al-Adawiyya square in August 2013 continues to reverberate. Abdullah Al-Arian explains the massacre's long-term impact on the Muslim Brotherhood movement and Egyptia

Abdullah Al-Arian • 13 min read

MER Article

Shifting Approaches to Women and Gender in Labor, Politics and Society

It took MERIP some five years and 50 issues before it finally addressed women and gender in its pages. In August 1976, the two feature articles explored questions about working women, my own “Egyptian Women in the Work Force” and “The Proletarianization of Palestinian Women in Israel” by Najwa Makhoul

Judith Tucker • 6 min read

MER Article

Understanding Race and Migrant Domestic Labor in Lebanon

The dire financial and political crises in Lebanon have made migrant domestic workers even more vulnerable to abuses of the kafala system of sponsorship. Kassamali explains the history of this labor system in Lebanon and the intersecting roles of race, class, nationality and gender in the hierarchie

Sumayya Kassamali • 12 min read

Current Analysis

Understanding Race and Migrant Domestic Labor in Lebanon

The dire financial and political crises in Lebanon have made migrant domestic workers even more vulnerable to abuses of the kafala system of sponsorship. Kassamali explains the history of this labor system in Lebanon and the intersecting roles of race, class, nationality and gender in the hierarchie

Sumayya Kassamali • 12 min read

Current Analysis

Sarah Hegazy and the Struggle for Freedom

Responses to the tragic death of the Egyptian leftist and queer activist Sarah Hegazy reflect a significant transformation in the desire of individuals in the Middle East to claim queer identities. Zeina Zaatari places this moment in the historical context of decades of activism and struggle for fre

Zeina Zaatari • 14 min read

MER Article

The Gains and Risks of Kurdish Civic Activism in Iran

On July 13, 2020, two young Kurdish men, Diako Rasoulzadeh and Saber Sheikh-Abdollah, were executed by the Iranian government on fabricated charges of involvement in bombing a military parade in Mahabad in 2010. They were also members of Komala, a banned Kurdish political party. Amnesty International notes that, “There has

Allan Hassaniyan • 10 min read

MER Article

Weaponizing Iraq’s Archives

The Bush Administration’s exploitation of Iraqi state archives for atrocity material to justify its failing 2003 invasion of Iraq was based on precedent. The genealogy of exploiting Iraqi archives for political ends serves as a warning for how the self-evidently virtuous notion of human rights can b

Wisam H. Alshaibi • 19 min read

MER Article

Israel’s Permanent Siege of Gaza

The devastating human and health consequences of intervention by deprivation are noted in Ron Smith’s account of Israel’s decade-long siege of Gaza, whose dynamics are similar to the catastrophic sanctions regime imposed by the United States on Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War and the siege warfare util

Ron Smith • 15 min read

Current Analysis

Egypt’s Arrested Battlegrounds

While mass arrests and arbitrary detentions are nothing new to Egypt, the escalation and widening pattern of arrests over the past year indicate that the authoritarian mindset of the Egyptian regime has significantly changed. Egypt under President Sisi has succeeded in reestablishing authoritarianis

Wael Eskandar • 12 min read