The Legacy of Faleh Abdul Jabar (1946–2018)

Iraqi sociologist Faleh Abdul Jabar passed away on February 26, 2018 in Beirut, Lebanon. His last words, on Al-Hurra’s “Iraq in a Century” program, emphasized his concern with the prospects of rebuilding the Iraqi state after many years of foreign interference, yet also hinted at an optimism derived from

Renad Mansour • 4 min read

The Afterlife of al-Andalus: Muslim Iberia in Contemporary Arab and Hispanic Narratives

The Afterlife of al-Andalus [1] examines medieval Muslim Iberia, or al-Andalus, in twentieth and twenty-first century narrative, drama, television and film from the Arab world and its diaspora, as well as from Spain and Argentina. My focus in this book is on the role of contemporary representations and invocations of

Christina Civantos • 9 min read

MER Article

Anti-Semitism and Pro-Israel Politics in 
the Trump Era

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s silence following the neo-Nazi, white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 12, 2017 was deafening, and revealing. For three days following the parade of anti-Jewish slogans and swastikas, Netanyahu—often characterized as an outspoken critic of anti-Semitism worldwide—made no comment. [1] The

Les Field • 7 min read

Writing about Violence

Although we cannot pinpoint the exact origin of the idea to co-teach a comparative course on contemporary politics in the Middle East and Latin America, we remember well what followed from that initial decision in late 2015. First there was the excitement that accompanies an emergent sense of possibility. As

Roosbelinda Cárdenas, Hiba Bou Akar • 16 min read

Reading César Vallejo in Arabic

The Poets The posthumous poetry collection of the Iraqi poet Sargon Boulus (1944–2007), ‘Azma Ukhra li-Kalb al-Qabila (Another Bone for the Tribe’s Dog), published in 2008 shortly after his death in Berlin, is populated with ghosts. [1] There are ghosts of anonymous humans who perished in recent wars,

Sinan Antoon • 9 min read

MER Article

The Syrian Uprising and Mobilization 
of the Syrian Diaspora in South America

The Syrian uprising against President Bashar al-Asad’s government that began in 2011, and the armed conflict that followed, has generated a strong reaction among the large populations of Arabic-speaking immigrants and their descendants in both Brazil and Argentina. Institutions and community members mobilized in the past around political issues

Paolo Pinto, Cecilia Baeza • 13 min read

MER Article

South-South Solidarity and the Summit 
of South American-Arab Countries

A sense of deep connection has reverberated between South America and Arab countries since the early waves of Arab migrations to South America in the late nineteenth century. The Arabic language also played an important role in Brazil’s history. Most of the Muslim African anti-slavery activists and revolutionaries in

Paolo Farah • 6 min read

Divergent Histories and Converging Inequalities in the Middle East and Latin America

The field of Middle East studies likes to tell itself that the region is an anomaly within the global South. One peculiarity attributed to the region is a relatively low level of income inequality, purportedly due to a combination of redistributive traditions within Islam, large public sectors and welfare systems,

Kevan Harris • 17 min read

Puerto Rican Decolonization, Armed Struggle and the Question of Palestine

Lolita Lebrón, 24 years after unfurling the Puerto Rican flag and opening fire in the US House of Representatives in 1954, [1] once again cried out against Puerto Rico’s colonial status in 1978. “The liberation movement of the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico,” declared Lebrón, “conscious of its historic

Sara Awartani • 14 min read

Latin America-Middle East Ties in the New Global South

Over the past several years, posters of a gray Chinese terracotta warrior have caught the eyes of travelers in international airports. Hung on walls alongside moving walkways, the posters advertise the London-based bank HSBC and feature photographs ironically labeled with a sentence starting, “In the future.” The campaign was designed

Alejandro Velasco, Omar S. Dahi • 14 min read

From the Editors (Winter 2017)

This double issue of Middle East Report, “The Latin East,” is a collaboration with the North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA). We publish it in tandem with the current issue of NACLA Report on the Americas, which is available for free online. With the kind permission of Routledge, we

The Editors • 8 min read