MER Article What is Prevent? In the spring of 2016, a small group of academics at the University of Cambridge put a motion before Regent House, the governing body of the university, to hold a discussion on the Prevent program—the British government’s counter-radicalization scheme. The scene during the discussion was palpably gr Mezna Qato • 7 min read
Current Analysis Éloge de la Naïveté The attacks in Brussels have inspired grief, fear and questions about transformative politics. Paul Silverstein • 6 min read
Current Analysis Seven Places You Didn't Know Were Part of the Middle East 1) Guantánamo George R. Trumbull • 4 min read
MER Article The Grand (Hip-Hop) Chessboard In November 2006, the film The Making of a Kamikaze by Nouri Bouzid, a respected Tunisian director, was screened to great fanfare at the Carthage Film Festival. The film, a collaboration between the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Tunisian Ministries of Interior, Defense and Culture, examines the grievances Hisham Aïdi • 46 min read
Current Analysis Urban Violence in France Dorénavant la rue ne pardonne plus From now on the street will not forgive Nous n’avons rien à perdre car nous n’avons jamais rien eu We have nothing to lose for we have nothing Chantal Tetreault, Paul Silverstein • 18 min read
MER Article Reluctant Partners Turkey passed a milestone in its long and arduous journey toward acceptance into the exclusive club of the European Union when the EU gave Turkey a date for the start of accession talks. But major obstacles remain -- chiefly resurgent anti-Muslim feeling in Europe and resurgent ethnic nationalism in Hilal Elver • 14 min read
MER Article The Republic's "Second Religion" The 2004 law banning "conspicuous" religious symbols (read, headscarves) in French public schools cast France as an intolerant and radically secular state hostile to the manifestation of difference, especially Muslim difference, in the public sphere. During debates about the new law, a clear distinc Mayanthi Fernando • 16 min read
MER Article Lions of Tawhid in the Polder The murder of the controversial filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a radical Islamist youth induced a deep national trauma in the Netherlands. Very quickly, debate about the murder and the subsequent outbreak of anti-Muslim violence led to a larger and disturbing debate about the place of Muslims and Islam Fadi Hirzalla, Paul Aarts • 15 min read
Current Analysis Headscarves and the French Tricolor France is in the process of passing a law that would ban "signs and dress that ostensibly denote the religious belonging of students" in public elementary and high schools beginning in the 2004-2005 school year. Lawmakers are scheduled to vote on the bill on February 3. According to Paul Silverstein • 14 min read
MER Article "Let Us Be Moors" “Seamos moros!” wrote the Cuban poet and nationalist José Martí in 1893, in support of the Berber uprising against Spanish rule in northern Morocco. “Let us be Moors...the revolt in the Rif...is not an isolated incident, but an outbreak of the change and realignment that have entered the world. Let Hisham Aïdi • 33 min read
MER Article New North African Immigration to Spain In June 1998 the Spanish government began constructing several 12-foot high fences to halt African immigrants from illegally entering Europe by way of Spain’s North African enclave territory in Melilla. Running along the ten-kilometer border separating Morocco from Melilla, these fences were schedul Mary M. Crain • 5 min read
MER Article Rethinking Jews and Muslims “Your Highness completed the war against the Moors,” Columbus wrote in a letter addressed to the Spanish throne, “after having chased all the Jews...and sent me to the said regions of India in order to convert the people there to our Holy Faith.” [1] In 1492 the defeat of the Muslims and the expulsi Ella Shohat • 11 min read
