After decades of staunch opposition to Zionism and unfettered support for the Palestinian cause, tiny Bahrain appears on the cusp of becoming the first Gulf state to normalise relations with Israel, with one diplomatic source stating an official announcement could be made next year.

The primary reason for such a pivot can be found across...

On a humid summer evening in Birzeit, the atmosphere in the Naseeb Azeez Shaheen Auditorium turned raucous when it was announced that two musicians from Gaza would be performing. The audience had barely settled by the time the Palestine Youth Orchestra (PYO) launched into the familiar, dramatic opening bars of the Star Wars main theme. For its...

Tunisia's Parliament has adopted a hotly disputed law giving amnesty to thousands of people linked to corruption under its former authoritarian regime. Hundreds of demonstrators protested outside the legislature saying they fear a return to Tunisia's pre-Arab Spring past. After an unusually angry debate and opposition walkout over the measure,...

The Egyptian Coordination of Rights and Freedoms human rights organisation in Egypt has revealed that the Fayoum Prison administration used tear gas to force prisoners to end their strike, which they organised a week ago in protest of violations against their rights. The Egyptian human rights organisation stated, “In a violation of the...

“At the age of 18, I moved to my own place and became an independent man,” Ayad Nasser writes on his English-language website. “I realized I did not need the financial, moral, or physical support of my parents.”
Nasser, who did not see his mother again for 12 years after his parents divorced, when he was 6, waited tables and worked at...

Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of Israel's attorney general's home on Saturday to demand he indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on corruption charges. The weekly vigils have become the vanguard of a grassroots protest movement against Netanyahu's alleged financial misdeeds and illicit ties to executives in media, international...

Hundreds of Moroccans have staged a mass sit-in in Casablanca on Wednesday evening in protest against the aggressive sexual assault of a woman on a bus, in a case that has sparked outrage across Morocco. The August 18 assault was filmed and posted online, quickly going viral. Protesters chanted, "We are not afraid!! Liberate public space!" as...

The last thing the Middle East needs is a major conflagration in Israel-Palestine – but a summer crisis in Jerusalem made it clear that in the right circumstances, it really could happen. The crisis began in the early hours of July 14. Three young Arab Israelis broke into the Haram al-Sharif, which Jews call the Temple Mount, and killed two...

Syria’s White Helmets rescue workers have staged protests after seven of their colleagues were shot dead over the weekend. The volunteer group rescues victims from the rubble of buildings destroyed in airstrikes, in opposition-held areas of Syria, and claims to have saved more than 97,000 lives. Nearly 200 civil defence volunteers have been...

Mauritanian opposition figures have decried results of a Saturday referendum in which 85 percent of eligible voters reportedly voiced support for constitutional changes proposed by the country’s ruling party, according to Mauritania’s official electoral commission. Mauritanians voted Saturday on the proposed amendments, which, if enacted, would...