Libyan, Palestinian and Syrian Family Dinners in London

Old-Damascus-Fare-food_by-Molly-DeCoudreaux

15 APRIL 2022 • By Layla Maghribi

 

Traditional Syrian dishes (photo courtesy Molly DeCoudreaux).

 

In this first personal account of a nuclear Arab family living in the diaspora, the writer recalls her nightly family dinners at a table laden with dishes from across the Middle East and reflects on what it taught her about her heritage, and how food was also a way for her to feed others a different narrative on a region plagued by negative misconceptions.

 

Layla Maghribi

 

Our nightly family dinners were at a fixed time known to all. Such was their unfailing consistency that on the odd occasion the house phone were to ring between six and seven in the evening, all five heads around the table would rise in unison, wondering “who could that possibly be?!”

My two older sisters and I sat with our parents around our family dining table for food and sustenance every night for most of our lives, well into adulthood and jobs and marriages and children. That rectangular table held our small nuclear family in the diaspora together and is where I learned about what it meant to be an Arab.

The soft power of food became the only acceptable show of force for people like us. Food was also a way for me to feed a different narrative of the region plagued by the unfair reputation that its only offerings are violence and refugees.

My mother was born and raised in Damascus, the capital of Syria — itself the de facto capital of Arab cuisine. The breadth of Syria’s epicurean talents is well known and revered across the region. From the stuffed courgettes to the cherry kebab to the many variations of kibbeh (with pumpkin, in yoghurt, fried, grilled, etc) Syria has seen many a mouth salivate over its exotic range of delicacies.

My mother has flair and a merry nature, traits she infused in her cooking. A woman with a quick and light touch in the kitchen who always aimed to impress, Mum liked to experiment, learn, adapt and share. In the same way my Libyan-Palestinian father had travelled throughout the Arab world during the seminal sixties and seventies era of pan-Arab ideology, discussing and sharing ideas and thoughts with others from the Levant and north Africa, so too did my mother on matters related to society and culture, particularly food.

Palestinian maftool — couscous — with chicken.

In truth, Mum started out as a terrible cook when, a few months shy of 19, she married my father and moved to London where he was stationed as the Libyan ambassador. Embassy life came with staff, meaning she didn’t have to cook for the first two years of their marriage. But when my father abruptly resigned his post and became a political dissident, they forwent all the trappings to which they had been accustomed and my mother had to quickly learn how to become the mistress of the kitchen.

Night after night she would attempt to recreate the sumptuous dishes that her mother had assiduously concocted in the kitchen that flanked the courtyard Damascene house in which she grew up.

After too many of my mother’s culinary experiments left my father hungrier than before they had sat down for dinner, he suggested that she make the one dish she had thus far made palatable. Lahme bil sa7n, or kofta, called for a recipe that in its simplicity made for an easy success — after all, it is just seasoned minced lamb rolled out in a pan and put in the oven. Never one to shirk from a challenge, my mother continued haunting the family kitchen, learning and experimenting, until her food flourished.

Driven by love, my mother made sure her expanding culinary repertoire also included Libyan and Palestinian cuisine.

Couscous, a north African dish popularized by Morocco but familiar to the Libyan kitchen, was a staple at our table, particularly when guests were present. A fixture in Palestinian cuisine, couscous was referred to by my father, who was born and raised in Haifa, as maftool — tiny rounds of wheat fluffed and reddened by tomato sauce dressed in chunks of cooked carrot, potato, zucchini and softly stewed lamb, all further garnished by chickpeas and sliced sweated onions.

Many a party was hosted at our home with couscous at the centerpiece. It provided an innocuous doorway to Libya at a time when the country was infamously out of bounds. Colonel Qaddafi and Back to the Future made Libyans out to be cartoonishly terrifying, but those light little carbs of delight humbly humanized a vilified people.

Since my father was a member of the Libyan opposition cadre in exile in the UK, visiting the country of my paternal heritage was too dangerous to contemplate and I only went to Libya for the first time in my life when I was at university. Therefore, growing up in London, my apolitical ties to Libya were primarily nourished by its culinary offerings and my mother’s efforts to bring her children’s ominous and distant fatherland close to us over dinner.

Mubakbaka, a food coma-inducing pasta dish whose name comes from the “bak bak” sound made by the bubbling sauce while cooked, was another Libyan delight my mother artfully mastered. She was first introduced to it when one of my father’s nephews visited them while they still lived at the embassy. One late evening, after the cook had retired for the day, their guest felt hungry and headed down to the kitchen to make something for himself. My mother followed, intrigued by what a Libyan man might rustle up. He finely chopped some onions and garlic and fried them in oil before adding large chunks of lamb on the bone and seasoning with cinnamon, turmeric, all spice, chili pepper and salt. After sautéing, he added heaps of tomato paste and water and let it come to the boil then simmer and stew. Once the lamb and sauce were cooked, he added the pasta to the pot to cook in their combined juices.

Libyan mubakbaka — a pasta dish with lamb in tomato sauce.

“See this sauce, Rehab? You master this, you master all the Libyan dishes — it’s the basis of them all,” he told her. 

Mubakabaka featured more prominently on our dinner table during England’s cold winter months. The piping hot mounds of penne soaked in a thick spicy sauce topped with melted chunks of lamb were like an all-body hot water bottle and turned us all into famished carnivores. So loved by Libyans is the carb-heavy dish that it even found its way into my parent’s revolutionary activities in exile. Before I was born, the basement of our home was the de facto headquarters of the Libyan Democratic Assembly, the opposition movement founded by my father. During one of the many secret meetings held there, my mother was asked by a group of would-be Libyan revolutionaries if she wouldn’t mind making them some mubakabaka for lunch instead of the sandwiches she had been preparing for them.

Another regular winter warmer was muhamasa, a stew of round pasta balls in tomato sauce (the very same) with a variety of beans and pulses. Served in a cavernous round bowl, it is an immensely hearty meal that invites the cold and hungry to tuck in. 

Our family dinners weren’t all large vats of pasta, mind you. With an almost religious-like consistency, every mealtime spread included three main pillars: salad, soup and a small plate of whole green chili peppers. The spicy nightshades were constant companions of my father’s chomping. In between morsels of okra stew — bamye — or green beans and lamb — loobia — he’d bite into one of his mouth-burning green friends, before proceeding to regale us with stories of his childhood in Palestine, adolescence as a refugee in Syria, teaching years in Qatar and monarchy-toppling revolutionary activities in Libya.

Sitting at the head of the table, his tales were the garnish to our nightly family meals and no story, however many times he repeated it, ever lost its intrigue or moral philosophy. Though my father’s revolutionary activities had quietened down by the time I was a young child, he never fully retired his political activism. Our dinner table was therefore also an education in the socio-political statuses of the Middle East in which we were all invited to participate, analyze and argue over. Between the food and the conversation, our dinner table became a living shrine to a region we yearned for. 

My deepest longing was for Syria, the country we visited yearly during the summer months. Every trip was always inaugurated with a plate of koosa mahshy — courgettes stuffed with seasoned rice and spiced lamb pieces. It didn’t matter the time of the day we landed in Damascus, our family’s favorite Syrian dish would be waiting for us like a hearty salam. Prepared by my exceptionally talented aunt, this dish was the firing gun for a season spent feasting on Syrian delights that included, warak enab, kibbeh bil laban and fasoolia.

Bamya — okra with tomatoes.

During the cold, dark and often lonely school term days in London, my memories of the sunshine, relatives, music and merriment of summer were always bittersweet reminders of the painful distance of diaspora. Thankfully, Mum’s dinners in the UK kept Syria just close enough to us to endure its gaping absence. However, for the longest time, I didn’t realize that her variations on dishes I ate and loved were a loving homage to another part of our Arab heritage that had an even more painful and enduring absence: Palestine.

For example, Mum would prepare lentil soup the Palestinian way, where the beans, rice and vegetables are cooked and whizzed into a smooth chowder instead of Syrian style, where the rice grains are kept whole and mincemeat and finely chopped parsley are added.

My mother also made mlookheye, a celebrated dish claimed in multiple countries of the region, the Palestinian way, smooth and soupy, instead of keeping the Jew’s mallow leaves whole and frying them, the way the Syrians typically do it.

As for maqloobeh, my personal absolute favorite Arab dish, my mother’s variation on that was yet another testament of the loving adoration she had for my father. A rice and lamb plate typically made with fried aubergines, my father’s extreme distaste for the bulbous, black-skinned vegetable meant it was replaced with fried cauliflower instead, even though my mother had always been averse to cauliflower herself.

Children from immigrant backgrounds can sometimes feel self-conscious about the “different” food in their cuisine to that of their native countrymen. Thanks to a primarily international education, difference wasn’t such a big problem but being Arab was, particularly in the post-9/11 overnight cultural assassination that happened to those of browner complexions with foreign names. The soft power of food became the only acceptable show of force for people like us. Food was also a way for me to feed a different narrative of the region plagued by the unfair reputation that its only offerings are violence and refugees.

Inviting friends over for dinner was a regular and encouraged practice. Gastronomical generosity is, after all, a renowned regional trait and it’s also much easier to humanize a region when you’ve handsomely licked its delicate tastes from your lips. My parents encouraged us to invite guests home for dinner, such that an extra seat was practically always set at our table. It was an opportunity to “set the record straight” on what Arabs were really like. While scooping mounds of rice and beans and okra and lamb on our guests’ plates, we’d talk of the magnificent Roman ruins across the Levant, or about the liberal culture of mountain-to-sea-in-a-day Lebanon or of the tolerant society in Syria. “And did you know that Arabs invented algebra?” and our non-Arab guests would nod, chew, purr and eventually roll away, satiated and happy with a new concept of what it meant to be an Arab.

 

Layla Maghribi

Layla Maghribi Layla Maghribi is a British Arab journalist, currently based in the UK after several years in the Middle East working for international media outlets, including Reuters and CNN International. Raised in England, Layla has lived in Italy, Syria, Lebanon and the... Read more

Join Our Community

TMR exists thanks to its readers and supporters. By sharing our stories and celebrating cultural pluralism, we aim to counter racism, xenophobia, and exclusion with knowledge, empathy, and artistic expression.

Learn more

RELATED

Book Reviews

What Will People Think? Blends Comedy, Culture and Family Secrets

3 OCTOBER 2025 • By Natasha Tynes
<em>What Will People Think? </em>Blends Comedy, Culture and Family Secrets
Essays

Lament For My Dear Cousin and Friend in Tulkarm

3 OCTOBER 2025 • By Thoth
Lament For My Dear Cousin and Friend in Tulkarm
Columns

Longing for Love in a Time of Genocide

26 SEPTEMBER 2025 • By Souseh
Longing for Love in a Time of Genocide
Fiction

Diba’s House

26 SEPTEMBER 2025 • By Sara Masry
Diba’s House
Featured article

Together for Palestine — Truly Historic

19 SEPTEMBER 2025 • By TMR
Together for Palestine — Truly Historic
Book Reviews

How the Media Fails Armenia and Palestine

19 SEPTEMBER 2025 • By Gabriel Polley
How the Media Fails Armenia and Palestine
Film Reviews

New Documentaries from Palestine, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Iran

12 SEPTEMBER 2025 • By Yassin El-Moudden
New Documentaries from Palestine, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Iran
Editorial

Why Out of Our Minds?

5 SEPTEMBER 2025 • By Lina Mounzer
Why <em>Out of Our Minds</em>?
Film

Once Upon a Time in Gaza Wants to Be an Indie Western

29 AUGUST 2025 • By Karim Goury
<em>Once Upon a Time in Gaza</em> Wants to Be an Indie Western
Essays

From Stitch to Symbol: The Power of Palestinian Tatreez

22 AUGUST 2025 • By Joanna Barakat
From Stitch to Symbol: The Power of Palestinian Tatreez
Uncategorized

Amal Doesn’t Even Know What a Banana Is: Child Malnutrition in Gaza

1 AUGUST 2025 • By Asem Al Jerjawi
Amal Doesn’t Even Know What a Banana Is: Child Malnutrition in Gaza
Art & Photography

August World Picks from the Editors

25 JULY 2025 • By TMR
August World Picks from the Editors
Essays

“A Love That Endures”: How Tamer and Sabreen Defied War and Death

25 JULY 2025 • By Husam Maarouf
“A Love That Endures”: How Tamer and Sabreen Defied War and Death
Featured article

“Silence is Not the Way”—Arab Writers Against Israel’s Genocide

18 JULY 2025 • By Jordan Elgrably
“Silence is Not the Way”—Arab Writers Against Israel’s Genocide
Book Reviews

Hope Without Hope: Rojava and Revolutionary Commitment

11 JULY 2025 • By Arie Amaya-Akkermans
Hope Without Hope: Rojava and Revolutionary Commitment
Book Reviews

Palestine’s Places and Memorials Are Not Forgotten

4 JULY 2025 • By Gabriel Polley
Palestine’s Places and Memorials Are Not <em>Forgotten</em>
Essays

Unwritten Stories from Palestine

4 JULY 2025 • By Thoth
Unwritten Stories from Palestine
Essays

A Voice That Defied Silence: The Legacy of Dr. Refaat Al-Areer

4 JULY 2025 • By Taqwa Ahmed Al-Wawi
A Voice That Defied Silence: The Legacy of Dr. Refaat Al-Areer
Essays

Syrian Asylees in the US Risk Everything Going Home

4 JULY 2025 • By Rana Alsoufi
Syrian Asylees in the US Risk Everything Going Home
Essays

Doaa: From a Dreamworld to the Ashes of Displacement

30 MAY 2025 • By Taqwa Ahmed Al-Wawi
Doaa: From a Dreamworld to the Ashes of Displacement
Books

Editors’ 2025 Palestinian Lit List

15 MAY 2025 • By TMR
Editors’ 2025 Palestinian Lit List
Books

Poet Mosab Abu Toha Wins Pulitzer Prize for Essays on Gaza

9 MAY 2025 • By Jordan Elgrably
Poet Mosab Abu Toha Wins Pulitzer Prize for Essays on Gaza
Editorial

For Our 50th Issue, Writers Reflect on Going Home

2 MAY 2025 • By TMR
For Our 50th Issue, Writers Reflect on Going Home
Art

Neither Here Nor There

2 MAY 2025 • By Myriam Cohenca
Neither Here Nor There
Art

On Forgiveness and Path—an Exhibition in Damascus

18 APRIL 2025 • By Robert Bociaga
On Forgiveness and <em>Path</em>—an Exhibition in Damascus
Film

Gaza, Sudan, Israel/Palestine Documentaries Show in Thessaloniki

28 MARCH 2025 • By Iason Athanasiadis
Gaza, Sudan, Israel/Palestine Documentaries Show in Thessaloniki
Essays

A Conversation Among My Homeland’s Trees

7 MARCH 2025 • By Alia Yunis
A Conversation Among My Homeland’s Trees
Art

Finding Emptiness: Gaza Artist Taysir Batniji in Beirut

21 FEBRUARY 2025 • By Jim Quilty
Finding Emptiness: Gaza Artist Taysir Batniji in Beirut
Poetry

Sonnet Mondal: Three Poems

21 FEBRUARY 2025 • By Sonnet Mondal
Sonnet Mondal: Three Poems
Book Reviews

Omar El Akkad & Mohammed El-Kurd: Liberalism in a Time of Genocide

14 FEBRUARY 2025 • By Rebecca Ruth Gould
Omar El Akkad & Mohammed El-Kurd: Liberalism in a Time of Genocide
Opinion

The Western Way of Genocide

14 FEBRUARY 2025 • By Chris Hedges
The Western Way of Genocide
Centerpiece

Ravaged by Fire

7 FEBRUARY 2025 • By Francisco Letelier
Ravaged by Fire
Book Reviews

Memories of Palestine through Contemporary Media

7 FEBRUARY 2025 • By Malu Halasa
Memories of Palestine through Contemporary Media
Essays

The Closed Door—Return to Syria

7 FEBRUARY 2025 • By Odai Al Zoubi, Rana Asfour
The Closed Door—Return to Syria
Essays

Flight Plans: From Gaza to Singapore

7 FEBRUARY 2025 • By Chin-chin Yap
Flight Plans: From Gaza to Singapore
Essays

Chronicles of a Boy Manqué

7 FEBRUARY 2025 • By Rana Haddad
Chronicles of a Boy Manqué
Cuisine

“Culinary Palestine”—Fadi Kattan in an excerpt from Sumud

31 JANUARY 2025 • By Fadi Kattan
“Culinary Palestine”—Fadi Kattan in an excerpt from <em>Sumud</em>
Essays

Three Nights in Free Syria

24 JANUARY 2025 • By Yasmin Fedda, Daniel Gorman
Three Nights in Free Syria
Arabic

Huda Fakhreddine & Yasmeen Hanoosh: Translating Arabic & Gaza

17 JANUARY 2025 • By Yasmeen Hanoosh, Huda Fakhreddine
Huda Fakhreddine & Yasmeen Hanoosh: Translating Arabic & Gaza
Book Reviews

Radwa Ashour’s Classic Granada Now in a New English Edition

17 JANUARY 2025 • By Guy Mannes-Abbott
Radwa Ashour’s Classic <em>Granada</em> Now in a New English Edition
Book Reviews

Maya Abu Al-Hayyat’s Defiant Exploration of Palestinian Life

20 DECEMBER 2024 • By Zahra Hankir
Maya Abu Al-Hayyat’s Defiant Exploration of Palestinian Life
Poetry

Darius Atefat-Peckham: Three Poems

19 DECEMBER 2024 • By Darius Atefat-Peckham
Darius Atefat-Peckham: Three Poems
Essays

Return to Damascus…the Long Road Home

13 DECEMBER 2024 • By Zaher Omareen, Rana Asfour
Return to Damascus…the Long Road Home
Art & Photography

Palestine Features in Larissa Sansour’s Sci-Fi Future

6 DECEMBER 2024 • By Larissa Sansour
Palestine Features in Larissa Sansour’s Sci-Fi Future
Books

Susan Abulhawa at Oxford Union on Palestine/Israel

6 DECEMBER 2024 • By Susan Abulhawa
Susan Abulhawa at Oxford Union on Palestine/Israel
Art

Basel Abbas & Ruanne Abou-Rahme: Palestinian artists at Copenhagen’s Glyptotek

22 NOVEMBER 2024 • By Arie Amaya-Akkermans
Basel Abbas & Ruanne Abou-Rahme: Palestinian artists at Copenhagen’s Glyptotek
Art & Photography

The Palestinian Gazelle

1 NOVEMBER 2024 • By Manal Mahamid
The Palestinian Gazelle
Book Reviews

The Hybrid—The Case of Michael Vatikiotis

18 OCTOBER 2024 • By Rana Haddad
The Hybrid—The Case of Michael Vatikiotis
Essays

Palestine, the Land of Grapes and Wine

11 OCTOBER 2024 • By Fadi Kattan, Anna Patrowicz
Palestine, the Land of Grapes and Wine
Art

Witnessing Catastrophe: a Painter in Lebanon

4 OCTOBER 2024 • By Ziad Suidan
Witnessing Catastrophe: a Painter in Lebanon
Art

Visuals and Voices: Palestine Will Not Be a Palimpsest

4 OCTOBER 2024 • By Malu Halasa
Visuals and Voices: Palestine Will Not Be a Palimpsest
Essays

Shamrocks & Watermelons: Palestine Politics in Belfast

4 OCTOBER 2024 • By Stuart Bailie
Shamrocks & Watermelons: Palestine Politics in Belfast
Opinion

Everything Has Changed, Nothing Has Changed

4 OCTOBER 2024 • By Amal Ghandour
Everything Has Changed, Nothing Has Changed
Art

Activism in the Landscape: Environmental Arts & Resistance in Palestine

4 OCTOBER 2024 • By Katie Logan
Activism in the Landscape: Environmental Arts & Resistance in Palestine
Poetry

Poems by Nasser Rabah, Amanee Izhaq and Mai Al-Nakib

4 OCTOBER 2024 • By Nasser Rabah, Amanee Izhaq, Mai Al-Nakib, Wiam El-Tamami
Poems by Nasser Rabah, Amanee Izhaq and Mai Al-Nakib
Essays

Beyond Rubble—Cultural Heritage and Healing After Disaster

23 AUGUST 2024 • By Arie Amaya-Akkermans
Beyond Rubble—Cultural Heritage and Healing After Disaster
Book Reviews

Birth in a Poem: Maram Al-Masri’s The Abduction

23 AUGUST 2024 • By Eman Quotah
Birth in a Poem: Maram Al-Masri’s <em>The Abduction</em>
Books

“Kill the Music”—an excerpt from a new novel by Badar Salem

16 AUGUST 2024 • By Badar Salem
“Kill the Music”—an excerpt from a new novel by Badar Salem
Film

World Picks from the Editors: AUGUST

2 AUGUST 2024 • By TMR
World Picks from the Editors: AUGUST
Books

On The Anthropologists—an interview with Aysegül Savas

26 JULY 2024 • By Amy Omar
On <em>The Anthropologists</em>—an interview with Aysegül Savas
Books

Excerpt from The Anthropologists by Ayşegül Savaş

26 JULY 2024 • By Aysegul Savas
Excerpt from <em>The Anthropologists</em> by Ayşegül Savaş
Art & Photography

World Picks from the Editors: July 15 — August 2

12 JULY 2024 • By TMR
World Picks from the Editors: July 15 — August 2
Books

“The Mulberry Tree”—an excerpt from Altercation in Jahannam

5 JULY 2024 • By Mohammed Alnaas, Rana Asfour
“The Mulberry Tree”—an excerpt from <em>Altercation in Jahannam</em>
Fiction

“Ten-Armed Gods”—a short story by Odai Al Zoubi

5 JULY 2024 • By Odai Al Zoubi, Ziad Dallal
“Ten-Armed Gods”—a short story by Odai Al Zoubi
Fiction

“The Cockroaches”—flash fiction

5 JULY 2024 • By Stanko Uyi Srsen
“The Cockroaches”—flash fiction
Beirut

Ripped from Memoirs of a Lebanese Policeman

5 JULY 2024 • By Fawzi Zabyan
Ripped from <em>Memoirs of a Lebanese Policeman</em>
Centerpiece

Dare Not Speak—a One-Act Play

7 JUNE 2024 • By Hassan Abdulrazzak
<em>Dare Not Speak</em>—a One-Act Play
Theatre

What Kind Of Liar Am I?—a Short Play

7 JUNE 2024 • By Mona Mansour
<em>What Kind Of Liar Am I?</em>—a Short Play
Theatre

The Return of Danton—a Play by Mudar Alhaggi & Collective Ma’louba

7 JUNE 2024 • By Mudar Alhaggi
<em>The Return of Danton</em>—a Play by Mudar Alhaggi & Collective Ma’louba
Theatre

Noor and Hadi Go to Hogwarts—a Short Play

7 JUNE 2024 • By Lameece Issaq
<em>Noor and Hadi Go to Hogwarts</em>—a Short Play
Books

Palestine, Political Theatre & the Performance of Queer Solidarity in Jean Genet’s Prisoner of Love

7 JUNE 2024 • By Saleem Haddad
Palestine, Political Theatre & the Performance of Queer Solidarity in Jean Genet’s <em>Prisoner of Love</em>
Essays

A Small Kernel of Human Kindness: Some Notes on Solidarity and Resistance

24 MAY 2024 • By Nancy Kricorian
A Small Kernel of Human Kindness: Some Notes on Solidarity and Resistance
Art

Demarcations of Identity: Rushdi Anwar

10 MAY 2024 • By Malu Halasa
Demarcations of Identity: Rushdi Anwar
Editorial

Why FORGETTING?

3 MAY 2024 • By Malu Halasa, Jordan Elgrably
Why FORGETTING?
Centerpiece

Memory Archive: Between Remembering and Forgetting

3 MAY 2024 • By Mai Al-Nakib
Memory Archive: Between Remembering and Forgetting
Art & Photography

Not Forgotten, Not (All) Erased: Palestine’s Sacred Shrines

3 MAY 2024 • By Gabriel Polley
Not Forgotten, Not (All) Erased: Palestine’s Sacred Shrines
Book Reviews

Palestinian Culture, Under Assault, Celebrated in New Cookbook

3 MAY 2024 • By Mischa Geracoulis
Palestinian Culture, Under Assault, Celebrated in New Cookbook
Essays

Freedom—Ruminations of a Syrian Refugee

3 MAY 2024 • By Reem Alghazzi, Manal Shalaby
Freedom—Ruminations of a Syrian Refugee
Art

Malak Mattar: No Words, Only Scenes of Ruin

26 APRIL 2024 • By Nadine Nour el Din
Malak Mattar: No Words, Only Scenes of Ruin
Opinion

Censorship over Gaza and Palestine Roils the Arts Community

12 APRIL 2024 • By Hassan Abdulrazzak
Censorship over Gaza and Palestine Roils the Arts Community
Art

Past Disquiet at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris

1 APRIL 2024 • By Kristine Khouri, Rasha Salti
<em>Past Disquiet</em> at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris
Essays

Undoing Colonial Geographies from Paris with Ariella Aïsha Azoulay

1 APRIL 2024 • By Sasha Moujaes, Jordan Elgrably
Undoing Colonial Geographies from Paris with Ariella Aïsha Azoulay
Book Reviews

Fady Joudah’s […] Dares Us to Listen to Palestinian Words—and Silences

25 MARCH 2024 • By Eman Quotah
Fady Joudah’s <em>[…]</em> Dares Us to Listen to Palestinian Words—and Silences
Art & Photography

Will Artists Against Genocide Boycott the Venice Biennale?

18 MARCH 2024 • By Hadani Ditmars
Will Artists Against Genocide Boycott the Venice Biennale?
Art

Dining with the Sultan at LACMA

18 MARCH 2024 • By Philip Grant
Dining with the Sultan at LACMA
Poetry

Two Poems from Maram Al-Masri

3 MARCH 2024 • By Maram Al-Masri, Hélène Cardona
Two Poems from Maram Al-Masri
Books

Four Books to Revolutionize Your Thinking

3 MARCH 2024 • By Rana Asfour
Four Books to Revolutionize Your Thinking
Art & Photography

Artists Exploring Libya’s History, Cultural Resilience and Rebirth

3 MARCH 2024 • By Naima Morelli
Artists Exploring Libya’s History, Cultural Resilience and Rebirth
Essays

The Story of the Keffiyeh

3 MARCH 2024 • By Rajrupa Das
The Story of the Keffiyeh
Essays

Messages from Gaza Now / 5

26 FEBRUARY 2024 • By Hossam Madhoun
Messages from Gaza Now / 5
Weekly

World Picks from the Editors: Feb 23 — Mar 7

23 FEBRUARY 2024 • By TMR
World Picks from the Editors: Feb 23 — Mar 7
Essays

The Oath of Cyriac: Recovery or Spin?

19 FEBRUARY 2024 • By Arie Amaya-Akkermans
<em>The Oath of Cyriac</em>: Recovery or Spin?
Art

Issam Kourbaj’s Love Letter to Syria in Cambridge

12 FEBRUARY 2024 • By Sophie Kazan Makhlouf
Issam Kourbaj’s Love Letter to Syria in Cambridge
Art & Photography

The Body, Intimacy and Technology in the Middle East

4 FEBRUARY 2024 • By Naima Morelli
The Body, Intimacy and Technology in the Middle East
Essays

A Treatise on Love

4 FEBRUARY 2024 • By Maryam Haidari, Salar Abdoh
A Treatise on Love
Columns

Driving in Palestine Now is More Dangerous Than Ever

29 JANUARY 2024 • By TMR
Driving in Palestine Now is More Dangerous Than Ever
Featured article

Israel-Palestine: Peace Under Occupation?

29 JANUARY 2024 • By Laëtitia Soula
Israel-Palestine: Peace Under Occupation?
Books

Illuminated Reading for 2024: Our Anticipated Titles

22 JANUARY 2024 • By TMR
Illuminated Reading for 2024: Our Anticipated Titles
Fiction

“New Reasons”—a short story by Samira Azzam

15 JANUARY 2024 • By Samira Azzam, Ranya Abdelrahman
“New Reasons”—a short story by Samira Azzam
Essays

Jesus Was Palestinian, But Bethlehem Suspends Christmas

25 DECEMBER 2023 • By Ahmed Twaij
Jesus Was Palestinian, But Bethlehem Suspends Christmas
Columns

Messages from Gaza Now / 2

18 DECEMBER 2023 • By Hossam Madhoun
Messages from Gaza Now / 2
Music

We Will Sing Until the Pain Goes Away—a Palestinian Playlist

18 DECEMBER 2023 • By Brianna Halasa
We Will Sing Until the Pain Goes Away—a Palestinian Playlist
Beirut

“The Summer They Heard Music”—a short story by MK Harb

3 DECEMBER 2023 • By MK Harb
“The Summer They Heard Music”—a short story by MK Harb
Essays

Days of Oranges—Libya’s Thawra

3 DECEMBER 2023 • By Yesmine Abida
Days of Oranges—Libya’s Thawra
Essays

Demolition and Recreation in Benghazi: Interview with Sarri Elfaitouri

3 DECEMBER 2023 • By Naima Morelli
Demolition and Recreation in Benghazi: Interview with Sarri Elfaitouri
Columns

The Day My Life Ended, It Began

3 DECEMBER 2023 • By Karim Shamshi-Basha
The Day My Life Ended, It Began
Book Reviews

First Kurdish Sci-Fi Collection is Rooted in the Past

28 NOVEMBER 2023 • By Matt Broomfield
First Kurdish Sci-Fi Collection is Rooted in the Past
Art & Photography

War and Art: A Lebanese Photographer and His Protégés

13 NOVEMBER 2023 • By Nicole Hamouche
War and Art: A Lebanese Photographer and His Protégés
Books

My Love for Derna: Interview with Libyan Writer Mahbuba Khalifa

13 NOVEMBER 2023 • By Naima Morelli
My Love for Derna: Interview with Libyan Writer Mahbuba Khalifa
Arabic

Poet Ahmad Almallah

9 NOVEMBER 2023 • By Ahmad Almallah
Poet Ahmad Almallah
Opinion

Palestine’s Pen against Israel’s Swords of Injustice

6 NOVEMBER 2023 • By Mai Al-Nakib
Palestine’s Pen against Israel’s Swords of Injustice
Essays

The Floods of Derna: Historical Parallels to Libya’s Crisis

5 NOVEMBER 2023 • By Lama Elsharif
The Floods of Derna: Historical Parallels to Libya’s Crisis
Book Reviews

Suad Aldarra’s I Don’t Want to Talk About Home

5 NOVEMBER 2023 • By Ammar Azzouz
Suad Aldarra’s <em>I Don’t Want to Talk About Home</em>
Essays

On Fathers, Daughters and the Genocide in Gaza 

30 OCTOBER 2023 • By Deema K Shehabi
On Fathers, Daughters and the Genocide in Gaza 
Book Reviews

The Refugee Ocean—An Intriguing Premise

30 OCTOBER 2023 • By Natasha Tynes
<em>The Refugee Ocean</em>—An Intriguing Premise
Editorial

Palestine and the Unspeakable

16 OCTOBER 2023 • By Lina Mounzer
Palestine and the Unspeakable
Art

Vera Tamari’s Lifetime of Palestinian Art

16 OCTOBER 2023 • By Taline Voskeritchian
Vera Tamari’s Lifetime of Palestinian Art
Book Reviews

A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: A Palestine Story

16 OCTOBER 2023 • By Dalia Hatuqa
<em>A Day in the Life of Abed Salama</em>: A Palestine Story
Weekly

World Picks from the Editors, Oct 13 — Oct 27, 2023

12 OCTOBER 2023 • By TMR
World Picks from the Editors, Oct 13 — Oct 27, 2023
Poetry

Home: New Arabic Poems in Translation

11 OCTOBER 2023 • By Sarah Coolidge
<em>Home</em>: New Arabic Poems in Translation
Books

Edward Said: Writing in the Service of Life 

9 OCTOBER 2023 • By Layla AlAmmar
Edward Said: Writing in the Service of Life 
Books

Fairouz: The Peacemaker and Champion of Palestine

1 OCTOBER 2023 • By Dima Issa
Fairouz: The Peacemaker and Champion of Palestine
Book Reviews

Saqi’s Revenant: Sahar Khalifeh’s Classic Nablus Novel Wild Thorns

25 SEPTEMBER 2023 • By Noshin Bokth
Saqi’s Revenant: Sahar Khalifeh’s Classic Nablus Novel <em>Wild Thorns</em>
Art

Special World Picks Sept 15-26 on TMR’s Third Anniversary

14 SEPTEMBER 2023 • By TMR
Special World Picks Sept 15-26 on TMR’s Third Anniversary
Book Reviews

Laila Halaby’s The Weight of Ghosts is a Haunting Memoir

28 AUGUST 2023 • By Thérèse Soukar Chehade
Laila Halaby’s <em>The Weight of Ghosts</em> is a Haunting Memoir
Book Reviews

What’s the Solution for Jews and Palestine in the Face of Apartheid Zionism?

21 AUGUST 2023 • By Jonathan Ofir
What’s the Solution for Jews and Palestine in the Face of Apartheid Zionism?
Book Reviews

Ilan Pappé on Tahrir Hamdi’s Imagining Palestine

7 AUGUST 2023 • By Ilan Pappé
Ilan Pappé on Tahrir Hamdi’s <em> Imagining Palestine</em>
Art

What Palestine Brings to the World—a Major Paris Exhibition

31 JULY 2023 • By Sasha Moujaes
<em>What Palestine Brings to the World</em>—a Major Paris Exhibition
Book Reviews

Can the Kurdish Women’s Movement Transform the Middle East?

31 JULY 2023 • By Matt Broomfield
Can the Kurdish Women’s Movement Transform the Middle East?
A Day in the Life

A Day in the Life: Cairo

24 JULY 2023 • By Sarah Eltantawi
A Day in the Life: Cairo
Interviews

Musical Artists at Work: Naïssam Jalal, Fazil Say & Azu Tiwaline

17 JULY 2023 • By Jordan Elgrably
Musical Artists at Work: Naïssam Jalal, Fazil Say & Azu Tiwaline
Book Reviews

Why Isn’t Ghaith Abdul-Ahad a Household Name?

10 JULY 2023 • By Iason Athanasiadis
Why Isn’t Ghaith Abdul-Ahad a Household Name?
Fiction

“The Long Walk of the Martyr”—fiction from Salar Abdoh

2 JULY 2023 • By Salar Abdoh
“The Long Walk of the Martyr”—fiction from Salar Abdoh
Fiction

“Nadira of Tlemcen”—fiction from Abdellah Taïa

2 JULY 2023 • By Abdellah Taïa
“Nadira of Tlemcen”—fiction from Abdellah Taïa
Fiction

Tears from a Glass Eye—a story by Samira Azzam

2 JULY 2023 • By Samira Azzam, Ranya Abdelrahman
Tears from a Glass Eye—a story by Samira Azzam
Featured Artist

Artist at Work: Syrian Filmmaker Afraa Batous

26 JUNE 2023 • By Dima Hamdan
Artist at Work: Syrian Filmmaker Afraa Batous
Editorial

EARTH: Our Only Home

4 JUNE 2023 • By Jordan Elgrably
EARTH: Our Only Home
Essays

Turkey’s Earthquake as a Generational Disaster

4 JUNE 2023 • By Sanem Su Avci
Turkey’s Earthquake as a Generational Disaster
Arabic

Arab Theatre Grapples With Climate Change, Borders, War & Love

4 JUNE 2023 • By Hassan Abdulrazzak
Arab Theatre Grapples With Climate Change, Borders, War & Love
Essays

Alien Entities in the Desert

4 JUNE 2023 • By Dror Shohet
Alien Entities in the Desert
Featured Artist

Nasrin Abu Baker: The Markaz Review Featured Artist, June 2023

4 JUNE 2023 • By TMR
Nasrin Abu Baker: The Markaz Review Featured Artist, June 2023
Islam

From Pawns to Global Powers: Middle East Nations Strike Back

29 MAY 2023 • By Chas Freeman, Jr.
From Pawns to Global Powers: Middle East Nations Strike Back
Music

Artist At Work: Maya Youssef Finds Home in the Qanun

22 MAY 2023 • By Rana Asfour
Artist At Work: Maya Youssef Finds Home in the Qanun
Book Reviews

How Bethlehem Evolved From Jerusalem’s Sleepy Backwater to a Global Town

15 MAY 2023 • By Karim Kattan
How Bethlehem Evolved From Jerusalem’s Sleepy Backwater to a Global Town
TMR Conversations

TMR CONVERSATIONS: Amal Ghandour Interviews Raja Shehadeh

11 MAY 2023 • By Amal Ghandour, Raja Shehadeh
TMR CONVERSATIONS: Amal Ghandour Interviews Raja Shehadeh
Film

The Refugees by the Lake, a Greek Migrant Story

8 MAY 2023 • By Iason Athanasiadis
The Refugees by the Lake, a Greek Migrant Story
Book Reviews

In Search of Fathers: Raja Shehadeh’s Palestinian Memoir

13 MARCH 2023 • By Amal Ghandour
In Search of Fathers: Raja Shehadeh’s Palestinian Memoir
Fiction

“Raise Your Head High”—new fiction from Leila Aboulela

5 MARCH 2023 • By Leila Aboulela
“Raise Your Head High”—new fiction from Leila Aboulela
Centerpiece

Broken Home: Britain in the Time of Migration

5 MARCH 2023 • By Malu Halasa
Broken Home: Britain in the Time of Migration
Fiction

“Counter Strike”—a story by MK HARB

5 MARCH 2023 • By MK Harb
“Counter Strike”—a story by MK HARB
Cities

For Those Who Dwell in Tents, Home is Temporal—Or Is It?

5 MARCH 2023 • By Arie Amaya-Akkermans
For Those Who Dwell in Tents, Home is Temporal—Or Is It?
Essays

More Photographs Taken From The Pocket of a Dead Arab

5 MARCH 2023 • By Saeed Taji Farouky
More Photographs Taken From The Pocket of a Dead Arab
Essays

Home Under Siege: a Palestine Photo Essay

5 MARCH 2023 • By Anam Raheem
Home Under Siege: a Palestine Photo Essay
Columns

Letter From Turkey—Antioch is Finished

20 FEBRUARY 2023 • By Arie Amaya-Akkermans
Letter From Turkey—Antioch is Finished
Columns

Sudden Journeys: Deluge at Wadi Feynan

6 FEBRUARY 2023 • By Jenine Abboushi
Sudden Journeys: Deluge at Wadi Feynan
TV Review

Palestinian Territories Under Siege But Season 4 of Fauda Goes to Brussels and Beirut Instead

6 FEBRUARY 2023 • By Brett Kline
Palestinian Territories Under Siege But Season 4 of <em>Fauda</em> Goes to Brussels and Beirut Instead
Art

The Creative Resistance in Palestinian Art

26 DECEMBER 2022 • By Malu Halasa
The Creative Resistance in Palestinian Art
Film

The Swimmers and the Mardini Sisters: a True Liberation Tale

15 DECEMBER 2022 • By Rana Haddad
<em>The Swimmers</em> and the Mardini Sisters: a True Liberation Tale
Art

Art World Picks: Albraehe, Kerem Yavuz, Zeghidour, Amer & Tatah

12 DECEMBER 2022 • By TMR
Art

Museums in Exile—MO.CO’s show for Chile, Sarajevo & Palestine

12 DECEMBER 2022 • By Jordan Elgrably
Museums in Exile—MO.CO’s show for Chile, Sarajevo & Palestine
Art

Where is the Palestinian National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art?

12 DECEMBER 2022 • By Nora Ounnas Leroy
Where is the Palestinian National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art?
Columns

Sudden Journeys: Israel’s Intimate Separations—Part 3

5 DECEMBER 2022 • By Jenine Abboushi
Sudden Journeys: Israel’s Intimate Separations—Part 3
Book Reviews

Fida Jiryis on Palestine in Stranger in My Own Land

28 NOVEMBER 2022 • By Diana Buttu
Fida Jiryis on Palestine in <em>Stranger in My Own Land</em>
Film

You Resemble Me Deconstructs a Muslim Life That Ends Radically

21 NOVEMBER 2022 • By Jordan Elgrably
<em>You Resemble Me</em> Deconstructs a Muslim Life That Ends Radically
Fiction

“Eleazar”—a short story by Karim Kattan

15 NOVEMBER 2022 • By Karim Kattan
“Eleazar”—a short story by Karim Kattan
Opinion

Fragile Freedom, Fragile States in the Muslim World

24 OCTOBER 2022 • By I. Rida Mahmood
Fragile Freedom, Fragile States in the Muslim World
Interviews

Interview with Ahed Tamimi, an Icon of the Palestinian Resistance

15 OCTOBER 2022 • By Nora Lester Murad
Interview with Ahed Tamimi, an Icon of the Palestinian Resistance
Essays

Nawal El-Saadawi, a Heroine in Prison

15 OCTOBER 2022 • By Ibrahim Fawzy
Nawal El-Saadawi, a Heroine in Prison
Book Reviews

A London Murder Mystery Leads to Jihadis and Syria

3 OCTOBER 2022 • By Ghazi Gheblawi
A London Murder Mystery Leads to Jihadis and Syria
Columns

Sudden Journeys: Israel’s Intimate Separations—Part 1

26 SEPTEMBER 2022 • By Jenine Abboushi
Sudden Journeys: Israel’s Intimate Separations—Part 1
Art & Photography

Kader Attia, Berlin Biennale’s Curator

15 SEPTEMBER 2022 • By Melissa Chemam
Kader Attia, Berlin Biennale’s Curator
Film

Ziad Kalthoum: Trajectory of a Syrian Filmmaker

15 SEPTEMBER 2022 • By Viola Shafik
Ziad Kalthoum: Trajectory of a Syrian Filmmaker
Columns

Phoneless in Filthy Berlin

15 SEPTEMBER 2022 • By Maisan Hamdan, Rana Asfour
Phoneless in Filthy Berlin
Film

The Mystery of Tycoon Michel Baida in Old Arab Berlin

15 SEPTEMBER 2022 • By Irit Neidhardt
The Mystery of Tycoon Michel Baida in Old Arab Berlin
Art & Photography

Photographer Mohamed Badarne (Palestine) and his U48 Project

15 SEPTEMBER 2022 • By Viola Shafik
Photographer Mohamed Badarne (Palestine) and his U48 Project
Book Reviews

Al-Koni’s Tuareg Perspective on Islam’s Conquest of North Africa

5 SEPTEMBER 2022 • By Iason Athanasiadis
Al-Koni’s Tuareg Perspective on Islam’s Conquest of North Africa
Film

Two Syrian Brothers Find Themselves in “We Are From There”

22 AUGUST 2022 • By Angélique Crux
Two Syrian Brothers Find Themselves in “We Are From There”
Book Reviews

Questionable Thinking on the Syrian Revolution

1 AUGUST 2022 • By Fouad Mami
Questionable Thinking on the Syrian Revolution
Art

Abundant Middle Eastern Talent at the ’22 Avignon Theatre Fest

18 JULY 2022 • By Nada Ghosn
Abundant Middle Eastern Talent at the ’22 Avignon Theatre Fest
Fiction

Mohammed al-Naas—a Young Libyan Novelist to Watch

18 JULY 2022 • By Ghazi Gheblawi
Editorial

Editorial: Is the World Driving Us Mad?

15 JULY 2022 • By TMR
Editorial: Is the World Driving Us Mad?
Centerpiece

Big Laleh, Little Laleh—memoir by Shokouh Moghimi

15 JULY 2022 • By Shokouh Moghimi, Salar Abdoh
Big Laleh, Little Laleh—memoir by Shokouh Moghimi
Columns

World Refugee Day — What We Owe Each Other

20 JUNE 2022 • By Jordan Elgrably
World Refugee Day — What We Owe Each Other
Art & Photography

Featured Artist: Steve Sabella, Beyond Palestine

15 JUNE 2022 • By TMR
Featured Artist: Steve Sabella, Beyond Palestine
Essays

Sulafa Zidani: “Three Buses and the Rhythm of Remembering”

15 JUNE 2022 • By Sulafa Zidani
Sulafa Zidani: “Three Buses and the Rhythm of Remembering”
Film

Saeed Taji Farouky: “Strange Cities Are Familiar”

15 JUNE 2022 • By Saeed Taji Farouky
Saeed Taji Farouky: “Strange Cities Are Familiar”
Fiction

Selma Dabbagh: “Trash”

15 JUNE 2022 • By Selma Dabbagh
Selma Dabbagh: “Trash”
Book Reviews

Fragmented Love in Alison Glick’s “The Other End of the Sea”

16 MAY 2022 • By Nora Lester Murad
Fragmented Love in Alison Glick’s “The Other End of the Sea”
Book Reviews

Siena and Her Art Soothe a Writer’s Grieving Soul

25 APRIL 2022 • By Rana Asfour
Siena and Her Art Soothe a Writer’s Grieving Soul
Opinion

Palestinians and Israelis Will Commemorate the Nakba Together

25 APRIL 2022 • By Rana Salman, Yonatan Gher
Palestinians and Israelis Will Commemorate the Nakba Together
Book Reviews

Egyptian Comedic Novel Captures Dark Tale of Bedouin Migrants

18 APRIL 2022 • By Saliha Haddad
Egyptian Comedic Novel Captures Dark Tale of Bedouin Migrants
Columns

Not Just Any Rice: Persian Kateh over Chelo

15 APRIL 2022 • By Maryam Mortaz, A.J. Naddaff
Not Just Any Rice: Persian Kateh over Chelo
Columns

Green Almonds in Ramallah

15 APRIL 2022 • By Wafa Shami
Green Almonds in Ramallah
Columns

Libyan, Palestinian and Syrian Family Dinners in London

15 APRIL 2022 • By Layla Maghribi
Libyan, Palestinian and Syrian Family Dinners in London
Film Reviews

Palestine in Pieces: Hany Abu-Assad’s Huda’s Salon

21 MARCH 2022 • By Jordan Elgrably
Palestine in Pieces: Hany Abu-Assad’s <em>Huda’s Salon</em>
Opinion

U.S. Sanctions Russia for its Invasion of Ukraine; Now Sanction Israel for its Occupation of Palestine

21 MARCH 2022 • By Yossi Khen, Jeff Warner
U.S. Sanctions Russia for its Invasion of Ukraine; Now Sanction Israel for its Occupation of Palestine
Essays

Mariupol, Ukraine and the Crime of Hospital Bombing

17 MARCH 2022 • By Neve Gordon, Nicola Perugini
Mariupol, Ukraine and the Crime of Hospital Bombing
Columns

Desire and the Palestinian Kitchen

15 MARCH 2022 • By Fadi Kattan
Desire and the Palestinian Kitchen
Poetry

Three Poems of Love and Desire by Nouri Al-Jarrah

15 MARCH 2022 • By Nouri Al-Jarrah
Three Poems of Love and Desire by Nouri Al-Jarrah
Art

Fiction: “Skin Calluses” by Khalil Younes

15 MARCH 2022 • By Khalil Younes
Fiction: “Skin Calluses” by Khalil Younes
Book Reviews

The Art of Remembrance in Abacus of Loss

15 MARCH 2022 • By Sherine Elbanhawy
The Art of Remembrance in <em>Abacus of Loss</em>
Opinion

Ukraine War Reminds Refugees Some Are More Equal Than Others

7 MARCH 2022 • By Anna Lekas Miller
Ukraine War Reminds Refugees Some Are More Equal Than Others
Columns

“There’s Nothing Worse Than War”

24 FEBRUARY 2022 • By Jordan Elgrably
“There’s Nothing Worse Than War”
Editorial

Refuge, or the Inherent Dignity of Every Human Being

15 JANUARY 2022 • By Jordan Elgrably
Refuge, or the Inherent Dignity of Every Human Being
Art & Photography

Children in Search of Refuge: a Photographic Essay

15 JANUARY 2022 • By Iason Athanasiadis
Children in Search of Refuge: a Photographic Essay
Columns

Getting to the Other Side: a Kurdish Migrant Story

15 JANUARY 2022 • By Iason Athanasiadis
Getting to the Other Side: a Kurdish Migrant Story
Film Reviews

“Europa,” Iraq’s Entry in the 94th annual Oscars, Frames Epic Refugee Struggle

15 JANUARY 2022 • By Thomas Dallal
“Europa,” Iraq’s Entry in the 94th annual Oscars, Frames Epic Refugee Struggle
Fiction

Fiction: Refugees in Serbia, an excerpt from “Silence is a Sense” by Layla AlAmmar

15 JANUARY 2022 • By Layla AlAmmar
Fiction: Refugees in Serbia, an excerpt from “Silence is a Sense” by Layla AlAmmar
Book Reviews

Temptations of the Imagination: how Jana Elhassan and Samar Yazbek transmogrify the world

10 JANUARY 2022 • By Rana Asfour
Temptations of the Imagination: how Jana Elhassan and Samar Yazbek transmogrify the world
Fiction

Three Levantine Tales

15 DECEMBER 2021 • By Nouha Homad
Three Levantine Tales
Beirut

Sudden Journeys: The Villa Salameh Bequest

29 NOVEMBER 2021 • By Jenine Abboushi
Sudden Journeys: The Villa Salameh Bequest
Book Reviews

From Jerusalem to a Kingdom by the Sea

29 NOVEMBER 2021 • By Rana Asfour
From Jerusalem to a Kingdom by the Sea
Essays

Syria Through British Eyes

29 NOVEMBER 2021 • By Rana Haddad
Syria Through British Eyes
Columns

Burning Forests, Burning Nations

15 NOVEMBER 2021 • By Hadani Ditmars
Burning Forests, Burning Nations
Book Reviews

The Vanishing: Are Arab Christians an Endangered Minority?

15 NOVEMBER 2021 • By Hadani Ditmars
The Vanishing: Are Arab Christians an Endangered Minority?
Columns

Refugees Detained in Thessonaliki’s Diavata Camp Await Asylum

1 NOVEMBER 2021 • By Iason Athanasiadis
Refugees Detained in Thessonaliki’s Diavata Camp Await Asylum
Centerpiece

The Untold Story of Zakaria Zubeidi

15 OCTOBER 2021 • By Ramzy Baroud
The Untold Story of Zakaria Zubeidi
Interviews

Interview With Prisoner X, Accused by the Bashar Al-Assad Regime of Terrorism

15 OCTOBER 2021 • By Jordan Elgrably
Interview With Prisoner X, Accused by the Bashar Al-Assad Regime of Terrorism
Film Reviews

Will Love Triumph in the Midst of Gaza’s 14-Year Siege?

11 OCTOBER 2021 • By Jordan Elgrably
Will Love Triumph in the Midst of Gaza’s 14-Year Siege?
Essays

Why Resistance Is Foundational to Kurdish Literature

15 SEPTEMBER 2021 • By Ava Homa
Why Resistance Is Foundational to Kurdish Literature
Editorial

Why COMIX? An Emerging Medium of Writing the Middle East and North Africa

15 AUGUST 2021 • By Aomar Boum
Why COMIX? An Emerging Medium of Writing the Middle East and North Africa
Latest Reviews

Libya’s Exiled Satirist, Hasan “Alsatoor” Dhaimish

15 AUGUST 2021 • By TMR
Libya’s Exiled Satirist, Hasan “Alsatoor” Dhaimish
Weekly

Summer of ‘21 Reading—Notes from the Editors

25 JULY 2021 • By TMR
Summer of ‘21 Reading—Notes from the Editors
Essays

Gaza, You and Me

14 JULY 2021 • By Abdallah Salha
Gaza, You and Me
Book Reviews

ISIS and the Absurdity of War in the Age of Twitter

4 JULY 2021 • By Jessica Proett
ISIS and the Absurdity of War in the Age of Twitter
Essays

Syria’s Ruling Elite— A Master Class in Wasta

14 JUNE 2021 • By Lawrence Joffe
Syria’s Ruling Elite— A Master Class in Wasta
Weekly

The Maps of Our Destruction: Two Novels on Syria

30 MAY 2021 • By Rana Asfour
The Maps of Our Destruction: Two Novels on Syria
Book Reviews

The Triumph of Love and the Palestinian Revolution

16 MAY 2021 • By Fouad Mami
Art & Photography

Walls, Graffiti and Youth Culture in Egypt, Libya & Tunisia

14 MAY 2021 • By Claudia Wiens
Walls, Graffiti and Youth Culture in Egypt, Libya & Tunisia
Essays

Is Tel Aviv’s Neve Tzedek, Too, Occupied Territory?

14 MAY 2021 • By Taylor Miller, TMR
Is Tel Aviv’s Neve Tzedek, Too, Occupied Territory?
Essays

Between Thorns and Thistles in Bil’in

14 MAY 2021 • By Francisco Letelier
Between Thorns and Thistles in Bil’in
Essays

We Are All at the Border Now

14 MAY 2021 • By Todd Miller
We Are All at the Border Now
Essays

From Damascus to Birmingham, a Selected Glossary

14 MAY 2021 • By Frances Zaid
From Damascus to Birmingham, a Selected Glossary
Weekly

Beirut Brings a Fragmented Family Together in “The Arsonists’ City”

9 MAY 2021 • By Rana Asfour
Book Reviews

Three North African Novels Dance Between Colonial & Postcolonial Worlds

25 APRIL 2021 • By Rana Asfour
Three North African Novels Dance Between Colonial & Postcolonial Worlds
Weekly

“I Advance in Defeat”, the Poems of Najwan Darwish

28 MARCH 2021 • By Patrick James Dunagan
“I Advance in Defeat”, the Poems of Najwan Darwish
TMR 7 • Truth?

Poetry Against the State

14 MARCH 2021 • By Gil Anidjar
Poetry Against the State
Poetry

A visual poem from Hala Alyan: Gaza

14 MARCH 2021 • By TMR
A visual poem from Hala Alyan: Gaza
Columns

Memory and the Assassination of Lokman Slim

14 MARCH 2021 • By Claire Launchbury
Memory and the Assassination of Lokman Slim
Poetry

The Freedom You Want

14 MARCH 2021 • By Mohja Kahf
The Freedom You Want
TMR 6 • Revolutions

The Revolution Sees its Shadow 10 Years Later

14 FEBRUARY 2021 • By Mischa Geracoulis
The Revolution Sees its Shadow 10 Years Later
TMR 6 • Revolutions

Ten Years of Hope and Blood

14 FEBRUARY 2021 • By Robert Solé
Ten Years of Hope and Blood
TMR 5 • Water

Watch Water Films & Donate to Water Organizations

16 JANUARY 2021 • By TMR
Watch Water Films & Donate to Water Organizations
Film Reviews

Muhammad Malas, Syria’s Auteur, is the subject of a Film Biography

10 JANUARY 2021 • By Rana Asfour
Muhammad Malas, Syria’s Auteur, is the subject of a Film Biography
Book Reviews

The Howling of the Dog: Adania Shibli’s “Minor Detail”

30 DECEMBER 2020 • By Layla AlAmmar
The Howling of the Dog: Adania Shibli’s “Minor Detail”
TMR 4 • Small & Indie Presses

Children of the Ghetto, My Name Is Adam

14 DECEMBER 2020 • By Elias Khoury
Children of the Ghetto, My Name Is Adam
TMR 4 • Small & Indie Presses

Trembling Landscapes: Between Reality and Fiction: Eleven Artists from the Middle East*

14 DECEMBER 2020 • By Nat Muller
Trembling Landscapes: Between Reality and Fiction: Eleven Artists from the Middle East*
TMR 4 • Small & Indie Presses

Freedom is femininity: Faraj Bayrakdar

14 DECEMBER 2020 • By Faraj Bayrakdar
Freedom is femininity: Faraj Bayrakdar
Centerpiece

The Road to Jerusalem, Then and Now

15 NOVEMBER 2020 • By Raja Shehadeh
The Road to Jerusalem, Then and Now
World Picks

Interlink Proposes 4 New Arab Novels

22 SEPTEMBER 2020 • By TMR
Interlink Proposes 4 New Arab Novels
Columns

Why Non-Arabs Should Read Hisham Matar’s “The Return”

3 AUGUST 2017 • By Jordan Elgrably
Why Non-Arabs Should Read Hisham Matar’s “The Return”

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

9 + five =

Scroll to Top