The Editor’s Letter Following the US 2024 Presidential Election

The Guardian on Wednesday, the 6th of November, 2024.

8 NOVEMBER 2024 • By Jordan Elgrably

From the Desk of the Editor-in-Chief

 

It is difficult to know where to begin after the calamity that was this week’s presidential contest in the United States of America. Convicted felon and twice-impeached former president Donald Trump won re-election with both the popular vote and Electoral College. While he promises to “fix our broken economy,” Trump has threatened to wreak vengeance on his perceived enemies, including the press (“enemies of the people”), and uses terms including “vermin,” “trash” and “enemies within” to describe his political opponents. His second term promises to further weaken the rights of women to control their own bodies, to empower white supremacists, to detain and expel immigrants, and to destroy any hope of international consensus on how to fight climate change.

But what does this election result augur for Arabs and others from the center of the world? Will a second Trump term result in further loss of life and property for Palestinians and Lebanese, even as despots like Al-Sisi in Egypt and MBS in Saudi Arabia solidify their grip on power?

As one TMR contributor commented, “One fears a greater escalation of Israeli and US military presence across the Middle East.”

Here at The Markaz Review, we have been especially struck by the violence of Israel’s war on Gaza, on the genocide against Palestinians, and the seemingly indiscriminate bombing of Lebanon. And the looming regional war between Israel and Iran has worldwide implications, with Russia and China backing Iran, and the US and Europe still supporting Netanyahu’s Israel.


What the US election could mean for journalists and global press freedom


As a member of the press, I have been alarmed by Israel’s targeting of journalists, poets and writers in Gaza and Lebanon; Israel has killed more members of the media in the past year than perished in all of World War II, and has done so with complete impunity. That is to say, using Hamas as its every excuse, Israel has killed not only more than 42,000 Palestinians in Gaza, and destroyed all of its universities, the majority of its hospitals, along with libraries, schools, theaters, cultural centers, printing presses and bookstores — but in an attempt to prevent the world from learning the truth about the wanton destruction the IDF has wrought on Gaza (expanding into the West Bank and Lebanon), Israel has made journalism one of the world’s most dangerous professions. At the same time, with western complicity, Israel has violated international law so egregiously that there are calls for the country’s expulsion as a member of the United Nations.


What we have experienced over the past year has profoundly changed the way we see the world. The extreme dehumanization of the Palestinians in Gaza and in the West Bank, who have been under withering attack by Israeli military forces and settlers, has made it clear to Arabs and others from the region that our lives are expendable, our humanity questionable, and our future in danger. As TMR senior editor Lina Mounzer wrote in her editorial “A Year of War Without End”:

Ask any Arab what the most painful realization of the last year has been and it is this: that we have discovered the extent of our dehumanization to such a degree that it’s impossible to function in the world in the same way.

Of course, all of this has occurred on the Democrats’ watch, and partly explains Kamala Harris’ loss at the ballot box. Now, one wonders if Trump could possibly be any worse.

The entire raison d’être of The Markaz Review has been to give the microphone, if not the megaphone, to our writers and artists, to speak in our own voices, on our own terms — not beholden to western gatekeepers, but to our own humanist values, and cultural traditions.

Now more than ever is the time to resist, to dissent, to speak out and be loud about it. As Ani Zonneveld, our ally at Muslims for Progressive Values argues, “We will fight fiercely, peacefully, and strategically to safeguard the freedoms of all individuals in this country, and we will stand as an ally to every community that finds itself under threat. Now is the time to resist despair.”

Let’s continue fighting together.

Thank you for reading.

—Jordan Elgrably

 

p.s. Creating The Markaz Review has been a labor of love. Keeping it going and growing has been a challenge, but we hope to continue to meet that challenge, with your support.

Jordan Elgrably

Jordan Elgrably is an American, French, and Moroccan writer and translator. His stories and creative nonfiction have appeared in many anthologies and reviews, including Apulée, Salmagundi, and the Paris Review. Editor-in-chief and founder of The Markaz Review, he is the cofounder and... Read more

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Don’t Be a Stooge for the Regime—Iranians Reject State-Controlled Media!
Columns

Siri Hustvedt & Ahdaf Souief Write Letters to Imprisoned Writer Narges Mohammadi

15 DECEMBER 2022 • By TMR
Siri Hustvedt & Ahdaf Souief Write Letters to Imprisoned Writer Narges Mohammadi
Music

Revolutionary Hit Parade: 12+1 Protest Songs from Iran

15 DECEMBER 2022 • By Malu Halasa
Revolutionary Hit Parade: 12+1 Protest Songs from Iran
Essays

Conflict and Freedom in Palestine, a Trip Down Memory Lane

15 DECEMBER 2022 • By Eman Quotah
Film

Imprisoned Director Jafar Panahi’s No Bears

15 DECEMBER 2022 • By Clive Bell
Imprisoned Director Jafar Panahi’s <em>No Bears</em>
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>
Opinion

Historic Game on the Horizon: US Faces Iran Once More

28 NOVEMBER 2022 • By Mireille Rebeiz
Columns

Sudden Journeys: Israel’s Intimate Separations—Part 2

31 OCTOBER 2022 • By Jenine Abboushi
Sudden Journeys: Israel’s Intimate Separations—Part 2
Opinion

Fragile Freedom, Fragile States in the Muslim World

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

Letter From Tehran: On the Pain of Others, Once Again

24 OCTOBER 2022 • By Sara Mokhavat
Letter From Tehran: On the Pain of Others, Once Again
Columns

For Electronica Artist Hadi Zeidan, Dance Clubs are Analogous to Churches

24 OCTOBER 2022 • By Melissa Chemam
For Electronica Artist Hadi Zeidan, Dance Clubs are Analogous to Churches
Poetry

The Heroine Forugh Farrokhzad—”Only Voice Remains”

15 OCTOBER 2022 • By Sholeh Wolpé
The Heroine Forugh Farrokhzad—”Only Voice Remains”
Poetry

We Say Salt from To Speak in Salt

15 OCTOBER 2022 • By Becky Thompson
We Say Salt from <em>To Speak in Salt</em>
Art

#MahsaAmini—Art by Rachid Bouhamidi, Los Angeles

15 OCTOBER 2022 • By Rachid Bouhamidi
#MahsaAmini—Art by Rachid Bouhamidi, Los Angeles
Art & Photography

Homage to Mahsa Jhina Amini & the Women-Led Call for Freedom

15 OCTOBER 2022 • By TMR
Homage to Mahsa Jhina Amini & the Women-Led Call for Freedom
Fiction

“Ride On, Shooting Star”—fiction from May Haddad

15 OCTOBER 2022 • By May Haddad
“Ride On, Shooting Star”—fiction from May Haddad
Art

Defiance—an essay from Sara Mokhavat

15 OCTOBER 2022 • By Sara Mokhavat, Salar Abdoh
Defiance—an essay from Sara Mokhavat
Columns

Sudden Journeys: Israel’s Intimate Separations—Part 1

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

Unapologetic Palestinians, Reactionary Germans

15 SEPTEMBER 2022 • By Abir Kopty
Unapologetic Palestinians, Reactionary Germans
Art & Photography

Photographer Mohamed Badarne (Palestine) and his U48 Project

15 SEPTEMBER 2022 • By Viola Shafik
Photographer Mohamed Badarne (Palestine) and his U48 Project
Art & Photography

Shirin Mohammad: Portrait of an Artist Between Berlin & Tehran

15 SEPTEMBER 2022 • By Noushin Afzali
Shirin Mohammad: Portrait of an Artist Between Berlin & Tehran
Art & Photography

16 Formidable Lebanese Photographers in an Abbey

5 SEPTEMBER 2022 • By Nada Ghosn
16 Formidable Lebanese Photographers in an Abbey
Columns

Salman Rushdie, Aziz Nesin and our Lingering Fatwas

22 AUGUST 2022 • By Sahand Sahebdivani
Salman Rushdie, Aziz Nesin and our Lingering Fatwas
Opinion

Attack on Salman Rushdie is Shocking Tip of the Iceberg

15 AUGUST 2022 • By Jordan Elgrably
Attack on Salman Rushdie is Shocking Tip of the Iceberg
Music Reviews

Hot Summer Playlist: “Diaspora Dreams” Drops

8 AUGUST 2022 • By Mischa Geracoulis
Hot Summer Playlist: “Diaspora Dreams” Drops
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
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
Book Reviews

Leaving One’s Country in Mai Al-Nakib’s “An Unlasting Home”

27 JUNE 2022 • By Rana Asfour
Leaving One’s Country in Mai Al-Nakib’s “An Unlasting Home”
Columns

Why I left Lebanon and Became a Transitional Citizen

27 JUNE 2022 • By Myriam Dalal
Why I left Lebanon and Became a Transitional Citizen
Columns

World Refugee Day — What We Owe Each Other

20 JUNE 2022 • By Jordan Elgrably
World Refugee Day — What We Owe Each Other
Featured excerpt

Joumana Haddad: “Victim #232”

15 JUNE 2022 • By Joumana Haddad, Rana Asfour
Joumana Haddad: “Victim #232”
Opinion

Israel and Palestine: Focus on the Problem, Not the Solution

30 MAY 2022 • By Mark Habeeb
Israel and Palestine: Focus on the Problem, Not the Solution
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”
Essays

We, Palestinian Israelis

15 MAY 2022 • By Jenine Abboushi
We, Palestinian Israelis
Book Reviews

In East Jerusalem, Palestinian Youth Struggle for Freedom

15 MAY 2022 • By Mischa Geracoulis
Featured excerpt

Palestinian and Israeli: Excerpt from “Haifa Fragments”

15 MAY 2022 • By khulud khamis
Palestinian and Israeli: Excerpt from “Haifa Fragments”
Latest Reviews

Palestinian Filmmaker, Israeli Passport

15 MAY 2022 • By Jordan Elgrably
Palestinian Filmmaker, Israeli Passport
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
Beirut

Fairouz is the Voice of Lebanon, Symbol of Hope in a Weary Land

25 APRIL 2022 • By Melissa Chemam
Fairouz is the Voice of Lebanon, Symbol of Hope in a Weary Land
Book Reviews

Abū Ḥamza’s Bread

15 APRIL 2022 • By Philip Grant
Abū Ḥamza’s Bread
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
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
Columns

Music in the Middle East: Bring Back Peace

21 MARCH 2022 • By Melissa Chemam
Music in the Middle East: Bring Back Peace
Essays

“Gluttony” from Abbas Beydoun’s “Frankenstein’s Mirrors”

15 MARCH 2022 • By Abbas Baydoun, Lily Sadowsky
“Gluttony” from Abbas Beydoun’s “Frankenstein’s Mirrors”
Latest Reviews

Three Love Poems by Rumi, Translated by Haleh Liza Gafori

15 MARCH 2022 • By Haleh Liza Gafori
Three Love Poems by Rumi, Translated by Haleh Liza Gafori
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
Art & Photography

Refugees of Afghanistan in Iran: a Photo Essay by Peyman Hooshmandzadeh

15 JANUARY 2022 • By Peyman Hooshmandzadeh, Salar Abdoh
Refugees of Afghanistan in Iran: a Photo Essay by Peyman Hooshmandzadeh
Book Reviews

Meditations on The Ungrateful Refugee

15 JANUARY 2022 • By Rana Asfour
Meditations on <em>The Ungrateful Refugee</em>
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
Columns

My Lebanese Landlord, Lebanese Bankdits, and German Racism

15 DECEMBER 2021 • By Tariq Mehmood
My Lebanese Landlord, Lebanese Bankdits, and German Racism
Interviews

The Fabulous Omid Djalili on Good Times and the World

15 DECEMBER 2021 • By Jordan Elgrably
The Fabulous Omid Djalili on Good Times and the World
Fiction

Three Levantine Tales

15 DECEMBER 2021 • By Nouha Homad
Three Levantine Tales
Comix

How to Hide in Lebanon as a Western Foreigner

15 DECEMBER 2021 • By Nadiyah Abdullatif, Anam Zafar
How to Hide in Lebanon as a Western Foreigner
Essays

Syria Through British Eyes

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

Etel Adnan’s Sun and Sea: In Remembrance

19 NOVEMBER 2021 • By Arie Amaya-Akkermans
Etel Adnan’s Sun and Sea: In Remembrance
Columns

Burning Forests, Burning Nations

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

Diary of the Collapse—Charif Majdalani on Lebanon’s Trials by Fire

15 NOVEMBER 2021 • By A.J. Naddaff
<em>Diary of the Collapse</em>—Charif Majdalani on Lebanon’s Trials by Fire
Book Reviews

The Vanishing: Are Arab Christians an Endangered Minority?

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

Victims of Discrimination Never Forget in The Forgotten Ones

1 NOVEMBER 2021 • By Jordan Elgrably
Victims of Discrimination Never Forget in <em>The Forgotten Ones</em>
Featured excerpt

Memoirs of a Militant, My Years in the Khiam Women’s Prison

15 OCTOBER 2021 • By Nawal Qasim Baidoun
Memoirs of a Militant, My Years in the Khiam Women’s Prison
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?
Art & Photography

Hasteem, We Are Here: The Collective for Black Iranians

15 SEPTEMBER 2021 • By Maryam Sophia Jahanbin
Hasteem, We Are Here: The Collective for Black Iranians
Essays

Why Resistance Is Foundational to Kurdish Literature

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

The Harrowing Life of Kurdish Freedom Activist Kobra Banehi

15 SEPTEMBER 2021 • By Kobra Banehi, Jordan Elgrably
The Harrowing Life of Kurdish Freedom Activist Kobra Banehi
Columns

20 Years Ago This Month, 9/11 at Souk Ukaz

15 SEPTEMBER 2021 • By Hadani Ditmars
20 Years Ago This Month, 9/11 at Souk Ukaz
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

Rebellion Resurrected: The Will of Youth Against History

15 AUGUST 2021 • By George Jad Khoury
Rebellion Resurrected: The Will of Youth Against History
Latest Reviews

Women Comic Artists, from Afghanistan to Morocco

15 AUGUST 2021 • By Sherine Hamdy
Women Comic Artists, from Afghanistan to Morocco
Weekly

World Picks: August 2021

12 AUGUST 2021 • By Lawrence Joffe
World Picks: August 2021
Columns

Remember 18:07 and Light a Flame for Beirut

4 AUGUST 2021 • By Jordan Elgrably
Remember 18:07 and Light a Flame for Beirut
Columns

In Flawed Democracies, White Supremacy and Ethnocentrism Flourish

1 AUGUST 2021 • By Mya Guarnieri Jaradat
In Flawed Democracies, White Supremacy and Ethnocentrism Flourish
Essays

Making a Film in Gaza

14 JULY 2021 • By Elana Golden
Making a Film in Gaza
Weekly

The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter

4 JULY 2021 • By Maryam Zar
The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter
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
Columns

The Diplomats’ Quarter: Wasta of the Palestinian Authority

14 JUNE 2021 • By Raja Shehadeh
The Diplomats’ Quarter: Wasta of the Palestinian Authority
Weekly

War Diary: The End of Innocence

23 MAY 2021 • By Arie Amaya-Akkermans
War Diary: The End of Innocence
Book Reviews

The Triumph of Love and the Palestinian Revolution

16 MAY 2021 • By Fouad Mami
Art

The Murals of “Education is Not a Crime”

14 MAY 2021 • By Saleem Vaillancourt
The Murals of “Education is Not a Crime”
Essays

The Wall We Can’t Tell You About

14 MAY 2021 • By Jean Lamore
The Wall We Can’t Tell You About
Essays

Reviving Hammam Al Jadeed

14 MAY 2021 • By Tom Young
Reviving Hammam Al Jadeed
Art

The Labyrinth of Memory

14 MAY 2021 • By Ziad Suidan
The Labyrinth of Memory
TMR 7 • Truth?

The Crash, Covid-19 and Other Iranian Stories

14 MARCH 2021 • By Malu Halasa
The Crash, Covid-19 and Other Iranian Stories
Weekly

Hanane Hajj Ali, Portrait of a Theatrical Trailblazer

14 FEBRUARY 2021 • By Nada Ghosn
Hanane Hajj Ali, Portrait of a Theatrical Trailblazer
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
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
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 3 • Racism & Identity

Isabel Wilkerson on Race and Caste in the 21st Century

15 NOVEMBER 2020 • By Monique El-Faizy
Isabel Wilkerson on Race and Caste in the 21st Century
TMR 3 • Racism & Identity

I am the Hyphen

15 NOVEMBER 2020 • By Sarah AlKahly-Mills
I am the Hyphen
Beirut

An Outsider’s Long Goodbye

15 SEPTEMBER 2020 • By Annia Ciezadlo
An Outsider’s Long Goodbye
Beirut

Wajdi Mouawad, Just the Playwright for Our Dystopian World

15 SEPTEMBER 2020 • By Melissa Chemam
Wajdi Mouawad, Just the Playwright for Our Dystopian World
Beirut

Beirut In Pieces

15 SEPTEMBER 2020 • By Jenine Abboushi
Beirut In Pieces
Beirut

Salvaging the shipwreck of humanity in Amin Maalouf’s Adrift

15 SEPTEMBER 2020 • By Sarah AlKahly-Mills
Salvaging the shipwreck of humanity in Amin Maalouf’s <em>Adrift</em>

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