Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung

THE LATEST

In the Box

Article

An exchange which occurs whenever I encounter new people goes as follows, ‘But you don’t speak with an Aleppian accent,’ to which I respond, ‘My accent is Christian Aleppian.’ This sums up what I like to term ‘my life in the bubble’ or ‘the box’, a state where sectarian identity takes on specific traits, as particular as the way in which certain letters and words are pronounced. I come from a traditional, middle-class Christian Aleppian family, and for most of my life have lived in the ‘Christian’ neighbourhood of al-Aziziya, where the majority of residents belong to the same sectarian and economic class in Aleppo.

By Marcell Shehwaro

Kohl: Call for Papers

Organizing against the Tide: Alternative Economies and Gendered Labor

Kohl: a Journal for Body and Gender Research is accepting submissions for its 9th issue, slated for publication in June 2019.
 
With the global emboldening of fundamentalisms and extreme right, and an increased push into the binary of “with us or against us,” organizing against the tide has become, more than ever, a matter of survival. This issue is an attempt at documenting, gendering, and queering leftist organizing and alternative economies in the Middle East and North Africa especially, but also transnationally. It also aims to challenge homogenizing approaches and calls for unity that mobilize on the basis of a common evil rather than a common and communal vision.
The deadline for submission is February 10, 2019.
To submit a paper, please send your blinded piece to [email protected] as a .doc or .docx file, with “Submission Issue 9” as the subject of your e-mail.
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Latest Publication

Perspectives Issue #15 - Unboxing the Game: the Obvious & the Obscure

pdf
Dossier

Politics are brimming with metaphoric references to games – be it the famous “Great Game” as the diplomatic confrontation of great powers in Asia at the beginning of the 20th century was referred to, the understanding of strategic moves in a region as a “chess board,” war “theatres” or references to the “players,” the strong of them framed as “actors,” the weak as “pawns”, or the crazy ones behaving like “wild cards.”

Scholarships for Masters or PhD Studies in Germany

You want to do your Masters or PhD in Germany? Heinrich Boell Foundation is particularly encouraging students from Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Morocco and Egypt to apply for scholarships. Please find all information here

GUIDELINES FOR CONTRIBUTORS

Heinrich Boll Foundation Middle East Office welcomes articles to be published on its website www.lb.boell.org. We consider unsolicited original submissions on arts, culture, politics, social and environmental affairs in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq or addressing issues related to the Arab World. Articles should be rigorous written in language accessible to the educated general reader interested in the region. Queries should be directed to [email protected]

There needs to be a clear concept for the article, pointing out the question the article tries to answer. Articles need to be in line with hbs values and publication ethics. 

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Almost There Third Edition

12-14 October 2018 - Beirut

Heinrich Boell Foundation's Middle East Office in Lebanon presents the third edition of its annual film festival "Almost There" on human rights and migration. This year's edition is supported by the Embassy of Switzerland in Lebanon / Ambassade de Suisse au Liban in Lebanon, Sursock Museum and Goethe-Institut Libanont. 

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Statehood & Participation

Wigs against the Patriarchy

Article

How the Lebanese Drag Queen scene is fundamentally challenging heteronormative structures and traditional role models despite the legal system and a lacking tolerance of diversity. While social and familial pressures prevent living out one's identity, Drag shows create a platform for individuality, diversity and alternative family structures- because sometimes you have to choose your own family!

By Inga Hofmann
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Environmental Justice

Heinrich Böll Stiftung (hbs) Wraps Up its Regional Summer School 2018 in Tunis

Updates

On the topic of “Citizen Participation in Urban Sustainable Development”, Heinrich Böll Stiftung (hbs) represented by its offices in Palestine & Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia and Morocco concluded a five-day regional summer school in Tunis, hosted and organized by hbs Tunisia Office. The event took place between July 15th – 21st, 2018. It brought together 23 environmental activists, architects, artists and young community leaders from the MENA Region and provided them with a platform for capacity building, debate, and the exchange of ideas, opinions and experiences from the region on civil participation and sustainable urban development.

First published on http://ps.boell.org on 06/08/2018

HORSH BEIRUT FESTIVAL 2018

Event

The Horsh Beirut Festival is a public event held each summer in Beirut’s largest green park bringing together people of all backgrounds and age groups to enjoy the green scenery and landscape and partake in a variety of free cultural, artistic and recreational activities.

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Conflict & International Politics

The Right to Belong to a Political Community at the Example of the Legal Situation of Refu-gees in Lebanon

Paper

The Right to Belong to a Political Community: Syrian refugees in Lebanon face difficulties in their legal status and in the possibilities they have to claim rights. The reasons are complex and go far beyond the Lebanese context, however, that most of them are illegal is crucial since revealing themselves to the authority with any claim is a risk. Antonia Klein studied the impact of gaps in international law adapting to the world refugee situation and looks at patterns in Lebanon.

By Antonia Klein
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Culture & Dialogue

INVISIBLE BORDERS BEIRUT-BERLIN

A project-installation by Andrea Monras that revisits Beirut and Berlin today in relation to their similar tumultuous paths

July 04, 2017 starting 7pm and running until July 10.
Mansion- Zoukak el-Blatt
Beirut, Lebanon

Jogging on Tour all over Lebanon starting today!!

Following the success of “JOGGING- Theatre in progress”* in Beirut in October 2016, Hanane Hajj Ali will give additional performances in different places Lebanon in 2017 in order to reach audiences who have less access to theatrical performances and to discuss with them the main issues presented in the play.

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Dossier: United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP24) Katowice, Poland – 2 to 14 December 2018

Dossier

The 24th Conference of the Parties (COP24) of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is taking place from 2 to 14 December 2018 in Katowice, Poland. Delegates from the Heinrich Böll Foundation Offices worldwide and their partners are represented in the COP 24. The Heinrich Böll Foundation, Beirut office – Middle East is supporting journalists from the region to travel and report on the conference from Katowice. The following web-dossier includes publications, written and audio-visual media coverage of the Katowice Climate Change Conference from the Heinrich Böll Foundation delegates and journalists in English, French and Arabic.

Toward a Global Treaty on Plastic Waste

BERLIN – If there are any geologists in millions of years, they will easily be able to pinpoint the start of the so-called Anthropocene – the geological age during which humans became the dominant influence on our planet’s environment. Wherever they look, they will find clear evidence of its onset, in the form of plastic waste.

First published on project-syndicate.org on 16-May-2017
Read Heinrich Boell Foundation recent study Stopping Global Plastic Pollution

Perspectives

Perspectives - Political Analysis and Commentary from the Middle East is a publication series of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung’s offices in Beirut and Ramallah that seeks to provide a platform for presenting analysis and viewpoints of experts from the region.

Perspectives Issue #15 - Unboxing the Game: the Obvious & the Obscure

pdf
Dossier

Politics are brimming with metaphoric references to games – be it the famous “Great Game” as the diplomatic confrontation of great powers in Asia at the beginning of the 20th century was referred to, the understanding of strategic moves in a region as a “chess board,” war “theatres” or references to the “players,” the strong of them framed as “actors,” the weak as “pawns”, or the crazy ones behaving like “wild cards.”