October-November Edition of The Middle East in London Hits Newsstands
1 October 2012
The magazine is a leading resource on Middle Eastern communities in London. It includes event, film and book reviews, as well as original articles on cultural, political, economic and other issues that affect these communities.
This issue looks back to last year’s Arab Spring and forward to its potential consequences, though it is, of course, far too early to take an objective view of what these might be. As a counterpoint to those articles which emphasise the current (and possible future) strife and disunity within our region, we have two inspiring pieces about projects which aim to unite and share the cultural values of people who live in the area.
George Joffé in his Insight piece describes how the apparent tranquillity of Algeria and Morocco during the uprisings which shook their neighbours might be deceptive: the surface calm may yet erupt into violence. Charles Tripp, in conversation with myself, talks about the power so-called ‘protest art’ had to change the course of events and public opinion not only in the countries of the Arab Spring, particularly Egypt, but worldwide as a result of the internet. Omar Hamilton, who was in Tahrir Square in Cairo during the protests of 2011, tells movingly of what it was like to be there but emphasises that Egypt is still a police state.
Against the background of a Middle East divided in so many ways, Ariel Kahn describes an Arab-Israeli Book club which showcases the creative literary output of both sides of the Arab–Israeli divide, and seeks to emphasise the commonality between communities rather than what divides them. Another piece to lift the spirits is Laudan Nooshin’s description of a project to bring Iranian music, culture and story-telling to schoolchildren in London.
This autumn sees two exhibitions for those interested in the Middle East: an exhibition of contemporary photographs from and about the Middle East at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and, in the Brunei Gallery at SOAS, an unusual exhibition, Britain in Palestine, which records the lives of the inhabitants under the British Mandate through a poignant collection of photographs, personal testimonies and belongings.
