Middle East Research and Information Project

NEW ISSUE: Art at Work--People, Power and Cultural Production Issue 319 of Middle East Report explores culture not as an escape from politics, but as a space where struggles over power, identity and belonging are continually negotiated. READ NOW buff.ly/Iq7N4yV

LIVE EVENT: Join MERIP contributors Ervand Abrahamian, Heba Gowayed (@hebagowayed.bsky.social), Gabriel Young, Jillian Schwedler (@jillianschwedler.bsk.social) & James Ryan (@jdryan08.bsky.social) at Roosevelt House 11/4 @ 6PM to discuss Human Rights in the Middle East. buff.ly/Zpwr0vf

MERIP has joined 119 civil society and media organizations in condemning the Egyptian government's prosecution of Lina Attalah, editor in chief of Mada Masr, a bastion of independent media in Egypt. See the full statement and signatories in English and Arabic on our website: buff.ly/tjA9wtG

MERIP is proud to announce that Sabiha Allouche has joined MERIP's Board of Directors. buff.ly/54Wsa3N

SUPPORT MERIP: Join our fall campaign as a recurring donor and receive a tote bag or poster as a thank you! If we reach our goal of 250 recurring donors by January, we'll commit to bringing Middle East Report back into print in 2028! buff.ly/TJmpsSf

Today I announced MERIP’s fall fundraising campaign with a special note. It’s been truly invigorating to be leading this small organization through a new period of growth and relevance, and to see support come from truly wide corners where friends and comrades are standing up for us.

Today we announced our fall campaign with one goal--to bring our flagship publication Middle East Report back into print for the first time since 2020! Join us by making a recurring donation of $10 or more today! Read more in this note from our executive director. buff.ly/CzusxlP

An honor to meet Mahmoud Khalil tonight in Philadelphia, and to support, through MERIP, this stop on his book tour. As I told him, I am so grateful for the fight he is enduring on behalf of all of us. Palestinians and Palestinian-Americans foremost, but we all will be more free if he is victorious.

TOMORROW: Mahmoud Khalil, Live in Philadelphia. Join MERIP and organizers Mavey Books and CAIR-Philly for a special event celebrating the release of Mahmoud Khalil's new book No Land To Stand On: Notes on Detention. buff.ly/x0vRDoY

NEW PODCAST: 25 Years Since 9/11 And Still No Justice--Here's Why Live from Busboys and Poets in Washington DC, Lisa Hajjar, John Ryan and Alka Pradhan discuss their reporting and research on detainees at Guantánamo Bay. buff.ly/iJg95Ky

🧵*Very* non exhaustive where-to-start list: 1) Pal Bsky accts @theimeu.bsky.social @danaelkurd.bsky.social @merip.bsky.social @diplomatofnight.com @remembergaza.bsky.social @gazasoupkitchen.bsky.social @palestinestudies.bsky.social @unrwa.org @soniasulaiman.bsky.social @amplifypalestine.bsky.social

Yemen has been brutally punished for not wanting to be dominated by Gulf cartel despots.

SUPPORT MERIP: Everything we publish is paywall free. Help us keep it that way with a one-time or monthly donation today! buff.ly/3Y4OqH6

ICYMI: “Remittances at Risk—Sanctions, War and Informal Finance in Yemen” As the war evolves, Yemenis are faced with steeper and steeper challenges receiving remittances from relatives abroad. buff.ly/c5nGpXz

there are so many normal people underneath all of this war and chaos to worry about :(

NEW: "Remittances at Risk--Sanctions, War and Informal Finance in Yemen" Oshin Pandey and Narayani Sritharan analyze the impact of sanctions on the ability of Yemeni migrant workers to send money back to their relatives. buff.ly/c5nGpXz

THIS SUNDAY: Join longtime MERIP editor and contributor Lisa Hajjar and author John Ryan to discuss 25 years of injustice for those imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay. Live at Busboys and Poets in Washington, DC. buff.ly/oaf1kvd

If you assigned MERIP articles this semester or are planning to crib from it for your lectures, donate what you can

SUPPORT MERIP: We rely on donor support so we can produce all of our writing and podcasts free to all! DONATE NOW buff.ly/unzNx1l

THIS SUNDAY: Join longtime MERIP editor and contributor Lisa Hajjar and author John Ryan to discuss 25 years of injustice for those imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay. Live at Busboys and Poets in Washington, DC. buff.ly/oaf1kvd

EVENT REMINDER: Register now for our co-sponsored event with Lisa Hajjar and John Ryan on 25 years of injustice at Guantanamo Bay! 9/13 Live in DC at Busboys and Poets, 14th and V www.merip.org/event/25-yea...

EVENT: Mahmoud Khalil, Live in Philadelphia MERIP is thrilled to be co-sponsoring an author talk with Mahmoud Khalil, organized by @maveybooks.bsky.social and @cairphilly.org on September 25, 7PM at the Friends Center, 1501 Cherry St. www.merip.org/event/mahmou...

New from grantee @merip.bsky.social: Middle East Report 319, "Art at Work." Art made in wartime. Iranian cultural institutions under bombardment. Protest music, Gulf art markets, theater under occupation, and more. Read here ⬇️ https://loom.ly/Fh1mPkk

After the overthrow of Iranian democracy, the US supported the Shah's dictatorship. Excerpt from Fred Halliday on ‘Trade Unions and the Working Class Opposition’, in the October 1978 issue of MERIP Reports, not long before the anti-Shah revolution. doi.org/10.2307/3011... @merip.bsky.social

NEW IN MER 319: "The Business of Culture" Shir Alon reviews Beth Derderian's new book, "Art Capital: Museum Politics and the Making of the Louvre Abu Dhabi" buff.ly/UEbHFNI

25 years after 9/11, the case in the military commissions system has not moved past the pre-trial phase. Grantee @merip.bsky.social explores why at an event on Sept 13 at Busboys & Poets DC. RSVP: https://loom.ly/h0vSsX4

NEW IN MER 319: 'Women at Work'--Challenging the Art/Craft Divide Marybelle Issa reviews a recent exhibition of art by Arab women at the Dalloul Foundation in Beirut. buff.ly/Di9mYQ9

SUPPORT MERIP: Every article on our site is free to read. We depend on reader support to keep it that way. Make a one-time or monthly donation today! buff.ly/dnc2dY5

NEW IN MER 319: "The Grandmother's Anger--Theater at the Margins of Occupation" Playwright Lekaa Sharaf speaks with Maria Kastrinou about her play, "Ancestral Rage" written from the occupied Golan Heights during Israel's genocide in Gaza. buff.ly/Jg0v47z

NEW IN MER 319: “Listening to the Jazira—Songs as Counter Archives in Northeast Syria” Heidi Affi provides a historical listening tour through a counter-archive of resistance in Northeast Syria’s folks music.

RIP Suleiman Mansour. Here is Dina Ramadan’s fascinating 2016 @merip.bsky.social piece on the travels and (mis)interpretations of his work, Camel of Burdens. www.merip.org/2016/10/the-...

NEW IN MER 319: "Exhibiting the Gulf--Kuwait's Overlooked Role in Regional Art" Abdullah al-Mutairi provides an alternative history of the development of the fine art scene in the Arab world, told through the story of Khalifa al-Qattan. buff.ly/QPfseyr

NEW IN MER 319: "The Soundtrack of Dissent--The Music of Protest in Iran" by Nafiseh Sharifi. From the reformist 90s to Women, Life Freedom and this year's Dey Protests, popular music has threaded through Iran's protest movements. READ NOW buff.ly/BZN0VGE

NEW IN MER 319: "Alternative Amman--Making Counterculture in the Jordanian Capital" Arran Walshe reports on the heavy metal, alternative and dance music scenes in Amman, revealing how artists grapple with economic and political straits. READ NOW buff.ly/n5ZRz6a

If you enjoy our new issue, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to help us continue to produce our reporting and analysis without paywalls! buff.ly/Fb0G2aY

NEW IN MER 319: "Gazing into Gaza with Mahmoud Alhaj" Curator Rana Anani provides a visual walk through of Mahmoud Alhaj’s 2024 exhibition “Control Anatomy” that spans decades of work under occupation, war and surveillance in Gaza. buff.ly/1dCrSaM

NEW IN MER 319: "On Drawing the Act of Looking" In a visual essay, artist Jana Traboulsi walks viewers through her recent work and the art of Mazen Kerbaj and Bahij Jaroudi to reflect on what it means to look at and to draw war and genocide as witnessed through social media. buff.ly/eXQ6XuA

EVENT: 25 Years Since 9/11 And Still No Justice--Here's Why Join MERIP contributor Lisa Hajjar and author John Ryan to discuss the continued injustice faced by detainees at Guantanamo Bay, live at Busboys and Poets, 14th & V, 9/13 5PM. INFO and RSVP www.merip.org/event/25-yea...

If you’re curious about how queen Elizabeth appears as a food blogger ranking Cairo’s best Koshari carts, or how Al-share’ beats Bashar Al-assad à la WWE style, check my latest article on AI Slop and the Precarious Politics of Digital Kitsch with @merip.bsky.social www.merip.org/2026/08/the-...

SUPPORT MERIP: Our next issue, Art at Work, like all issues of Middle East Report, will be free to read without paywalls. We depend on our readers' support to help us keep it that way. Make a one-time or recurring donation today!

ICYMI: Last week we published our first preview of our upcoming issue, Art at Work. Artist Parham Ghalamdar interviews Hamidreza Pejman, founder of the Pejman foundation, about how they have managed their gallery spaces during the war. READ NOW

NEW: "Arab AI Slop and the Precarious Politics of Digital Kitsch" Nermin Elsherif explores the kitschy politics and precarious labor behind AI slop videos in the Arab world. READ NOW

War affects much more than military and political institutions—it can also reshape culture and art. From grantee @merip.bsky.social, an interview with Hamidreza Pejman on keeping Tehran's independent art community alive. https://loom.ly/4DrwPfU

SUPPORT MERIP: One time and monthly recurring donations are how we’re able to continue bringing out critical analysis without paywalls. Make a donation today!