KPFA - Voices of the Middle East and North Africa

The richly diverse and fascinating world of culture and politics of the Middle East and North Africa, co-hosted by Khalil and Malihe.

The post Voices of the Middle East and North Africa – May 15, 2019 appeared first on KPFA.

The richly diverse and fascinating world of culture and politics of the Middle East and North Africa, co-hosted by Khalil and Malihe.

The post Voices of the Middle East and North Africa – May 10, 2019 appeared first on KPFA.

The richly diverse and fascinating world of culture and politics of the Middle East and North Africa, co-hosted by Khalil and Malihe.

The post Voices of the Middle East and North Africa – May 8, 2019 appeared first on KPFA.

This week, we bring you a conversation on the latest political developments in Sudan with Elsadig Elsheikh, the Director of the Global Justice program at the Haas Institute at the University of California, Berkeley.

Later in the program, award-winning multidisciplinary artist and author Niloufar Talebi joins us to talk about her new opera Abraham in Flames, inspired by the stunning imagery of the late iconic Iranian poet Ahmad Shamlou.

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sudanese_protestors_chanting.jpg

The post May 3, 2019: Sudan’s Latest with Elsadig Elsheikh, Plus; A New Opera by Artist Niloufar Talebi appeared first on KPFA.

The richly diverse and fascinating world of culture and politics of the Middle East and North Africa, co-hosted by Mira and Malihe.

The post Voices of the Middle East and North Africa – May 1, 2019: Replay appeared first on KPFA.

It was February 11th, 1979, after a few moments of silence on Radio Tehran’s broadcast, the voice of Jamshid Adili goes “In sedaaye enghelaab-e mardom-e Iran ast” — “This is the voice of the Revolution of the Iranian people.” He went on to repeat the announcement as if he was trying to reassure the audience that the revolution had brought an end to monarchy in Iran.

The streets became flooded with euphoric people celebrating the triumph of the revolution and the end of Mohammad Reza Shah’s rule and the Pahlavi Dynasty. The victory was the culmination of 18 months of demonstrations, bloody clashes, massive industrial actions, a general strike and three days of armed confrontation between the revolutionaries and the most loyal forces of the Shah.

But why did Iran of the 1970s, with its well-off middle class, massive military might and powerful international allies, experience a revolution? And what were the origins of the revolution?

The 1979 revolution has come to be known as the “Islamic Revolution” because it ushered in a regime with an Islamist project, but How Islamic was the revolution? Can a phenomenon as complex as a revolution be described by the simple adjective of Islamic?

As the first part of our series on the 1979 Iranian revolution and its aftermath, we posed these questions to Professor Ervand Abrahamian, a prominent Iranian historian and emeritus distinguished professor of history at Baruch College and the Graduate Center at the City University of New York. He is the author of Iran Between Two Revolutions, among many other titles. He spoke with Shahram Aghamir.

The post April 26, 2019: How Islamic was the Iranian Revolution? Interview with Dr. Ervand Abrahamian appeared first on KPFA.

The richly diverse and fascinating world of culture and politics of the Middle East and North Africa, co-hosted by Mira and Malihe.

The post Voices of the Middle East and North Africa – April 24, 2019: Replay appeared first on KPFA.

This week, we speak with New York-based visual artist Mariam Ghani about her new documentary “What We Left Unfinished“, which is part of a long-term research, film, exhibition and book project centered around five unfinished Afghan feature films shot, but never edited, between 1978 and 1992.

Later in the program, we talk about the new play “Scenes from 71 Years” currently on stage at Potrero Stage in San Francisco. The play offers a snapshot of the life under the grip of the Israeli occupation from 1948 until the present.

The post April 19, 2019: The Afghan Films Left Unfinished & the New Play “Scenes from 71 Years” appeared first on KPFA.

The richly diverse and fascinating world of culture and politics of the Middle East and North Africa, co-hosted by Mira and Malihe.

The post Voices of the Middle East and North Africa – April 17, 2019: Replay appeared first on KPFA.

After months of street protests, people in Sudan finally got rid of the country’s longtime dictator Omar Al- Bashir, but the celebration soon turned into anger when they realized one military rule is replaced by another- As one protester put it- we did not protest to replace one thief with another

So what is next for Sudan? And what in store for the movement for democracy and social justice there?

We will get the answers from Khalid Medani who is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Islamic Studies at McGill University in Canada.

And with Israeli elections topping the headlines in the past few days, we’ll get a Palestinian perspective on the elections from the Jerusalem based writer Budour Hassan.

Photo credit: @lana_hago

The post April 12, 2019: Omar Al-Bashir is Out, So What’s Next for Sudan? Plus; Palestinians and the Elections in Israel appeared first on KPFA.