Voices of the Middle East and North Africa

Sixty years ago, Algeria was known as a poster child for anti-colonial revolution and became a magnet for liberation struggles worldwide after reaching independence in 1962.

Half-a-century later, the Algerian people are back in the streets, this time for a revolution against autocracy and corruption, national independence having failed to deliver the full emancipation that Algerian citizens feel they deserve.

For the past six months, millions of Algerians of all ages and from all walks of life have been demonstrating in every major city in Algeria every Friday in massive numbers without fail, rain or shine, through the worst heatwave the country has known for years, through Ramadan and through the summer hiatus. Nothing has managed to break the movement’s momentum so far.

Today we speak with Algerian scholar and activist Hamza Hamouchene about the movement, its endurance and its promise for the future of the country.

Yemen’s southern secessionist forces appear to have taken effective control of the port city of Aden, seat of the internationally recognized government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. In this latest conflict, fighters loyal to Southern Transitional Council (STC), which seeks an independent south Yemen, began an offensive against the government forces on August 7. Both sides have been part of a military coalition, dominated by Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE), which intervened in Yemen in March 2015 against the Houthis and their allies after they removed Mr. Hadi from power earlier that year. The separatist fighters involved in the recent showdown are UAE trained while the government forces appear to be backed by the Saudis.

What is the significance of this recent confrontation? How will it impact the ongoing war in Yemen? What do we need to know about South Yemen and its history? Who are the secessionist in Yemen today? Does the showdown in Eden signal a schism in the Saudi-UAE coalition?

To answer these questions, we turn to Sheila Carapico, a Professor of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Richmond in Virginia. Professor Carapico is the author of Civil Society in Yemen: The Political Economy of Activism in Modern Arabia. More recently, she edited a volume entitled Arabia Incognita: Dispatches from Yemen and the Gulf.

Since the overthrow of long-time dictator Muammar Al Qadafi in 2011, with the support of NATO, Libya was thrown into chaos with no foreseen end. For the past few years a power struggle has emerged between the internationally recognized government led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj and the self-proclaimed Libyan National Army led by General Khalifa Haftar who receives military support from regional powers, and the US and Russia

The latest episode in this power struggle started in April with the advancement of General Haftar towards the Capital, Tripoli. The confrontations have so far claimed hundreds of lives.

Also earlier this month an air strike by the Haftar forces on the Tajoura immigration detention centre in eastern Tripoli claimed the lives of at least 40 refugees and migrants, and injured more than 80. Amnesty International said that around 600 people were trapped in the detention center with no way to escape, AND called for the attack to be independently investigated as a war crime.

Khalil Bendib speaks with Ali Ahmida, Professor of Political Science at the University of New England in Maine. He asks him about the regional and international players who are fueling the conflict as well as latest on the battle for Tripoli .

Next we speak with attorney Zoha Khalil from Palestine Legal about the resolution proposed by congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota which aims to protect the use of boycott as a constitutionally protected free speech and as a tool for social change. It comes around the same time, the congressional Democrats are advancing an non-binding resolution to condemn the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions or the BDS movement against Israel.

Although the resolution does not reference Israel or BDS specifically it is understood to be in response to national and state legislations attempting to criminalize those engaging in boycott activities against Israel.

In this Interview Khalil Bendib talks with the Israeli scholar Ilan Pappé about his book "On Palestine" which he co-authored with Noam Chomsky.

Published in the aftermath of Israel's offensive on Gaza known as "Operation Protective Edge" which left thousands of Palestinians dead and cleared the way for another Israeli land grab.

Khalil asks Pappe about where he agrees and disagrees with Chomsky, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and the comparisons with apartheid in South Africa.

An exclusive interview with Samer N. Abboud (@samer_abboud ‏), Associate Professor of historical and political studies at Arcadia University about his latest book "Syria: Hot Spots In Global Politics"

With more than 500,000 people killed and at least half of the population displaced, Syria’s conflict is considered the most deadly of the twenty-first century. In his new book, Professor Samer Abboud provides an in-depth analysis of Syria’s descent into civil war, then the Involvement of regional and international players.

In this interview, VOMENA's Shahram Aghamir discusses with Abboud the consequences of Russian military involvement after 2015, the economic interests of Iran and other actors, the US role, and plans of reconstruction in Syria.

The interview starts with the latest offensive on Idlib province one of the last strongholds of the armed groups fighting Al Assad regime.

In recent months, the Trump administration’s plan to add a citizenship question on the 2020 US census, has garnered significant controversy and media attention. For now the supreme court decide to bloc the question but the decision is not yet final.

The census is supposed to count all people living in the United States regardless of citizenship status, and is crucial for determining how federal funds are distributed and how congressional districts are drawn. The legal challenge to the citizenship question sites concern of an undercount, especially in immigrant communities.

But there are other critical questions left out of this conversation, like, why is the Trump administration refusing to add a box for the Middle Eastern and North African-identifying peoples on the upcoming 2020 census form?

Today, the exact number of people of Southwest Asian or Middle Eastern and North African background in the United States isn't exactly known. Arabs alone are estimated to be more than 3 million in the US, and according to a report in the LA Times, in the last census, about 80% of people from the MENA region were forced to self-identify as white because the census has no special box they can check.

The other option for these communities has been to choose "other", which many have resisted doing!

For years, the Arab and Middle Eastern community organizations have advocated for a special box, and they were close to getting one until the Trump administration came into power.

So, why is the census important? and why is it so important to Arab and Middle Easterners in the US? To get some answers to these questions, and to learn more about the history of racialization of this community, I spoke with Loubna Qutami. She is a post-doctoral fellow in Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley and the former executive director of the Arab Cultural and community center in San Francisco.

This week, we’ll cover the crackdown on Sudanese protesters and the ongoing fight for democracy in Sudan. We speak with McGill University political scientist Khalid Medani

Later in the program, we mark the 10th anniversary of Iran’s 2009 mass protests. We speak with Iranian-German documentary filmmaker Ali Samadi Ahadi about his searing film “The Green Movement” which integrates animation and live-footage, testimonials and blog posts to tell the story of the courageous people who took part in the protests.

For hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world, Ramadan is a month for fasting, praying and family get-togethers. In the Arab World, Ramadan also happens to be the time when people feast on their favorite TV series and soap opera.

This week, we speak with CUNY anthropologist Professor Christa Salamandra about Syrian dramas and how the ongoing war in Syria has impacted the drama scene in the country.

Also, Vomena’s Khalil Bendib speaks with Tunisian journalist and researcher Asma Ghribi about the struggle for gender equality in Tunisia and the recent changes in family law.

*The Netflix show referenced in the interview with Prof. Salamandra "Al Hayba": https://www.netflix.com/title/81003648

This week, we bring you an exclusive interview With Samer N. Abboud (@samer_abboud ‏), associate professor of historical and political studies at Arcadia University about his new book "Syria: Hot Spots In Global Politics"

With more than 500,000 people killed and at least half of the population displaced, Syria’s conflict is considered the most deadly of the twenty-first century. In his new book, Professor Samer Abboud provides an in-depth analysis of Syria’s descent into civil war, then the Involvement of regional and international players. And the consequences of Russian military involvement after 2015.

What does justices mean to those who have been tortured by state actors? How should we hold governments accountable for killing and torturing their citizens?

This week, we speak with Robert Bahar about a new exceptional documentary, "The Silence of Others", which chronicles how the victims of Franco’s 40-year dictatorship in Spain, have been seeking justice, decades after the crimes were committed and why for them and many others forgetting is NOT an option.

https://youtu.be/beqRVfwBydg