A satirical talk show which opens up space for discussion of topics the Moroccan government would like to sweep under the carpet became an online sensation this summer, garnering an audience of hundreds of thousands on YouTube. But the authoritarian monarchy has hit back, ordering the closure of Racines, the cultural association which hosted the…
Sudanese activists will be organising protests in Liverpool and London on 9 February, as trade unionists across the country are moblising in solidarity with their demands for democratic change and social justice. Sudanese refugees in Liverpool will gather at Lime Street station at 1pm, while Sudanese activists will also gather in Trafalgar Square in London…
Middle East Solidarity magazine spoke to Dr Sara Abdel Jalil, President of the UK branch of the Sudan Doctors’ Union about the demands of the mass movement which erupted over the last month calling for an end to Omar El Bashir’s repressive regime. “The Sudan Doctors’ Union – UK branch was established in 1976. We…
Monday 19 November, 7pm Room SWLT, Paul Webley Wing (Senate House) at SOAS University While the horrific death of Jamal Kashoggi has brought the UK-Saudi relationship under increased scrutiny, the death and destruction of the lives of millions in Yemen, and ongoing human rights abuses for those living and working in Saudi Arabia and those…
A campaign by UCU members at the University of Liverpool and University of Cambridge, which was backed by hundreds of academics from across the UK and Egypt Solidarity Initiative, has won a significant victory. According to leaked documents published on the Academic Freedom Watch website, the University of Liverpool was worried about the potential for…
In this special investigation, Middle East Solidarity magazine explores how the drive by the Tory government to deepen links with industry and business across the higher education sector, combined with cuts to public funding for research and teaching, is making academic institutions complicit in war and human rights abuses across the Middle East through partnership…
In this analysis article from Middle East Solidarity magazine, issue 9, Anne Alexander investigates how Egypt’s military dictatorship is hoping to entice UK universities to invest in its grandiose building projects. Meanwhile academics are challenging university managers’ bid to cosy up to a regime which systematically represses human rights and academic freedoms, reports Leon Rocha…
Middle East Solidarity magazine issue 9 available from October 2018 Middle East Solidarity magazine is now available to buy from Bookmarks bookshop for £3 or can be downloaded as a pdf [MESM_9_FINAL_lowres]. Contact Bookmarks if you would like to make a bulk order for your trade union branch (discounts available). Cover story Resisting the Kingdom of…
In the cover story for Middle East Solidarity issue 9, Ameen Nemer reports on resistance to Arabia’s brutal monarchy. Read the rest of the magazine online here In 2011, during the Arab Spring, Prince Talal bin Abd-al-Aziz predicted a dark future for Saudi Arabia after the death of his brother, King Abdullah. Across the Arab…
by Mehdi Rafiq Over a year after the start of the largest political trial of Mohammed VI’s reign, and after a marathon of over 80 hearings, the criminal court in Casablanca handed out its ruthless verdict on 26 June: the activists of the popular movement in the Rif region of Morocco were sentenced to a…
MENA Solidarity Network 