المجتمع المدني

On Monday, the Syrian government decided to ban domestic opposition groups from organizing a news conference. Activists have denounced the ban, calling it an unprecedented move. Two opposition groups which are allowed to operate in Syria were set to hold a joint conference in the city of Damascus of Monday. During the conference, the Front for Change and Liberation and …

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – July 22, 2014) – Despite the promise of the Arab Spring, most nations in the region have failed to reform their economies, largely leaving elite privilege in place, finds a new essay released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank. The essay,Institutions and Economic, Political, and Civil Liberty in the Arab World, …

Several Muslim, Arab-American and anti-war groups have joined forces to organize a march on the White House that will take place at 1:00 p.m. local time on Saturday, August 2nd to protest against the Israeli operation in Gaza. The co-sponsors of the march include the ANSWER Coalition, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), American Muslim Alliance …

Research group Orb International’s new survey suggests that 60% of the Syrian population would support “international military involvement in Syria”. However, the percentage drops significantly in regime-held areas – 11% in Tartus, 36% in Damascus – and rises sharply in rebel-controlled areas – 82% in Al Raqqah, 61% in Aleppo and 88% in Idlib. It also found out that only …

How Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki plans to defeat the horribly abusive Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) and other Sunni groups that have seized control of large swathes of Iraq remains unclear. And under his government’s new media regulations, the Iraqi public isn’t likely to find out. The new guidelines, issued on June 18 by the state media …

The Institute for Economics and Peace has released its Global Peace Index report for the year 2014, and several North African and Middle Eastern nations performed poorly owing to the violence in the region. Countries were graded peace scores based on 22 different indicators, with each of the different indicators weighted according to importance. According to the report, global peace …

2 Palestinian teenagers were shot and killed by IDF soldiers near a protest outside Israel’s Ofer Prison in the West Bank. Israeli authorities initially denied shooting at the boys, however video was later leaked showing IDF soldiers firing bullets at the unsuspecting victims. 186 of the 5,265 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli detention are being held without trial or charge, …

On Wednesday, Israeli forces raided the headquarters of a Palestinian publishing house in the occupied city of Ramallah in West Bank. They also warned the publishing house not to publish newspapers close to Hamas. Palestinian officials have criticized to move, and said that it violates their freedom of expression. Israeli authorities were not immediately available for comment. The headquarters of …

The Egyptian Center of Media & Public Opinions Studies (Takamul) opined in its report published on May 25th that only 10% of Egyptians cast their vote in this year’s election, and that half of them were Christians. According to the report, a large percentage of younger voters did not participate. The study also says that 79% of the voters felt …

Advertisements on buses linking Adolf Hitler with “Islamic Jew-hatred” are now running in Washington DC, with the First Amendment protecting the advertisements, and almost guaranteeing that they will run for quite some time. The 15-foot-long ads are on the broadsides of twenty buses in the DC metro area. They feature a photo of Adolf Hitler seated with his “staunch ally” …