Human Rights

BY MAKSIM WYNN Rising out of the South Texas brush country, 50 acres of stadium lighting dominate the night sky. Directly to the east of those 50 acres is a small town fairly typical of this part of the state—low-slung buildings; a number of good Mexican restaurants; and a lot of corrugated steel, limestone, and […]

BY JENIE SON AND ANDREW HONG When Americans think of North Korea, they tend to focus on the country’s dictatorial leader and the threat of nuclear war as Kim Jong Un squares off with Donald Trump. It can be easy to forget that there are ordinary people living there, continuously suffering under the most repressive […]

(Photo Credit: CNN) Prior to the Arab Spring and subsequent government transitions, Egypt was quickly rising through the ranks of developing countries primed for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). In fact, it received more FDI than most other African and Arab countries.[1] After decades of deliberate work enacting aid-friendly policies and laws, it was perhaps on […]

Unbeknownst to the average patient, the care we receive from our doctors says relatively little about our overall health. The answer is not found in our genetic makeup, either. The single largest determinant of health, comprising 60% of the puzzle that is a healthy body, is based on social factors. Indeed, our access to stable […]

The problematic economic and social situation in Venezuela is well known to us by now as the topic makes at least a weekly appearance in international media outlets. Beyond the macroeconomic statistics and the high-level policy talk, these numbers and figures really affect the daily life of not only Venezuelan citizens, but also of some […]

ISIL violated international, national, regional and tribal law when it recruited children to participate in its armed conflict.  With ISIL’s loss of territory in Iraq, the rush to enact justice against perpetrators of these abuses has overlooked the status of children and the need to tailor treatment specifically to child soldiers who survived a brutal occupation.

Standards for aid provision in humanitarian relief contexts have long overlooked directly engaging with aid recipients. Organizations which buck the trend and consider refugees’ input have found it greatly beneficial in identifying aid gaps. Working directly with aid recipients to address their needs also renders aid more respectful and culturally sensitive, restoring a sense of agency to people who depend on humanitarian aid.

In this episode of the Middle East Weekly podcast we discuss the events that occurred in Gaza this past weekend, where the Israeli Defense Forces killed 18 people and injured nearly 1000 in reaction to Palestinian demonstrations near the border fence which separates Gaza from Israel. The Palestinian protests began on the anniversary of Land […]

BY LAURA SCHIEMICHEN Cold, hungry, distressed – refugees arriving in Europe mourn the lives they’ve abandoned and turn anxiously towards the future. Whether they’ve forgotten their ID card or have left their birth certificate behind, the last thing on their minds is re-establishing a legal identity. Looking around, they see thousands of individuals just like […]

In this week’s episode of the Middle East Weekly podcast, we discuss the worsening humanitarian situation in Eastern Ghouta, Syria, where over 1,000 people have been killed in 2 weeks and 400,000 families are living under siege, as Bashar al Assad’s forces attack the rebel-held city.

Although the Netanyahu administration has been roundly criticized for its brutal treatment of Palestinians, lack of commitment to the peace process, and flouting of international law, it might ironically be the more mundane charges of common graft that ultimately bring about the Prime Minister’s downfall.

Maha Yahya, Director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, sits down with Niku Jafarnia to discuss the conditions needed for the safe return of Syrian refugees to their homes and the current tenor of domestic rhetoric around refugees in host countries, involuntary returns, “safe zones,” and shifting territorial control within Syria.