Middle East

With the attacks on the French magazine "Charlie Hebdo", a new debate on free speech started, aksing i.e. where does freedom of expression end and where do xenophobia and defamation begin? Does Islam allow for critical self-reflection? In 2011 we organized a conference in Beirut, adressing those question. A documentation.

Assad and ISIS appear to be perfect opposites. In reality, however, they are rather complementary. Whatever aspirations one may have for a cooperation with the regime, neither an end to the war nor safety will be gained through it.

There's little hope for an improvement of the Syrian situation. Nonetheless, there are civil society activists who are still working on non-violent resistance and democratic change.

More than six million Syrian refugees are in search of a different, a safer place in their home country and yet only arrive at places that are currently slightly less ghastly.

The Heinrich Böll Foundation honors with the Petra Kelly Prize 2014 four human rights activists from the Violations Documentation Center in Syria. A laudatory for the prize winners by Petra Stienen.

With fewer reporters willing to enter the killing fields of Syria, the coverage of the conflict is dominated by ideological types, hack reporters and embeded correspondents.

An international conference on the situation of Syrian refugees has been arranged for 28th October in Berlin. Yet in view of the magnitude of the crisis, this is a mere drop in the ocean. Western states keep concentrating on ways to ease the symptoms of the crisis which they cannot gain control over without political underpinning.

How does the “Islamic State” change the perception of the conflict in Syria? An overview of recent developments and power constellations in the region.

ISIS lives off bare bestiality. While their opponents are paralyzed with fear, the work of satirists flourishes. Meanwhile Bashar al-Assad tries to present himself as the lesser evil in Syria.