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Category - middle east

  • March 26, 2012
    Media (mis)representations of ‘religion’ in the Middle East

    It is almost a truism to note that if the mainstream media is our only source of news regarding anything to do with religion (however that might be conceived) in the Middle East, or even the Middle East in general, we are in deep trouble, says Dr Michael Marten. Here he analyses some of the major misunderstandings, urging the BBC and others to 'up their game' and to have the courage to address difficult and contentious issues appropriately.

  • March 18, 2012
    The significance of Pope Shenouda III

    Pope Shenouda III, the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt, the single largest church in the Middle East, died on Saturday 17 March 2012 aged 89. Ekklesia associate Michael Marten, from the University of Stirling, locates and evaluates his significance.

  • March 10, 2012
    Newstalk: Women, war, MENA and more...

    Today (Saturday 10 March 2012) I will be in conversation with Sarah McAllister from Belfast on Premier Radio's Newstalk half-hour programme, at 11.30 AM.

  • March 3, 2012
    Syria: solving the unsolvable?

    Developments in Syria continue to take alarming twists - not least with the latest eyewitness accounts coming out of Homs.

  • February 23, 2012
    Lent: Christian realities in the lands of Christ's ministry

    To mark the start of Lent 2012, there is a departure from the usual style of my podcast regional analysis of the Middle East and North Africa for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW).

  • February 21, 2012
    Where is the Middle East and North Africa region today?
  • February 1, 2012
    A new Egypt for all Egyptians?

    In viewing the first anniversary of the 25 January 2011 Revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak and set forth many changes that would have simply been unthinkable twelve months ago in Egypt, we should bear in mind that the deep socio-economic and technological structures of civilisations play out over long periods of time, says Dr Harry Hagopian. Here he offers a perspective on the development and prospects of those recent events in Egypt, and responses to them.

  • February 1, 2012
    Bishop Angaelos and the anniversary of the Egypt uprising

    HG Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom, has issued a careful and thoughtful statement on the first anniversary of the uprising in Egypt’s Tahrir Square, which took place on the 25 January 2011.

  • January 31, 2012
    UN debate about Syria analysed on television

    Regional analyst and Ekklesia associate Dr Harry Hagopian will be expert commentator assisting the presenter for the Al-Jazeera (English) from 7:30 till 10:30 PM tonight (31 January 2012).

  • January 29, 2012
    Iran’s threat to close the Hormuz Strait is a sign of desperation

    Iran, Israel and the US are equally responsible for bringing the Middle East to the brink of war, a decade after the disastrous assault on Iraq’s presumed 'weapons of mass destruction', says Ghassan Michel Rubeiz. Does Iran have a latent objective in raising the Strait closure now? Should Israel, or the US, launch an air strike on Iran preemptively, Iran may want the world to think about the consequences of such a closure on the world economy.