For the final Middle East analysis podcast of 2012, we have chosen to set aside, temporarily, the hard political angles and social realities of the Middle East North Africa region and instead focus on the seasons of Advent and Christmas.
For the final Middle East analysis podcast of 2012, we have chosen to set aside, temporarily, the hard political angles and social realities of the Middle East North Africa region and instead focus on the seasons of Advent and Christmas.
So here is my a personal festive reflection — perhaps a slightly lighter, more personal and more up-beat accompaniment to the 2012 regional overview paper I have written, published on Ekklesia today (15 December 2012) and entitled, ‘Change and challenge across the Middle East and North Africa Region’ (http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/17624).
The threshold of the second anniversary of the Middle East and North Africa uprisings that started in Tunisia on 17 December 2010 provided an opportune time to assess the many challenges being negotiated across this vast region, with particular attention to recent developments in Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Iraq and Syria.
But back to the Advent and Christmas theme — you can listen to the podcast, courtesy once again of the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW), and also download it here (MP3 format): http://www.catholicnews.org.uk/content/download/32236/232853/file/mena-christmas-2012.mp3
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© Harry Hagopian is an international lawyer, ecumenist and EU political consultant. He also acts as a Middle East and inter-faith advisor to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales and as Middle East consultant to ACEP (Christians in Politics) in Paris. He is an Ekklesia associate and regular contributor (http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/HarryHagopian). Formerly an Executive Secretary of the Jerusalem Inter-Church Committee and Executive Director of the Middle East Council of Churches, he is now an international fellow, Sorbonne III University, Paris, consultant to the Campaign for Recognition of the Armenian Genocide (UK), Ecumenical consultant to the Primate of Armenian Church in UK & Ireland, and author of The Armenian Church in the Holy Land. Dr Hagopian’s own website is www.epektasis.net Follow him on Twitter here: @harryhagopian