Statehood & Participation

Throughout the countries of the Middle East, citizens view the state with suspicion. State institutions are often experienced as biased towards the powerful, corrupt and predatory, and as a sometimes violent means to safeguard the position of a ruling elite, or the domination of one part of the population over others.

Participation, on the other hand, is mostly reduced to elections of questionable representational value, or relies on informal channels and structures and primordial relations, and thus reinforces existing patterns of subordination and power.

The program Statehood & Participation supports initiatives that demand accountability and due process and encourage citizens to become aware, active and organized around issues of (gender-) democratic participation, freedom of expression and sustainable development.

Iraq’s Environmental Struggle against Foreign Rapacity and Local Greed

Article

Ahwaris in Iraq have been through a series of tragedies over the decades. “We have lived a long history of displacement, oppression and racism. We have always opposed authoritarian governments and any form of authoritarianism. My family was active in opposition to Saddam Hussain. My uncle was killed resisting him in Hor Al-Huwaiza,” explains Ahwari activist and environmental and human rights defender Mustafa Hashim who is part of the “Ahwari Voice-The Ahwari Human Rights network”, one of several self-organized groups in the Marsh lands, the Ahwar (singular Hor), that spread through Southern Iraq and Iran.

By Ansar Jasim

Publications

Entering the Lion’s Den Lebanon’s “Change MPs” in parliament

Paper

Building on prior The Policy Initiative research about alternative political groups in Lebanon, this report examines challenges that “Change MPs” faced during their first 18 months in office.

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Photo of the Holiday Inn Building in Beirut

Political Perspectives in Lebanon After the Thawra

Paper

The staunchest criticism of the sectarian political model came from the civil society. Lebanese citizens have called for the abolition of this regime for more than a decade. The topic became a rallying cry for all Lebanese during the 2015 "You Stink" movement and more recently during the 2019 revolution (thawra).

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“People like me, they have to bypass”

Research Paper

My nationality is my right has a long history in Lebanon. In a country, that does not treat its citizens equally; women cannot pass their nationality to their husbands and children if they have a binational marriage. To this day, this law is still on papers. In this paper, Benita argue that the performative citizenship of the children in these families is not only expressed through their political and social activism for a more inclusive citizenship law. Rather, by finding coping strategies to exercise basic human rights and by having an affective citizenship meaning they feel Lebanese and therefore state their right to be Lebanese on paper, they are performing Lebanese citizenship.

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Global Feminist Pitch: Feminism in Pictures

Bab El Hawa border crossing from Turkey to Syria in March 2006

The survivors of the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria need support!

picture of the Lebanese Parliament building in downtown Beirut

Lebanese Parliamentary Elections 2022 – What should international observers know?

Lokman Slim, 2005, at the Hangar, the venue of Umam Documentation and Research Centre, Dahiyeh Beirut.

Statement on the Assassination of Lokman Slim

Kohl's last issue for 2020 is finally OUT!

Kohl Vol. 6 No. 2 | Fall 2020 Cover Picture

The new Kohl issue is out | Resisting Ableism, Queering Desirability

Beirut's Underground Music Scene

Photo Documentation

A very inspiring creative project Hajar utilized a historical-political lens, to carefully delineate artists, community and the use of space within Beirut’s quick pace of change. Given the lack of research on the dialectic between music and crises in the region, this historical lens is applied to understand recent developments that begin from the October 2019 Revolution, extending through to the complete collapse of the economy and banking system, and the August 2020 explosion. The photos coupled with over twenty interviews aim to re-imagine and recreate our spaces and collective identity with values that extend far past appreciating certain genres. This project chooses to focus on the vibrant and creative forces which stand in constant dialogue with the worn and broken.

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The Realities, Needs and Challenges Facing the Feminist and Queer Movements in Lebanon in Light of a Multi-Layered Crisis

Report

This report provides a situation analysis of women in Lebanon. Overall, it examines gender, feminism, sexuality, queer, and human rights conditions and challenges. The reading takes place in the context of Lebanon’s severe economic collapse, especially after the Beirut Port Blast and the lockdowns imposed during the pandemic over the past two years.

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Indications of a Critical Electoral Process Path

Report

The Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections -LADE and as part of its mission towards observing and monitoring the electoral process, spotted numerous indications of a critical political path that affects the electoral process.

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Video

INVISIBLE BORDERS - DOCUMENTARY FILM - Heinrich Böll Foundation Beirut - Middle East

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