You are here: Homepage Tag West Asia Articles Adeeb al-Janani, a reporter for the private Yemeni television station Belqees TV, was killed at the airport in Aden on 30 December 2020 while reporting on the return of the Yemeni government from negotiations in Saudi Arabia. A large crowd of people attended his funeral in Taizz Photo: Hussam Al-Qoliaa Freedom of the press | Yemen Assassinated, imprisoned, exiled A complex civil war with international involvement has been raging in Yemen for years. It is extremely dangerous for journalists to pursue their profession, Yemeni journalists still pay a heavy price for the civil war. Many have left the country and young reporters with no training are taking their place By Samia al-Aghbary 10/17/2024 Avital Benshalom Photo: Ali Ghandtschi Shared society | Israel “How do you keep a vision of peace without sounding naïve?” Avital Benshalom runs the Hagar School in Be’er Sheva, where Jewish and Arab children learn together. How did the school continue its work after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 and the subsequent war in Gaza? Interview with Avital Benshalom 09/12/2024 Media | Iran Iranians do not trust state television By Omid Rezaee 01/26/2024 Photo: Dario Lehner Pop culture | Turkey Protest songs from the car radio When screenwriter Cem Kaya reflects on his childhood, he remembers the long car journeys from Germany to Turkey - and the music of the “Aşiks”. On the travelling singers of Anatolia and their links to pop music by immigrant workers in Germany By Cem Kaya 12/15/2023 A performance of the Iranian story "The Little Black Fish" in the Turkish village of Karakuyu Köyü Photo: Berna Küpeli Festival | Turkey “Children have more imagination than we do” Circus and theatre for refugee children in the middle of a conflict-torn area? The Flying Carpet Festival on the Turkish-Syrian border makes the impossible possible Interview with Sahba Aminikia 06/01/2023 Women’s rights | Afghanistan Patriarchal darkness Education, work, marriage: over the years, the rights of Afghan women have been fiercely contested. A chronology of an eventful history By Huma Ahmed-Ghosh 10/01/2022 Zakira: “Not only my body is locked up at home, but also my mind” Photo: Sayed Aman Sadat Vox pop | Afghanistan “How are you doing?” When the Taliban came to power, women in Afghanistan lost almost everything overnight: their rights, their jobs, their dignity. What are their concerns today? We asked Afghan women for a selfie, and asked the question: how are you doing? 10/01/2022 A farmer harvests opium plant sap in a poppy field in the Darra-i-Nur district of Nangarhar province (2020) Photo: Noorulla Shirzada / AFP / Getty Images Drugs war | Afghanistan Opium for the masses Profits from the opium industry account for over half of Afghanistan's economic output. An overview of the drug threatening to tear Afghanistan apart 10/01/2022 A treasure trove of local handicrafts: the Suq al-Hamidiya in Damascus. Photo: Zeina Shahla Arts and crafts | Syria The finishing touch Power outages, lack of young talent and scarce materials: In Damascus, arts and crafts struggle to survive By Zeina Shahla 04/14/2022 Aline Abboud has been hosting Tagesthemen on ARD since 2021 Photo: Kirsten Nijhof / zb /picture alliance Flashback | Lebanon In the shade of the cedar tree The cedar tree is Lebanon’s national symbol. Unfortunately, the ancient trees can be seen only sporadically By Aline Abboud 04/14/2022 Irina Scherbakowa is a Germanist and historian Photo: Personal history | Russia Fighting for every free word Irina Shcherbakova was born in Moscow in 1949 and is a well-known historian and expert in German studies. Since the 1970s, she has been working to come to terms with the impact of the Stalin era on Russia. She is one of the founders of the now-outlawed NGO, Memorial. By Irina Sherbakova 04/14/2022 The writer Rafik Shami, born 1946 in Damascus Photo: Root Leeb Flashback | Syria Oh, Scheherazade! How I discovered the magic of storytelling on the Syrian radio By Rafik Schami 01/07/2022 A burning house in disputed Nagorno-Karabakh Photo: Getty Images Talking point | Armenia Talk of the town in Yerevan Borders have shifted in Armenia, due to the Nagorno-Karabakh war in 2020. Now people in Yerevan are discussing how to cope with that By Nune Hakhverdyan 01/07/2022 In 1969, Frauke Heard-Bey was one of the first Western women to travel overland to Liwa Oasis in the south of the UAE Photo: Heard-Bey private archive Personal history | Abu Dhabi Archivist in the Gulf Historian Frauke Heard-Bey moved from Berlin to Abu Dhabi in 1967 for love. More than fifty years later, she calls the Emirates her home - and has helped build up an entire national archive. By Frauke Heard-Bey 01/07/2022 Colorful tassel garlands are used in wedding ceremonies Foto: Ramona Razaghmanesh Day trip | Iran A celebration site in Iran About the weddings of the Qashqai nomads in the Fars province By Ramona Razaghmanesh 10/01/2021 People look after a military plane taking off in Kabul lPhoto: Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times / Getty Images Transition of power | Afghanistan “The retreat started years ago” Radio host and journalist Waheedulaah Orya reported from the Afghan city of Mazar e-Sharif – until the Taliban threatened his life. From his exile in Greece he describes watching in disbelief as they recaptured his home country. A conversation Interview with Waheedullah Orya 10/01/2021 In 2020, Bjeen Alhassan received the German Integration Award for her work Photo: Guido Bergmann Personal history | Syria Coming up for air after the war Bjeen Alhassan, born in Qamishli, Syria, now lives in Germany. In her Facebook group “Learning with Bijin” she helps refugee women, earning her the German Integration Award By Bjeen Alhassan 07/01/2021
Adeeb al-Janani, a reporter for the private Yemeni television station Belqees TV, was killed at the airport in Aden on 30 December 2020 while reporting on the return of the Yemeni government from negotiations in Saudi Arabia. A large crowd of people attended his funeral in Taizz Photo: Hussam Al-Qoliaa Freedom of the press | Yemen Assassinated, imprisoned, exiled A complex civil war with international involvement has been raging in Yemen for years. It is extremely dangerous for journalists to pursue their profession, Yemeni journalists still pay a heavy price for the civil war. Many have left the country and young reporters with no training are taking their place By Samia al-Aghbary 10/17/2024
Avital Benshalom Photo: Ali Ghandtschi Shared society | Israel “How do you keep a vision of peace without sounding naïve?” Avital Benshalom runs the Hagar School in Be’er Sheva, where Jewish and Arab children learn together. How did the school continue its work after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 and the subsequent war in Gaza? Interview with Avital Benshalom 09/12/2024
Photo: Dario Lehner Pop culture | Turkey Protest songs from the car radio When screenwriter Cem Kaya reflects on his childhood, he remembers the long car journeys from Germany to Turkey - and the music of the “Aşiks”. On the travelling singers of Anatolia and their links to pop music by immigrant workers in Germany By Cem Kaya 12/15/2023
A performance of the Iranian story "The Little Black Fish" in the Turkish village of Karakuyu Köyü Photo: Berna Küpeli Festival | Turkey “Children have more imagination than we do” Circus and theatre for refugee children in the middle of a conflict-torn area? The Flying Carpet Festival on the Turkish-Syrian border makes the impossible possible Interview with Sahba Aminikia 06/01/2023
Women’s rights | Afghanistan Patriarchal darkness Education, work, marriage: over the years, the rights of Afghan women have been fiercely contested. A chronology of an eventful history By Huma Ahmed-Ghosh 10/01/2022
Zakira: “Not only my body is locked up at home, but also my mind” Photo: Sayed Aman Sadat Vox pop | Afghanistan “How are you doing?” When the Taliban came to power, women in Afghanistan lost almost everything overnight: their rights, their jobs, their dignity. What are their concerns today? We asked Afghan women for a selfie, and asked the question: how are you doing? 10/01/2022
A farmer harvests opium plant sap in a poppy field in the Darra-i-Nur district of Nangarhar province (2020) Photo: Noorulla Shirzada / AFP / Getty Images Drugs war | Afghanistan Opium for the masses Profits from the opium industry account for over half of Afghanistan's economic output. An overview of the drug threatening to tear Afghanistan apart 10/01/2022
A treasure trove of local handicrafts: the Suq al-Hamidiya in Damascus. Photo: Zeina Shahla Arts and crafts | Syria The finishing touch Power outages, lack of young talent and scarce materials: In Damascus, arts and crafts struggle to survive By Zeina Shahla 04/14/2022
Aline Abboud has been hosting Tagesthemen on ARD since 2021 Photo: Kirsten Nijhof / zb /picture alliance Flashback | Lebanon In the shade of the cedar tree The cedar tree is Lebanon’s national symbol. Unfortunately, the ancient trees can be seen only sporadically By Aline Abboud 04/14/2022
Irina Scherbakowa is a Germanist and historian Photo: Personal history | Russia Fighting for every free word Irina Shcherbakova was born in Moscow in 1949 and is a well-known historian and expert in German studies. Since the 1970s, she has been working to come to terms with the impact of the Stalin era on Russia. She is one of the founders of the now-outlawed NGO, Memorial. By Irina Sherbakova 04/14/2022
The writer Rafik Shami, born 1946 in Damascus Photo: Root Leeb Flashback | Syria Oh, Scheherazade! How I discovered the magic of storytelling on the Syrian radio By Rafik Schami 01/07/2022
A burning house in disputed Nagorno-Karabakh Photo: Getty Images Talking point | Armenia Talk of the town in Yerevan Borders have shifted in Armenia, due to the Nagorno-Karabakh war in 2020. Now people in Yerevan are discussing how to cope with that By Nune Hakhverdyan 01/07/2022
In 1969, Frauke Heard-Bey was one of the first Western women to travel overland to Liwa Oasis in the south of the UAE Photo: Heard-Bey private archive Personal history | Abu Dhabi Archivist in the Gulf Historian Frauke Heard-Bey moved from Berlin to Abu Dhabi in 1967 for love. More than fifty years later, she calls the Emirates her home - and has helped build up an entire national archive. By Frauke Heard-Bey 01/07/2022
Colorful tassel garlands are used in wedding ceremonies Foto: Ramona Razaghmanesh Day trip | Iran A celebration site in Iran About the weddings of the Qashqai nomads in the Fars province By Ramona Razaghmanesh 10/01/2021
People look after a military plane taking off in Kabul lPhoto: Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times / Getty Images Transition of power | Afghanistan “The retreat started years ago” Radio host and journalist Waheedulaah Orya reported from the Afghan city of Mazar e-Sharif – until the Taliban threatened his life. From his exile in Greece he describes watching in disbelief as they recaptured his home country. A conversation Interview with Waheedullah Orya 10/01/2021
In 2020, Bjeen Alhassan received the German Integration Award for her work Photo: Guido Bergmann Personal history | Syria Coming up for air after the war Bjeen Alhassan, born in Qamishli, Syria, now lives in Germany. In her Facebook group “Learning with Bijin” she helps refugee women, earning her the German Integration Award By Bjeen Alhassan 07/01/2021
