The Coronavirus Shakes
They asked what the purpose of our visit was. “We’re fleeing Germany,” I said, as I handed over our Israeli and American passports. “My wife and I want to apply for asylum.”(...)
When the Press Fails
It was a typically cringe-worthy piece of German journalism.(...)
America in Afghanistan
When William Westmorland led American forces in Vietnam, he kept a copy of Bernard Fall’s devastating critique of the French war in Indochina, The Street Without Joy, on his night table.(...)
Medieval Femme, by Fatima Al Qadiri
On her spacious and subtle new album Medieval Femme, Fatima Al Qadiri returns to London’s Hyperdub label to ask forceful questions about the relationship between margin and centre.(...)
Learning From the BBC
Women were screaming. Gunfire echoed in the distance. A British accented voice drifted in and out, periodically commenting on the upheaval.(...)
Taking Responsibility for Refugees
The recent Italian films The Life Ahead (La vita davanti a sé) and Mom to Hundreds (Tutto il giorno davanti) thematise the plight of underage migrants from the developing world, seeking to extract maximum sentiment from audiences.(...)
May Day in Neukölln
The JID Interview, Part I
Israelis in Germany. Say what? Few stories about European immigration have been as loaded, and complex as those about Jews moving from the Middle East to Germany. (...)
Zenobia’s Halak Halak LP
It doesn't take long to place Zenobia's new album Halak Halak – which translates as a slangy “Welcome, Welcome!” – in the Middle East.(...)