Four books that explain why the world is burning

Our ancestors managed the land with controlled fires that reduced the accumulation of dry wood and vegetation. Not doing so means we now have giant fuel stores. Sometimes, the old ways are the best

Osama Esber

The Flower Seller of Aleppo

[caption id="attachment_55250246" align="alignnone" width="620"] Krikor in Yerevan, Armenia. (Hannah Lucinda Smith)[/caption] “Flowers, I love flowers!” exclaims Krikor. “I used to skip school so I…

Hannah Lucinda Smith

The Power of Words

[caption id="attachment_55250212" align="alignnone" width="620"] Mohamed Aly Talibab performing live. (Still from Youtube, Ahmed Mekawy photography)[/caption]Mohamed Aly Talibab—he…

Goos Hofstee

Teaching Moroccans to Dance

[caption id="attachment_55250704" align="aligncenter" width="940"] Hind Benali. (Alice Defour-Feronce)[/caption] “I get the feeling of [being] a warrior,” Hind Benali said in a recent interview with…

Clarissa Pharr

Wheeling and Dealing Ottoman Stools

[caption id="attachment_55250094" align="alignnone" width="620"] One of Hala Smadi's Ottoman-style stools. (Courtesy of Wheels by Hala Smadi)[/caption] As she prepared for her final university…

Tafline Laylin

Putting Yemen in the Spotlight

[caption id="attachment_55249862" align="aligncenter" width="620"] A still from the film "Karama Has No Walls," directed by Sara Ishaq. (Sara Ishaq)[/caption] "Anwar's life did not go to waste,"…

Ati Metwaly

A Pre-Islamic Hero in Painting

[caption id="attachment_55249826" align="aligncenter" width="620"] Mostafa El-Razzaz stands in front of one of his paintings at his latest exhibition, "Antara and Day Dreaming." (Ati Metwaly)[…

Ati Metwaly

The Art of Syria's War

[caption id="attachment_55249773" align="alignnone" width="620"] A woman looks at art by Syrian refugee children at an exhibition in Beirut on February 21, 2014. (ANWAR AMRO/AFP/Getty Images)[…

Goos Hofstee

Churches on the Frontline

[caption id="attachment_55249696" align="alignnone" width="620"] Saint Michael's Church in Ebbe, Tripoli in northern Lebanon. (Courtesy of Alessandra Bajec)[/caption] Father Arabius knows his city…

Alessandra Bajec