Attempting to counter the stifled ability to express, Arabs.com interestingly points out that we must admit that we are ‘oppressed’ in order to actually combat that oppression. In his ‘message’, the founder of the website states his support for the freedom of choice and expression as well as the need for platforms without bias or guardianship.

I saw somewhere that George Orwell once said, “every joke is a tiny revolution.” In the last week of this current wave of up rise throughout the Arab world, it has been the humour in social protest that has fascinated, and perhaps even confused, me. What role do these comedic characters play?

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Lucky enough to attend the Dubai International Film Festival for the second time, my interest was, once again, in the Arab films. I saw mostly shorts, and most of them were great: creative writing, intense acting, …

In an ongoing effort to reinvent itself, Project: Carousel is launching a new monthly feature to acquaint its readers with interesting and important people/organizations working in the field of global media and cultural studies. These people/organizations have, through their work, made some kind of a difference to the lives of people around the world – a difference that has made a difference.

Aurora Tellenbach, PhD in Arab Cinema here at SOAS, was kind and diligent enough to put a very long list of the films from the region of Africa and the Middle East.

Abu Dhabi is a city that has been mentioned more frequently in the ‘culture’ sections of international publications for the last two years because of its announced construction of Saadiyat Island. This island is designed to become the ‘culture hub’ of the Gulf, if not the Middle East; it will be home to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, a Guggenheim museum, performance art centers, hotels, etc.

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The 10th Palestinian Film Festival will by hosted by the Barbican Center and our very own SOAS. Starting from the 24th of April, running till the 8th of May there will be movies, talks, a …

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I wanted to share some reflections with those of you who attended or missed the one-day conference that took place in Brunei gallery today.
According to some of the presentations and talks given, there are two …

I visited this exhibition with fellow Global Media students Rounwah, Osama and Fazilet. I went with a completely open mind, intrigued as to what art from the Middle East actually looked like. I whole heartedly accept that it is not possible all the art that originates from the Middle East come under one label. Geographically, the Middle East is a diverse terrain and the same analogy can be applied to the art produced by Middle Eastern artists. So it would be redundant of me to use terms such as “Arabic”, “Islamic” or even “Middle East” to a certain extent.

Nevertheless, I entered the exhibition filled with trepidation. While touring the exhibition, I felt a mixture of emotions.

“The Reluctant Fundamentalist” is a compelling read but for many different reasons. I was just passing time in the Waterstones near SOAS when I saw this book. A subconscious compulsion made me reach for the novel and before I realised it, I had purchased it. Even though the title suggest the novel would contain some hard hitting material, I thought it would be a suitable read before bedtime, a novel from which I could read a chapter or two before falling asleep…how wrong was I!!!

I read the entire novel within 4 hours (this did mean it was 2 a.m. by the time I finished.)

Within this post the work of an artist, Muhammad Ali is discussed and how he has begun the movement that fuses graffiti art with Islamic calligraphy. It is a very odd pairing, so naturally I thought I would bring it to everyone’s attention!

Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land provides a striking comparison of U.S. and international media coverage of the crisis in the Middle East, zeroing in on how structural distortions in U.S. coverage have reinforced false perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This pivotal documentary exposes how the foreign policy interests of American political elites–oil, and a need to have a secure military base in the region, among others–work in combination with Israeli public relations strategies to exercise a powerful influence over how news from the region is reported.

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Here is a good book by Michael Griffin, if you want to learn the facts about the Taliban and the American involvment in Afghanistan, 

The assault on Gaza exposed not only Israel’s callous disregard for international law but the gutlessness of the American press. There were no major newspapers, television networks or radio stations that challenged Israel’s fabricated version of events that led to the Gaza attack or the daily lies Israel used to justify the unjustifiable. Nearly all reporters were, as during the buildup to the Iraq war, pliant stenographers and echo chambers. If we as journalists have a product to sell, it is credibility. Take that credibility away and we become little more than propagandists and advertisers. By refusing to expose lies we destroy, in the end, ourselves.

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As a part of the weekly seminar series, The Centre for Media and Film Studies hosted a presentation by Dr. Atef Alsha’Er titled “A Culture of Communication: Hamas’ Images in Perspective.”   The presentation looked closely …