-
3 weeks ago | 
dawnmena.org | Frederick Deknatel
The euphoria that erupted across Syria after the sudden fall of the Assad regime in early December has since given way to harsh realities—of sectarian violence, the dual traumas of a 14-year civil war and a 54-year dictatorship, and creeping doubts about Syria's new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, the Islamist rebel-turned-statesman. When Bashar al-Assad abruptly fled Damascus for Moscow in the face of a lightning rebel offensive, Syrians celebrated the end of a war and the end of a regime.
-
Dec 23, 2024 | 
dawnmena.org | Frederick Deknatel
Coverage of Gaza again dominated our most-read articles of the year, just like last year. As Israel's devastating war in Gaza has dragged on with American support, Democracy in Exile continued to magnify voices on the ground in Palestine and Israel to understand the scale of this human disaster.
-
Nov 14, 2024 | 
dawnmena.org | Frederick Deknatel
What does Donald Trump's stunning win over Vice President Kamala Harris in the U.S. presidential election mean not just for America but the wider world? At home, the chaos and upheaval of Trump's first term may quickly be eclipsed in his second, with his promises of "retribution" and near-blanket immunity granted by the Supreme Court. Abroad, Trump's "America First" agenda may be even less retrained, especially in the Middle East.
-
May 29, 2024 | 
dawnmena.org | Frederick Deknatel
When the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, announced last week that he had applied for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, along with three leaders of Hamas—including its most senior official in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar—the reaction from Washington was swift condemnation.
-
Feb 9, 2024 | 
dawnmena.org | Frederick Deknatel
In the two weeks since an initial ruling by the International Court of Justice found it "plausible" that Israel's actions in Gaza could amount to genocide, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the besieged territory and the risk of famine continues to grow.
-
Dec 15, 2023 | 
dawnmena.org | Frederick Deknatel
It should come as little surprise that Democracy in Exile's most popular articles of the year were all published after Oct. 7. Our three most-read articles of 2023 encapsulate how we have covered the aftermath of Hamas's brutal attack in southern Israel and the ongoing, devastating Israeli war of retaliation in Gaza—by magnifying voices on the ground in Gaza and in Israel.
-
Sep 18, 2023 | 
dawnmena.org | Frederick Deknatel
When a 22-year-old woman was killed in the custody of Iran's notorious "morality police" a year ago, for the crime of not wearing her hijab properly, it quickly set off a revolutionary wave of anti-government protests, led by Iranian women and girls under the banner of a slogan that echoed beyond the country's borders: "Woman, Life, Freedom!" The death of Mahsa Amini, known by her Kurdish name Jina, catalyzed months of mass protests that represented the biggest threat to the legitimacy of...
-
May 25, 2023 | 
dawnmena.org | Frederick Deknatel
Adam Shapiro: The necessity of having to humanize yourself in order to have value and validation in those kinds of spaces, being forced into that situation—that alone is trauma-inducing. And that is something that has to be taken into account when we consider the disparity of power between Israelis and Palestinians, and of course, the United States and the Palestinians when it comes to anything resembling a negotiation or talks.
-
May 15, 2023 | 
dawnmena.org | Frederick Deknatel
For the first time ever, the United Nations this year is officially commemorating the Nakba, what Palestinians call the "catastrophe" of 1948 when roughly 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes, and hundreds of Palestinian towns and villages destroyed, during the establishment of the State of Israel. Yet the Nakba event at the U.N. General Assembly, and the developments leading up to it, are a mirror of how this history continues to be denied.
-
Mar 19, 2023 | 
dawnmena.org | Frederick Deknatel
Holding the United Nations AccountableMuch has already been said about the role of the United States and the United Kingdom in their devastating invasion of Iraq in 2003, but the role of the United Nations in the atrocities Iraqis suffered during the 1990s sanctions regime also demands attention.
