Dear readers,
The Arab revolution and its influence on intellectual Thought and politics have been the focus of interest in previous issues and still remain to be ,as our magazine has always been a firm supporter of the urgent call for change .
This issue is dedicated to some of these complex problems in the Arab world. The authors’ approaches vary between scientific and political.
The Palestinian writer Ahmad Harb says in his literary essay “Palestinian Literature after Oslo: A testimony”:
What is characteristic of the Palestinian literary scene after Oslo is a strong need to hold on to all that is historically proven and strategically important in re-telling Palestinian history, even if this may often lead the authors to inconsistencies with their own identity – under the pretext of the alleged necessity to adapt to the dominant culture – and it sometimes ends in exclusion, isolation and alienation.”
On the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s book “Origin of Species” the author Habib Abd ar -Rabb Sururi discusses in his essay “Darwin‘s Theory of Evolution: Dusty hypothesis or luminous reality” the reception of Darwin’s theory, which triggered a controversy of unparalleled scale that lasted more than a century, since it represents one of the most sensitive and important questions of human life, namely the question of the mystery of his existence.
Although the article about the “The Arab Uprizing” by Volker Perthes is written more than a year ago, what he describes there still applies today, three years since the beginning of the Arab revolution, the Arab Spring.. It’s an interesting scientific analysis which focuses on demography as an important cause of the revolution and analyzes the role of the centres of power in the Middle East. The author believes that – sooner or later – the process of change will not spare any of the Arab countries.
The Palestinian thinker Ahmad Barqawi writes on “Power and the mentality of exploitation”. He writes:
“Most people who are politically active do not realize that the most important task is not the change of power but rather the building of a state of law in the political and legal sense, in which it is possible for politically independent institutions to work freely”.
The Moroccan researcher Abu Azm Salah al -Din writes about “The Moroccan youth between the individual and the collective I”:
“Discussions on Maghreb always lead us back to economic aspects and to existing opportunities of integration in order to provide benefits for the whole society. But have we ever gone deeper than that? Have we ever thought about Moroccans as individuals, about their culture, their intellectual history. We have only tried to invest in the imperishable, in everlasting things. If now we should want – in consequence – to invest in people, the question arises what is it the Maghreb society most eminently distinguishes itself with from others and what are its problems today? What is the role of future generations in the upbringing of the young generation of the enlightenment, which can form the basis of a strong Maghreb?”
Heinz Bude opens a public debate about inequality in education policy in Germany. In his opinion social exclusion does not solely stem from social deprivation, nor can it be understood to be a result of relative poverty. “Rather it is related to the question of how much they are being denied or granted a place in the structure of society.” Immigrants are considered by the dominant majority, the alleged “civilised” class of our society, as a threat to social cohesion as a whole. Bude describes the phenomenon of the social exclusion of some groups, in particular the discrimination of children of immigrants, and investigates the causes of unequal opportunities.
Finally, Hamid Fadlalla’s review gives us insight into “Democratization Sudan“, a book by Haidar Ibrahim Ali. The author speaks of the conflict in Sudan between modernity and tradition, between change and conservatism. It is an important critical study and is a documentation of the modern political history of the Sudan.
We would like to remind you that we welcome your contribution, whether in the form of essays for the magazine, or opinions and advice.
We wish you a good reading!
Abier Bushnaq
Editor-in-chief
