Breaking through Western media's monolithic image of female Kurdish fighters
The Western media has been buzzing about female fighters in the Kurdish Peshmerga, which operates in Iraq, and the YPG/YPJ, the revolutionary armed wing of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party in Syria. Both groups are fighting against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Since the recapture of the Syrian city of Kobanê in September 2014, there has been increased interest in the Peshmerga and YPG/YPJ, especially in their female members.
Source: Muftah
Re-configuring the Middle East: IS and changing demographics
The Syrian civil war and Iraqi sectarian conflicts involving Islamic State (IS) have had far-reaching consequences for the demographics across the region. Once a relatively ethnically homogeneous autonomous region, Iraqi Kurdistan has seen its demography change radically as large numbers of Arab refugees pour into what was once an independent Kurdish state-in-waiting. The influx of refugees fleeing areas of Iraq controlled by IS and fighting across the country, has pitted the Iraqi military and Shia militias against the jihadists.
Source: Your Middle East
Dubai iftars
Having lived in Dubai for over 35 years, I wanted to go back to the city I grew up in: a Dubai where you would by chance come upon communal iftars. This is a tradition that continues until today in neighbourhoods like Deira and Bur Dubai, and – thanks to the generosity of private donors and associations who serve iftar meals for thousands of people around Dubai – now mostly brings together lower- and middle-income workers from the subcontinent.
Source: Mashallah News
