Category: Mediterranean and Middle East

The EU’s Democracy, Human Rights and Resilience Discourse and Its Contestation

Post author By Veronica Flora
Post date 15 June 2021

Authors: Pacello, Maria Cristina, Huber Daniela, Kerrou M., Nouira A

Introduction

The paper will first provide a background analysis, based on a critical review of the discourses of the EU and other key international and regional players, discursive positions of civil society actors (including at this stage only documents produced by civil
society networks which span the Mediterranean) and the academic discourse. The aim is not only to de-construct the EU’s own discourse on democracy, human rights and now resilience; it also juxtaposes it to the discourse of other top-down and bottom-up actors. The academic
discourse produced in Europe takes a specific role in this overall picture as it generally sits within the larger EU discourse, even though a critical literature is emerging which resists this discourse. It is to this latter literature that this work package seeks to contribute. The second
and third parts of this paper, therefore, depart from the Euro-centrism of the literature in two ways. First, the second part gives an introductory overview on the central role played by civil society in the Arab uprisings and beyond. Unfortunately, very little is known in the literature
about how individual and civil society actors based in the four country case studies perceive their own role in their countries and which political ideas they are promoting for their countries.
The third part of this paper, therefore, outlines a methodology aimed at filling this gap by conducting discourse analysis of relevant documents produced by a selected number of civil society actors in such countries, and conducting recursive interviews with these stakeholders.

Document: iris.unive.it/retrieve/handle/10278/3701654/149195/medreset_cp_4.pdf

Environment and climate change Focus Mediterranean and Middle East Socio-economic issues and migrations

The MENA Region in the Global Energy Markets

Post author By Veronica Flora
Post date 16 May 2021

Title: The MENA Region in the Global Energy Markets

Author: Emanuela Menichetti Abdelghani El Gharras Barthélémy Duhamel Sohbet Karbuz

This paper explores how the current dynamics in the energy market sector affect, and are affected by, the interactions between the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and the global order. In particular, it aims to answer the overarching question: “Is MENA peripheral to or embedded in global dynamics in relation to energy?” To do so, the paper builds on the methodology and concept paper issued by the MENARA consortium in November 2017 and particularly seeks to address the research questions identified in the paper. After presenting an overview of the main global and regional energy trends, the paper analyses the current relationships between the key global energy players and the MENA countries at policy, industry and market levels. It discusses the role of critical actors that have an influence on the MENA energy landscape, and identifies the main hotspots for discussion.

Document: www.iai.it/sites/default/files/menara_wp_21.pdf

Source: www.iai.it

Environment and climate change Focus Mediterranean and Middle East Socio-economic issues and migrations

Water and Food Security Strategies in the MENA Region

Post author By Veronica Flora
Post date 14 May 2021

Title: Water and Food Security Strategies in the MENA Region

Author: Martin Keulertz

Food security in the MENA region will become one of the key issues of the 21st century. If insufficiently addressed, it may lead to severe social, environmental, economic and political consequences. Given high population growth across the region and the fact that water could be a bottleneck for agricultural production, the region will have to reform its agricultural sector toward resource-efficient, high-value crop farming systems. Europe can play a key role by promoting trade between the MENA and Europe, by increasing investment in the MENA region for food and water security and by strengthening policy institutions to manage every drop of water in the most efficient manner.

Document: https://www.iai.it/sites/default/files/menara_fn_18.pdf

Source: www.iai.it

Environment and climate change Focus Mediterranean and Middle East

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTIN THE MENA REGION

Post author By Veronica Flora
Post date 14 May 2021
Sticky post

Titolo: Sustainable Development in the MENA Region

Autori: Edgar Göll André Uhl Jakob Zwiers

In the MENA region, the realization of the United Nations General Assembly’s SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) is limited and slow. The priorities given to the seventeen SDGs differ significantly across the region due to the specific needs and situations of each country. Positive changes can be observed, for example for renewable energy, while other important goals remain unattained. Conflicts present a major obstacle for advancement. One step forward would be to establish institutions to concentrate efforts and mobilize action within all segments of society. The EU could support such developments by enhancing peer-to-peer contacts and cooperation.

Allegato: www.iai.it/sites/default/files/menara_fn_20.pdf

Fonte: Istituto Affari Internazionali www.iai.it

Conflicts Focus Freedom of expression Gender equality Human rights, identity and citizenship Mediterranean and Middle East Social inclusion and fight against discriminations Youth and the Mediterranean

Reconstructing Gender in the Middle East: Tradition, Identity and Power (1994)

Post author By Veronica Flora
Post date 10 May 2021

Authors: Fatma Müge Göçek & Shiva Balaghi

Employing a broad, interdisciplinary perspective on gender relations, « Reconstructing Gender in the Middle East » questions long-standing stereotypes about the traditional subordination of women in the region. With essays on gender construction in Iran, Turkey, Israel, Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, and the Occupied Territories, this collection offers a wide-ranging exploration of tradition, identity, and power in different parts of the Middle East. Seeking to overcome monolithic Western notions of women’s life in « the traditional society, » the essays in Part I reexamine the assumption that such societies leave little room for female participation. Part II focuses on the reconstruction of identities by women in Iran, Turkey, Israel, and the Occupied Territories.The authors examine the complex variables that contribute to the development of identities – including gender, class, and ethnicity – in various Middle Eastern societies, questioning whether certain identities are more important to women than others. These essays also look at the issue of group identity formation versus the autonomy of the individual. Part III looks at the relationship between gender and power in everyday life in Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, and Morocco, showing how power relations are constantly contested and renegotiated among family members and members of a community, between nations and between men and women. With its collection of enlightened and diverse contemporary perspectives on women in the Middle East, « Reconstructing Gender in the Middle East » is an important work that will have significant impact on the way we look at gender in traditional societies.

Document: https://books.google.it/books?hl=it&lr=&id=RIDouVTcz10C&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=identity+middle+east&ots=Fs5DZwBKgQ&sig=5dDiPVzrUizImoBdKfQQBuX4BBA#v=onepage&q=identity%20middle%20east&f=false

Africa and the Mediterranean Conflicts Gender equality MedFilm Festival Mediterranean and Middle East Socio-economic issues and migrations Uncategorized Voices and images archive

Les Bienheureux

Post author By Veronica Flora
Post date 2 April 2021

Director: Sophie Djama

Country: Francia, Belgio, Qatar | Year: 2017 | Lenght: 102′

MedFilm Festival 2017 // Amore & Psiche

Algiers, a few years after the end of the civil war. Amal and Samir have decided to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary in a restaurant. During the journey, they exchange their impressions of Algeria: Amal talks about the lost illusions, while Samir talks about the need to overcome them. Meanwhile, their son Fahim and his friends Feriel and Reda roam a hostile Algiers, ready to steal their youth.

SOFIA DJAMA

Born in Oran in 1979, Sofia Djama moved to Algiers to complete her studies and graduate in Literature. At the beginning of the 2000s, he began to write a collection of short stories with young Algerians as protagonists. Mollement, a samedi matin, the adaptation of one of these stories, receives two awards at the 2011 Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival. These awards encourage her to pursue a career in the world of cinema. Les Bienheureux (2017), his first feature film, is selected in Venice in the Orizzonti section.

Tags Francia

Freedom of expression Human rights, identity and citizenship Immigration MedFilm Festival Mediterranean and Middle East Voices and images archive Youth and the Mediterranean

THE MEN BEHIND THE WALL

Post author By Veronica Flora
Post date 17 February 2021

Director: Ines Moldavsky

Country: Israel | Year: 2018 | Duration: 28 ′

An unprecedented look at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a dating app. Israeli director Ines Moldavsky tries to meet men the law would forbid her to see. Crossing the border that separates Jerusalem from the West Bank, she finds herself in an unfamiliar physical space. Where do the borders begin and where do they end?

MedFilm Festival 2018 // Rather be Horizontal Women in Film

INES MOLDAVSKI

Born in Buenos Aires in 1990, Ines Moldavsky lives and works in Tel Aviv as a video artist and director of documentaries and experimental films. His works told about sexuality, gender issues and national identity. A graduate of the Sam Spiegel Film School and the Bezalel Academy of Art in Jerusalem, her Midnight (2015) and Cold Facts (2016) have been presented at various international festivals.

Africa and the Mediterranean Blog Europe and the Mediterranean Events Freedom of expression Gender equality Human rights, identity and citizenship Immigration Internships and Seminars Mediterranean and Middle East Social inclusion and fight against discriminations Socio-economic issues and migrations Uncategorized Youth and the Mediterranean

Study day of the “Equal and different” internship Iso-Medfilm Festival 2020-21″

Post author By Veronica Flora
Post date 11 February 2021

The Department of Oriental Studies – La Sapienza and MEDFILM FESTIVAL present the Internship Study Day “Equal and different: Iso-MedFilm Festival 2020-2021”. During the meeting, the website of the “Voices and Images of Intercultural Dialogue in the Mediterranean” project and the Medfilm Festival archive at the DISO Library will be presented.

The webinar will be held on the zoom platform, Monday 15 February 2021, from 2.00pm to 6.30pm Participation is open to all stakeholders Registration with a nominative request email at the address webinartirocinio@gmail.com

Program

Introduction: Franco D’Agostino, Director of the ISO Department; Ginella Vocca, President of MedFilm Festival-MFF; Laura Guazzone, Internship Manager.

h. 14.15-14.25 Presentation of the VOCIMED.IT WEB SITE of the Third Mission Iso project “Voices and images from dialogue intercultural in the Mediterranean ”, L. Guazzone, Iso Sapienza and V. Flora, MFF.

FIRST PART (moderated by Guazzone, directed by Flora)

h. 14.30-15.00 “Human Rights” Theme: Human Rights in Contemporary Islam. An open debate – Francesco Zappa, Iso Sapienza.

h. 15.00-15.10 Debate

h. 15.10-15.45 Theme “cultural dialogue”: The dialogue between cinema and contemporary Arab literature: the Egyptian microcosm – Ada Barbaro, Iso Sapienza.

h.15.45-15.55 Debate

h. 16.00- 16.30 MEDFILM FESTIVAL SHORT Debate

SECOND PART (moderated by Zappa, directed by Barbaro)

h. 16.30-17.00 “Political dialogue” theme: The Mediterranean that unites and divides: contemporary history of an idea – Laura Guazzone, Iso Sapienza.

h. 17.00-17.100 Debate

h. 17.10-17.40 Gender issue theme: Body, awareness and freedom. Paths in Mediterranean cinema – Veronica Flora, MFF

17.40-17.50 Debate

h. 17.50-18.30 What intercultural dialogue in the Mediterranean? Concluding remarks and debate

Locandina-giornata-studi-15febbraio-2 Download

Tags marocco, Territori palestinesi occupati

Africa and the Mediterranean Conflicts Human rights, identity and citizenship MedFilm Festival Mediterranean and Middle East Social inclusion and fight against discriminations Voices and images archive

Asphalt

Post author By Veronica Flora
Post date 29 January 2021

Director: Ali Hammoud

Country: Libano/Qatar | Year: 2016 | Lenght: 69′

Asphalt’ delves into the lives of two truck drives on the road, crossing borders, towns and cities, loading and unloading goods. Lebanese truck driver, Derar Nsseir, transports goods across Syria, Jordan and all the way to other countries. Meanwhile, Mohamad Mehani, an Egyptian, drives across Egypt and to the Sudanese border delivering necessities. Yet these two have one thing in common: making a living in ever-changing scenery on an asphalt road that stretches miles across the Arab world. ‘Asphalt’ takes us on a journey to examine closely the subtle relationship between man and machine, and provides a reflection on life from behind the wheel.

MedFilm Festival 2016 // Eyes open

Tags Giordania, LIbano