The New Arab Voice

Last week on The New Arab Voice we looked at the aftermath of the recent immense earthquake in Syria. This week, we're over the border in Turkey, which experience some of the worst devastation and the highest number of casualties. Immediately following the earthquake, the state's response was slow. The agency responsible for disasters, AFAD, missed the crucial window when the most number of people can be saved.It quickly became apparent to observers that there was a serious problem, and that these problems were being exposed at the worst possible time. As people questioned the response of AFAD, people also surveyed the devastation  and asked why so many buildings had pancaked; trapping people inside. Soon, stories of buildings that don't meet regulatory codes and payoffs started to emerge. These questions have put a huge amount of pressure on the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was rumoured to be considering a delay for the scheduled parliamentary and presidential elections. This week on The New Arab Voice, we ask whether the state’s response to the earthquake was adequate? Why did so many buildings, that were built in a known high-risk earthquake area, collapse with such ease? And can the country move forward under President Erdogan’s leadership, or is it time for a change. Joining us to talk Turkey is Ömer Özkizilcik (@OmerOzkizilcik), an independent foreign policy and security analyst based in Ankara; and Mustafa Gurbuz (@Mustafa__Gurbuz) a nonresident Fellow at Arab Center Washington (@ArabCenterWDC) and a senior adjunct faculty in the Arab World Studies program in the Department of Critical Race, Gender, and Culture at American University in Washington, DC.Sign up to our newsletter here. This podcast is written and produced by Hugo Goodridge.Theme music by Omar al-Fil. Other music by Blue Dot Sessions.To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TheNewArabVoice or email hugo.goodridge@newarab.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a short break The New Arab Voice is back and we're picking up where we left off. The 6 February earthquake that rocked Turkey and Syria remains the most pressing humanitarian issue in the region.The death toll rises everyday, and simultaneously the need for aid also increases. This week on The New Arab Voice, we're focusing in on the northwestern region of Syria, which bore the brunt of the damage and deaths in Syria.Before the earthquake hit the region, a catastrophic humanitarian crisis had a firm grip on the north west. Over a decade of war and displacement, the spread of disease, and an ever worsening economic situation had push the more than 4 million people who live the northwestern Syria to the brink. The earthquake pushed them over the edge. For this episode, we're examining the response to the earthquake in Syria, and asking whether enough was done to save as many lives as possible. We look at what the Assad regime did to help the region, and ask how they are exploiting the crisis for their own gains. And we take a critical look at the aid delivery mechanism in northwestern Syria and how they might be improved. Joining us to discuss the north west is Hazem Rihawi (@HRihawi82), the senior programs manager at the American Relief Coalition for Syria (@ARC4Syria), a secular, non-political coalition of Syrian diaspora led humanitarian organisations that provide multi-sector relief inside of Syria. And Natasha Hall (@NatashaHallDC), a senior fellow with the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (@CSISMidEast).Sign up to our weekly newsletter here. This podcast is written and produced by Hugo Goodridge.Theme music by Omar al-Fil. Other music by Blue Dot Sessions.To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TheNewArabVoice or email hugo.goodridge@alaraby.co.uk  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on The New Arab Voice, we're looking back on a week that has changed Turkey and Syria forever. On Monday morning, as people slept in their beds, a massive earthquake erupted in southern Turkey. It was felt as far off as Iraq, but at the epicentre and the surrounding area, the devastation was almost immediate. The New Arab's Levant Correspondent Will Christou (@will_christou) rushed to the scene, where he witnessed widespread destruction, brief moments of joy as survivors where pulled from the rubble, and ultimately tragedy and grief. On this week's episode, we speak with Will about what he's seen, where he's been, and what his experience  has been.Also, we speak with Kristyan Benedict (@KreaseChan), Crisis Response Manager for Amnesty International UK, about the unfolding crisis in Syria, and the desperate situation of the people who were already experiencing a humanitarian crisis before the earthquake. If you want to help relief efforts in Turkey and Syria,  you can find information about donating below.International Red CrossMolham TeamUNICEFYou can subscribe to our newsletter here.This podcast is produced by Hugo Goodridge.Theme music by Omar al-Fil. Other music by Blue Dot Sessions.To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TheNewArabVoice or email hugo.goodridge@alaraby.co.uk  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on The New Arab Voice, we're casting a look over the Egyptian economy and its recent fiscal troubles.Earlier in January, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) signed off on a $3 billion loan for Egypt; the fourth loan the country had received since 2016. The loan was granted following continued anaemic growth and a dramatic fall for the Egyptian pound, which lost over half its value. The economic problems have severely impacted the people of Egypt, with a third of the country's population now living in poverty, and another third on the brink of poverty. At the heart of the reforms demanded by the IMF, is an end to the control of the Egyptian military over large swathes of the national economy. This week, we're asking: Why is the economy in such a bad way? What the terms of the IMF deal? Can Egypt implement the reforms to bring about a stronger growth outlook? How much control does the military have over the economy? And how will they respond to the strict conditions that could undermine its position?Joining us, we have Umberto Profazio (@profazio), a Maghreb Analyst at the NATO Defence College Foundation (@NATOFoundation), and Associate Fellow for the Conflict, Security and Development Program at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (@IISS_org).Also joining us, we speak with Marina Ottoway, a Middle East Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center (@WilsonCenterMEP) and a long-time analyst of political transformations in Africa, the Balkans, and the Middle East. Previously, Marina worked at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, during which she played a central role in launching the Middle East Program.Sign up to our newsletter here.This podcast is written and produced by Hugo Goodridge.Theme music by Omar al-Fil. Other music by Blue Dot Sessions.To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TheNewArabVoice or email hugo.goodridge@alaraby.co.uk  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on The New Arab Voice, we’re looking at the Afghan economy under the Taliban. We examine the economic trade between the hardline group and the Chinese, who this month signed a major oil extraction deal to start tapping into Afghanistan’s vast natural reserves. The Taliban have welcomed this foreign investment, claiming new injections of cash will help revitalise the faltering, crisis-riddled economy. Beijing, it would seem, is strengthening its control over the regional trade of rare earth minerals and emboldening its leverage over the Taliban, furthering its own security ambitions. However, given the history of unsuccessful mining projects, chronic instability and billions in frozen Afghan funds, will the acclaimed rewards of this deal ever be reaped? The New Arab Voice sat down with Jeffrey Grieco, president and CEO of the Afghan American Chamber of Commerce (@AAchamberofcomm) to discuss the current state of the Afghan economy and China’s growing role. We also speak with researcher Jiayi Zhou (@jzyhou) from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (@SIPRorg) about China’s historic relations with Afghanistan and the rationale behind its continued involvement. And Shah Mehrabi, an economics professor (@montgomerycoll) and co-chair of the Afghan Trust Fund about the role of the West in Afghanistan and the critical issue of releasing the country’s frozen foreign reserves. This podcast is written and produced by Rosie McCabe. Theme music by Omar al-Fil. Other music by Blue Dot Sessions. To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TheNewArabVoice or email hugo.goodridge@alaraby.co.uk  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on The New Arab Voice, we're looking at the trial of the volunteers who helped migrants on the Greek island of Lesvos.Last week, a group of volunteers appeared in court, facing numerous charges related to voluntary work they undertook to help migrants that were arriving on the island by boat. Despite the long history of cooperation between the organisations and the Greek authorities, they were arrested, charged, and many were detained for long periods of time. One of those arrested and charged was Seán Binder (@sean_binder_). Seán sat down with The New Arab Voice this week to talk about his work on Lesvos, his arrest and detention, the build-up and his eventual trial, and how the targeting of volunteers, like him, will affect vital search and rescue work at sea. Also joining us this week is Serhat Çubukçuoğlu (@suhac), a senior fellow in the Department of Strategic Studies at Trends Research and Advisory. We speak with Serhat about the historical relationship between Greece and Turkey, the points of contention, how migrant issues affect their relationship, and what the future may hold. This podcast is written and produced by Hugo Goodridge.Theme music by Omar al-Fil. Other music by Blue Dot Sessions.To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TheNewArabVoice or email hugo.goodridge@alaraby.co.uk  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The New Arab Voice is back for a brand new season!For our first episode, we examining the troubling news that unfolded at the start of the new year. When Israel's new National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, went to the Al-Aqsa compound on 3 January, it was seen as a provocation by a far-right religious nationalist, intended to anger the Palestinians, muslims, and incite resentment and tensions. The Al-Aqsa compound has a lengthy history, that some believe dates back to the time of the early Old Testament. It has seen wars, conquests and earthquakes. It is a site that holds a significance of the three main Abrahamic faiths. With his incursion at Al-Aqsa, many accused Ben-Gvir of seeking to disrupt the status quo of the ancient and holy site. But what is the status quo? Why does it exist? When did it come into play? Is it time for a new status quo? What are the risks associated with tampering with the status quo? Joining us to talk about Al-Aqsa and the politics of the status quo, we have Nur Arafeh, a fellow at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center (@CarnegieMEC), where her work focuses on the political economy of the MENA region, business-state relations, peacebuilding strategies, the development-security nexus and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Also, Dr. Nimrod Goren (@GorenNimrod), the Senior Fellow for Israeli Affairs at the Middle East Institute (@MiddleEastInst) and the founder and head of Mitvim (@Mitvim) - The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies. Sign up to our newsletter here.This podcast is written and produced by Hugo Goodridge.Theme music by Omar al-Fil. Other music by Blue Dot Sessions.To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TheNewArabVoice or email hugo.goodridge@alaraby.co.uk  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're coming to the end of 2022 and so is this season of The New Arab Voice.On this episode, we're looking back at some of the biggest events that hit the region over the past 12 months.Do you remember the currency crisis in Turkey? The Taliban's talks in Oslo? The murder of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh? Efforts to revive the JCPOA? Egypt's imprisonment of political activist Alaa Abdel Fatah? The political crisis in Iraq? The war crimes trial of a Syrian colonel in Germany?If you've forgotten, we'll be reminding you of all the key details this week. To look at 2022 in the MENA region, we're joined by a host of journalists, editors, and correspondents from The New Arab.The New Arab Voice will be back with a brand new season and brand new stories on 13 January 2023.This podcast is written and produced by Hugo Goodridge, with additional  help from Rosie McCabe.Theme music by Omar al-Fil. Other music by Blue Dot Sessions.To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TheNewArabVoice or email hugo.goodridge@newarab.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on The New Arab Voice we're examining MENA representation in TV, film and gaming. Communities from the region have historically been demonised on screen, condemned to either silence or sterotypes. However, the past year has brought major release that have diversified who we see on screen and the stories that are shared on global platform. We explore a number of these releases include Netflix comedy series Mo and the film Farha about Palestine during the 1948 Nakba. We also delve into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, looking at what they've done well in terms of representation and what they can do better.Also in this episode, we plug in and have a look at the mistakes that video games have made, when it comes to the representation of Arabs and Muslims, and also the cultural errors that video game publishers have made. On this episode, we speak with Saeed Taji Farouky (@saeedtaji), a Palestinian-British filmmaker and film educator, Tariq Raouf (@tariq_raouf), a Palestinian-American freelance writer based in Seattle, Swara Salih (@spiderswarz), a Kurdish-American writer, podcaster, and the co-hosts the Middle Geeks podcast (@TheMiddleGeeks), and finally, Nazih Fares (@nazihfares), the head of communication and localization at Four Winds Entertainment (@The4winds_Ent).Sign up to the weekly newsletter here.This podcast is written and produced by Rosie McCabe and Hugo Goodridge. Theme music by Omar al-Fil. Other music by Blue Dot Sessions.To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TheNewArabVoice or email hugo.goodridge@alaraby.co.uk  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on The New Arab Voice we’re looking at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Middle Eastern and North African teams have made history during the tournament, causing major sporting upsets like Saudi Arabia’s win over Argentina and Morocco's victory against Belgium. While Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia didn’t progress to the knock-out stages, Morocco remains in the running for the coveted trophy - just three games away from footballing glory. During the tournament, we’ve witnessed a tidal wave of support from fans across the region, not just for their national teams but for fellow Arab and African nations. This pan-Arab solidarity has been expressed through mass celebrations inside and outside the stadiums, as well as the waving of the Palestinian flag. On the episode, The New Arab Voice speaks to Moroccan football fans Amine Hafed (@amine.elhafid) and Mehdi Merin (@yomehdi4reel) about their experiences after the Atlas Lions clinched a spot in the final eight. We asked them what lies behind this success and whether having a World Cup in the Middle East has made a difference for Arab teams on the pitch. Joining them are Algerian football journalist Maher Mezahi (@mezahimaher) and The New Arab’s Shahla Omar (@shahlasomar), who assess the football we’ve seen so far, displays of pan-Arab solidarity and give their predictions on what we’ll see happen next. Finally, we spoke to Emile Badarin, a Palestinian research fellow based at the College of Europe, Natolin Campus in Warsaw about the visibility of the Palestinian cause during the tournament and the football fans who refused to speak to Israeli journalists. You can sign up for our newsletter here. This podcast is written and produced by Rosie McCabe, with help from Hugo Goodridge and Basma Elatti. Theme music by Omar al-Fil. Other music by Blue Dot Sessions. To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TheNewArabVoice or email hugo.goodridge@alaraby.co.uk  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.