Democracy in Exile

“My book ‘The Return’ reacquainted me with my country and my people after 33 years of exile. But it also reacquainted me with myself.” Pulitzer Prize winner Hisham Matar talks to @Omid_M about Libya, friendship and “the potential of our humanity.” dawnmena.org/pulitzer-prize…

Read Ghada al-Rozzi’s (@GhadaRozzi), “Dreams Beneath the Rubble: A Student’s Resistance in Gaza.” dawnmena.org/dreams-beneath…

“Each sentence I write is an act of defiance… Israel's targeted destruction of universities and its killing of scholars are not accidents. They are part of a broader campaign to shatter the Palestinian imagination and hope.” — @GhadaRozzi, Palestinian researcher from Gaza

“For many Gazans, the most painful aspect of this bleak reality is not just the loss of homes. Rather, it is the recurring feeling that the world is speaking about us, but not to us." — Yahya al-Masri Read al-Masri’s “What Gazans Want from a Ceasefire”: dawnmena.org/what-gazans-wa…

"Through his work, Theroux puts a spotlight on the leaders of a movement that not only supports Palestine’s ethnic cleansing, but outright genocide." Tom Pollitt reviews @louistheroux's BBC documentary "The Settlers", for @DAWN_Journal. dawnmena.org/louis-therouxs…

"Sweida transformed into a killing ground over the past week, burning under the weight of sectarian struggle, external interests and governance failures," writes @subhash_anagha, reporting on fighting in Sweida in southern Syria for @DAWN_Journal. dawnmena.org/syrias-sweida-…

"Journalism has become an increasingly dangerous profession amid Yemen’s tumultuous and unstable political and military landscape. Freedom of expression... is a punishable act of worsening severity." A Yemeni reporter writes on worsening press freedom. dawnmena.org/journalism-and…

"Amid the horrors of Israel’s extermination campaign in Gaza, it is easy to overlook the West Bank’s escalating violence and dispossession," says Tom Pollitt, reviewing @louistheroux's "The Settlers". "But de facto Israeli annexation is rapidly advancing."dawnmena.org/louis-therouxs…

"We don't support any military actions against Syria, but what are we supposed to do? If you were here [as] a civilian, unarmed and someone [was] coming to kill you, I think you’d take help from the devil." @subhash_anagha reports on Sweida, southern Syria.dawnmena.org/syrias-sweida-…

"She plunges headlong into the fissures of contemporary womanhood stretched across the blazing, glittering mirage of the Arabian Peninsula," writes @Ruchiragupta, in a review of @MoOgrodnik's new novel "Gulf". dawnmena.org/gulf-fiction-a…

In this 2024 @DAWN_Journal interview, Francesca Albanese called Israel’s actions in Gaza genocide, and said Western governments, including the US, remain “so detached, if not adversarial to international law.” Read our full interview with @FranceskAlbs: dawnmena.org/they-dont-see-…

“In genocide, it’s difficult to prove intent. But…when the intent is so conspicuous, so ostentatious as it is in this war, what are you looking for? Every day there's evidence.” @FranceskAlbs, UN Special Rapporteur, occupied Palestinian territory, in 2024 @DAWN_Journal interview

"Doing independent media work in such an environment feels harder than laboring in a quarry.” Read @DAWN_Journal's latest dispatch from Yemen, with perspectives from local journalists on worsening press freedom in the country. dawnmena.org/journalism-and…

"If the leaders in Washington and Tel Aviv believe that bombs can purchase obedience, they have misread the grammar of history. Violence may cow a people for a season, but it does not give shape to order," writes @YahiaLababidi, after the Israel-Iran war. dawnmena.org/a-region-holdi…

"Stifling media freedom and repressing any dissent in both the north and south has become a hallmark of Yemen’s prolonged war—with no end in sight." A Yemeni reporter documents increasing restrictions on press freedom country-wide, for Democracy in Exile.dawnmena.org/journalism-and…

"The silence is not reassuring." @YahiaLababidi assesses the results of the 12-day war in @DAWN_Journal, writing that "While Israel and the United States quickly claimed victory, the numbers behind the war suggest a superficial deterrence." dawnmena.org/a-region-holdi…

“To be a student in Gaza is to study under siege, to dream beneath drones and to write amid ruins… Each sentence I write is an act of defiance. I study not just for myself, but to assert that our voices will not be erased," @GhadaRozzi writes from Gaza. dawnmena.org/dreams-beneath…

"In rushing to destroy, the U.S., Israel and Iran have deafened themselves to their own unraveling. The region does not pause to heal. It mutters under its breath, plotting revival, revenge and resistance," writes @YahiaLababidi in Democracy in Exile. dawnmena.org/a-region-holdi…

"The novel is not about victimhood. It is a novel about women becoming—sometimes through pain, sometimes through vengeance and sometimes through the smallest, most radiant acts of refusal." @Ruchiragupta reviews @MoOgrodnik's "Gulf" for @DAWN_Journal. dawnmena.org/gulf-fiction-a…

"That's not safety. That’s a trap." Writing from the Gaza Strip for Democracy in Exile, Yahya al-Masri shares what he's hearing from Gazans about ongoing ceasefire negotiations and the Israeli government's so-called "humanitarian city" plan. dawnmena.org/what-gazans-wa…