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JUNE-JULY EDITION OF THE MIDDLE EAST IN LONDON HITS NEWSSTANDS
European Union News
June 11, 2013 Tuesday
SOAS, University of London, UK Government has issued the following
news release:
Considering the deadly sectarian violence in the Middle East, including
the attack on the main cathedral in Cairo and the refugee crisis
in Syria, a special issue on Middle Eastern religious minorities
could not be timelier. London is home to a wide range of Middle
Eastern religious minority communities, including Zoroastrians, Jews,
Christians (Coptic, Armenians, Orthodox, Assyrians and Evangelical),
Baha'ís, and Shi'as (Twelvers, Ismailis, and Alevis).
This issue looks at the historical and contemporary conditions of some
of these groupings, and explores how their institutions and cultural
practices continue to be shaped by social and political dynamics in
the region.
Sami Zubaida's Insight piece presents the complex and varied history
of confessional identifications and solidarities in relation to wider
political processes across the region. George Joffe, concentrating
on the history of Ibadi communities of Algeria, Tunisia and Libya
and North Africa's Jewish communities, delivers a rich account
of these largely unknown, and for North African Jews, virtually
extinct communities. His reference to the drafting of the first Arab
Constitution in Tunisia in 1860 echoes current, heated debates on
the place of religion in the new constitutions in the region. Hadi
Enayat's article, focusing on Egypt and Turkey, engages with a number
of thorny issues in recognising communal rights of religious minorities
in constitutional reform.
Turning to London, Alyn Hine highlights the development of the
Arabic-speaking Orthodox Christian community who left (and continue to
flee) the Levant due to ongoing economic and political tensions. His
visit to St George's Cathedral near Regent's Park shows how the
Orthodox community, despite internal national and linguistic divides,
strives to maintain a communal identity in this country. Dan Wheately's
piece on London's Baha'í community traces the history of Baha'ís in the
UK and introduces a few of its charitable activities in London. Fadi
Dawood recounts Assyrian-British relations that date back to 1837 and
the political violence in Iraq that led to the Assyrian diaspora in
the UK.
Middle East religious minorities have found diverse and creative ways
to remain connected to their histories and homelands while establishing
a strong communal and public presence in the UK. Susan Pattie looks
at the increasing exposure of Armenian art forms, such as poetry,
music and dance, and their continued renewal in relation to Armenian
identity discourses in the diaspora. Sarah Stewart writes on the
Zoroastrian community in London and the making of an exhibition due
to open in the Brunei Gallery later this year, The Everlasting Flame:
Zoroastrianism in History and Imagination. Sami Zubaida provides a
historical and contemporary account of Middle Eastern Jews, and their
inroads to London life. Kathryn Spellman-Poots, focusing on a campaign
spearheaded by a group of young British Shi'as, takes a generational
look at ways Shi'as are trying to build a public profile in the UK
and beyond.
And finally, among book reviews and the listings of Middle East events
in London, is the Profile piece on Dr Ruba Saleh. Ruba provides
a moving account of her life in the Palestinian Diaspora and how
she 'developed an academic passion for the study of "difference"
and a commitment to scholarship on justice and rights of the
disenfranchised'.
For further information please visit: http://www.soas.ac.uk
European Union News
June 11, 2013 Tuesday
SOAS, University of London, UK Government has issued the following
news release:
Considering the deadly sectarian violence in the Middle East, including
the attack on the main cathedral in Cairo and the refugee crisis
in Syria, a special issue on Middle Eastern religious minorities
could not be timelier. London is home to a wide range of Middle
Eastern religious minority communities, including Zoroastrians, Jews,
Christians (Coptic, Armenians, Orthodox, Assyrians and Evangelical),
Baha'ís, and Shi'as (Twelvers, Ismailis, and Alevis).
This issue looks at the historical and contemporary conditions of some
of these groupings, and explores how their institutions and cultural
practices continue to be shaped by social and political dynamics in
the region.
Sami Zubaida's Insight piece presents the complex and varied history
of confessional identifications and solidarities in relation to wider
political processes across the region. George Joffe, concentrating
on the history of Ibadi communities of Algeria, Tunisia and Libya
and North Africa's Jewish communities, delivers a rich account
of these largely unknown, and for North African Jews, virtually
extinct communities. His reference to the drafting of the first Arab
Constitution in Tunisia in 1860 echoes current, heated debates on
the place of religion in the new constitutions in the region. Hadi
Enayat's article, focusing on Egypt and Turkey, engages with a number
of thorny issues in recognising communal rights of religious minorities
in constitutional reform.
Turning to London, Alyn Hine highlights the development of the
Arabic-speaking Orthodox Christian community who left (and continue to
flee) the Levant due to ongoing economic and political tensions. His
visit to St George's Cathedral near Regent's Park shows how the
Orthodox community, despite internal national and linguistic divides,
strives to maintain a communal identity in this country. Dan Wheately's
piece on London's Baha'í community traces the history of Baha'ís in the
UK and introduces a few of its charitable activities in London. Fadi
Dawood recounts Assyrian-British relations that date back to 1837 and
the political violence in Iraq that led to the Assyrian diaspora in
the UK.
Middle East religious minorities have found diverse and creative ways
to remain connected to their histories and homelands while establishing
a strong communal and public presence in the UK. Susan Pattie looks
at the increasing exposure of Armenian art forms, such as poetry,
music and dance, and their continued renewal in relation to Armenian
identity discourses in the diaspora. Sarah Stewart writes on the
Zoroastrian community in London and the making of an exhibition due
to open in the Brunei Gallery later this year, The Everlasting Flame:
Zoroastrianism in History and Imagination. Sami Zubaida provides a
historical and contemporary account of Middle Eastern Jews, and their
inroads to London life. Kathryn Spellman-Poots, focusing on a campaign
spearheaded by a group of young British Shi'as, takes a generational
look at ways Shi'as are trying to build a public profile in the UK
and beyond.
And finally, among book reviews and the listings of Middle East events
in London, is the Profile piece on Dr Ruba Saleh. Ruba provides
a moving account of her life in the Palestinian Diaspora and how
she 'developed an academic passion for the study of "difference"
and a commitment to scholarship on justice and rights of the
disenfranchised'.
For further information please visit: http://www.soas.ac.uk