The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is a complex region: more than 500 million people, twenty different countries, a rich cultural, economic and intellectual history, the cradle of all three monotheistic religions, and a strategic location in and alongside three different continents. Developments and events in this region have a great influence on other parts of the world.
Yet it is sometimes difficult to really understand what is going on in the MENA region, what developments are taking place and what they mean for, for example, the Netherlands and Europe. Reporting and dominant discourse about the region are often rather one-sided, with little eye for nuance and humanity.
lunch interviews
That is why we organise online lunch interviews on ‘Het Dakterras’ (EN: ‘The Rooftop Terrace’) in cooperation with the Greater Middle East Platform. Every month, we interview a guest with beautiful stories and interesting experiences about and from the MENA region. The lunch interviews last 45 minutes and are in Dutch. You can register in advance, after which you receive the Zoom link in your email. Afterwards, we publish the lunch interview online as a podcast (search for ‘dakterras’ in the popular podcast apps).
podcasts
Listen to the lunch interviews here (in Dutch):
- #1 correspondent Olaf Koens about animals in conflict situations in the Middle East
- #2 journalist Fernande van Tets on dilemmas in rebuilding Syria
- #3 diplomat Nikolaos van Dam on diplomacy and peace building in the MENA region
- #4 journalist Faïrouz ben Salah on the situation in Tunisia and the role of the EU
- #5 journalist Eduard Cousin on the so called stability in Egypt
- #6 turkologist Melike Tarim on the Netflix series Ethos and dividing lines in Turkey
- #7 arabists Sylva van Rosse and Vanessa Lambrecht on the MENA region in Dutch political party programmes
- #8 entrepreneur Yogi Geheniau on the Saudi date and doing business in the Gulf region
- #9 diplomat Tessa Terpstra on water and energy security in the MENA region
- #10 journalist Daisy Mohr on Lebanon and a special project of reconciliation
- #11 publisher Jurgen Maas on Arabic literature and the power of language and imagination
- #12 researcher Erwin van Veen on the conflict between Israel and Palestine
- #13 human rights lawyer Fritz Streiff on the first ever trial of a former Assad regime henchman
More information?
- Contact Mark Snijder.