After The Blast: How Will Beirutis Spend Christmas? Published December 24th, 2020 - 08:34 GMT
(Beirut blast, 4 August 2020, AFP File Photo)
Christmas carols can be heard in the Beirut neighborhoods of Mar Mikhael and Gemmayzeh, stricken by the explosion of the city’s port almost five months ago, as restaurant and coffee shop owners and civil society organizations attempt to give some Christmas cheer to thousands of deserted residents.
People gather daily to light candles for the victims of the explosion. Their houses are still destroyed, missing walls, windows and doors. Nylon curtains have replaced the shattered glass and do little to keep out the cold air and rain.
Push to ban pro-Kurdish HDP erodes Turkey’s political pluralism further
The price for Erdogan’s attempts to silence Turkey’s Kurdish population will have to be paid for years to come
Timing of HDP charges suggests Turkey is becoming more repressive against the Kurds and even more nationalistic
Updated 26 March 2021
March 25, 2021 21:05
MISSOURI, USA: Every March, Kurds, Persians, Azeris, Tajiks, and others celebrate Newroz, the spring equinox festival of the new year. In the Kurdish version of Newroz, legends surrounding the festival focus on a mythical blacksmith of antiquity named Kawa, who saved normal people from a terrible tyrant. The Kurdish version of Newroz therefore comes replete with connotations of freedom from tyranny, oppression, and injustice.