Hosting the conversation

Middle East Experience

Latest News

Academy apologizes after stars say it 'failed to defend' Palestinian filmmaker

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences apologized Friday for failing to defend an Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker who said he was attacked by Israeli settlers.The group, which hosts and awards the Oscars each year, wrote to members after movie stars including Joaquin Phoenix, Penelope Cruz and Richard Gere had slammed its initially muted response to the incident.The Academy "condemns violence of this kind anywhere in the world" and its leaders "abhor the suppression of free speech under any circumstances," said the letter, seen by AFP.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Academy apologizes after stars say it 'failed to defend' Palestinian filmmaker

'Jail or death': migrants expelled by Trump fear for their fate

Marwa fled Taliban rule in Afghanistan because she wanted to study, work, wear jeans and go to the park without a male chaperone. Now she is under lock and key in Costa Rica, along with hundreds of other migrants expelled by the United States to third countries in Central America.Costa Rica is one of three Central American countries, along with Panama and Guatemala, that have agreed to receive migrants from other countries and to detain them until they are sent to their home nations or other host countries.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: 'Jail or death': migrants expelled by Trump fear for their fate

Trump lawyers try to shift Palestinian activist's case to Louisiana

US government lawyers pushed Friday for the case of a pro-Palestinian protest leader slated for deportation to be moved to a Louisiana court thought to be sympathetic to President Donald Trump's hardline immigration crackdown.Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil -- a prominent face of the protest movement that erupted in response to Israel's war in Gaza -- was arrested and taken to Louisiana earlier this month, sparking protests. Several other foreign student protesters have been similarly targeted.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Trump lawyers try to shift Palestinian activist's case to Louisiana