Water Crisis in Iraq’s Kurdish Region Strains Food Security
Climate change, dam projects, and poor water and pollution management in Iraq's Kurdistan region threatens food production and livelihoods in rural communities, reports Alessandra Bajec.
West Asia
‘Turning Israelis Into Settlers After Death’: Israel to Build Cemetery In Ecological ‘Hotspot’ in Palestine
On August 11, the Israel Civil Administration (ICA) is expected to discuss construction of the Nahal Rabah cemetery in the occupied West Bank. Experts and activists claim the cemetery, which was approved without an environmental survey, will disrupt the region’s biodiversity in addition to harming Palestinian land. Jessica Buxbaum reports.
Yazidis In Limbo As Iraqi Forces & Armed Militants Fight in Northern Iraq
For more than two months, residents of Sinjar have protested the presence of armed groups following May’s clashes in Iraq’s Yazidi-majority district. Those clashes triggered—yet again—an exodus of Yazidi minorities seeking shelter in the Kurdish Region of Iraq (KRI). This comes as tens of thousands of Yazidis have already dealt with protracted displacement since the ISIS takeover of 2014. Alessandra Bajec reports from Iraqi Kurdistan.
Displacement Looms for 1,000+ Palestinians After Israel’s Supreme Court Sides with Army
Demonstrations—regularly met with violence from soldiers and Israeli settlers—have occurred almost weekly since Israel’s Supreme Court rejected a petition in May against the expulsion of more than 1,000 Palestinians from the rural West Bank enclave of Masafer Yatta. Jessica Buxbaum reports.
‘Picnics Alongside Graves’: Jerusalem to Build Biblical Park Over Palestinian Cemetery
Al-Yusufiya cemetery in East Jerusalem remains under threat as the city’s government plans to build a promenade over the land, as part of a proposed "Bible Trail," a string of national parks, reports Jessica Buxbaum.
Intifada 1987: The Story of a Rare Palestinian Album
A rare recording featuring Palestinian artist Riad Awwad and poet Mahmoud Darwish has resurfaced, found amid a collection of 12,000 old cassette tapes in the West Bank, writes Atiyyah Khan.