The Modern Diaspora of Jews from the Arab Middle East and North Africa

The Jews of the Muslim Middle East and North Africa (MENA) were shaped by the expansion of the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century and the influx of Sephardim. Jews were a part of the multicultural landscape, speaking mainly Judeo-Arabic and Judeo-Spanish. New diaspora communities were formed of Jews based on their places of origin: Livorno, Baghdad, Aleppo, or from the Maghrib—Ma’aravim—who migrated to different parts of MENA and other parts of the world. New identities and Jewish diasporas were created as MENA was divided between the British and French and as independent Arab states emerged. With decolonization after World War II and the establishment Israel, the nearly one million MENA Jews left their countries of origins for Israel, Europe, and the Americas. In Israel they became known collectively as “Mizrahim” and were identified by their countries of origin as Moroccan, Tunisian, Egyptian, Yemeni, Syrian, or Iraqi.

Wasta and its relationship to employment status and income in the Arab Middle East

Wasta is an Arabic concept that describes the use of close friends and family members, rather than formal means, to resolve conflicts and gain access to resources. An overwhelming majority of people in the Arab Middle East report that wasta is essential for navigating their careers. Despite these claims, the relationships between wasta, employment status, and income have not yet been empirically tested. In the current study, the authors examine 5,622 participant responses across five Arab countries (Yemen, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, and Algeria) to examine the relationships between the tendency to use wasta and employment status, individual income, and family income. As expected, the tendency to use wasta was related to individual income, family income, and employment status. The relationship between the tendency to use wasta and family income was moderated by education, such that there was a stronger relationship among participants reporting lower educational levels. Education did not moderate the relationship between wasta and individual income or employment status.

A case study of COVID-19 in the Arab Middle East and North Africa with a focus on Jordan during the year 2020

This article aims to provide a model by using cumulative cases for SARS-CoV-2 (Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) outbreak in most major countries with focusing on the Jordanian experience and response in combating COVID-19. On March 2nd, 2020, Jordan reported the first confirmed cases of COVID‐19. Although, Jordan was among the first countries to implement highly strict preventive and control measures, the outbreak started around 1st October, 2020 (7 months later), after that there was a significant increase in the number of confirmed cases. However, there are always opportunities to learn from the global experience to improve the current national strategy.

Teaching Interfaith Relations at Universities in the Arab Middle East: Challenges and Strategies

This study explores the present state of teaching Interfaith/Interreligious Relations at universities in the Arab Middle East. First, it considers the definition and various approaches to teaching Interfaith Relations by leading proponents of Interreligious Studies in the West such as Oddbjørn Leirvik and Marianne Moyaert within a theoretical framework that is sensitive to the Arab Middle Eastern context. It explores several key factors in Arab society that have prevented the teaching of Interfaith Relations in universities. The discussion then turns to the unique Dar Al-Kalima University (Palestine) Interreligious Dialogue Inter-Regional Curriculum initiative and its significance for teaching Interfaith Relations in the university. Finally, the study examines the case study method of teaching developed by Diana Eck at Harvard University, which can be adapted to a Middle Eastern context and offers two unique case studies for university teachers.

On the Meanings and Uses of Urban Space in the Arab City: An Historical Perspective

This special issue of The Journal of Public Space deals with the idea of re-visioning places of public gathering in the Contemporary Arab City. The three keywords or concept in this formulation are the “Arab city”, and “Public gathering” and “urban place or space”. It is worthwhile to spend some time interrogating each of these concepts by themselves and in a relationship to each other. We may first ask what is the Arab city? Is it a city that is truly different from its counterparts in much of the global south? It is different from the non-Arab Middle East, or for that matter other cities in the developed world that underwent substantial changes over during the last few decades. Equally important is to posit the question regarding the types of public gatherings that occur in the Arab city today which require a specific spatial accommodation. And finally, it is essential to inquire about the nature of urban space in the so-called Arab city and to interrogate how this space is used to accommodate, contain and sometimes even to restrict different forms of public activities.

Quantitative Research of Political Regimes in the Arab Middle East: Mission Impossible?

The article deals with the methodological problems of quantitative studies of political regimes and regime transformations in the Arab Middle East. Special attention is given to the questions of conceptualization, operationalization and typology of political regimes and regime changes since the quantitative research results depend on the datasets used. The article considers two approaches to operationalization, categorization and quantification, which are aimed either at distinguishing of separate unordered categories, or at measuring and linear placement of the observations on the axis. The conceptual problems reviewed include conceptual stretching and operationalization of successful and unsuccessful regime transformations. The article states that structural approach dominates in the quantitative research of regime changes since the conditions and cause-and-effect relationships between contextual factors and the risk of regime change are studied. The article shows how the regime changes can be quantitatively studied at the global, regional and country levels. The article concludes that the structural approach in quantitative studies is methodologically correct since a large number of hypotheses can be tested, but the main disadvantage of such studies is the explanation of different political regime changes by the same set of nonpolitical factors. The quantitative analysis of the Arab spring on the basis of Arab Barometer at the level of individuals revealed the significance of the high education, employment, male gender, religiosity an young age. The article shows that survey provide rich data for quantitative research with large numbers of observations, but the quality of the conclusions will depend on the quality of survey data.