Tomorrow, if you're in Berlin:
أصدقاء وصديقات خان الجنوب الأعزاء في برلين، يسرنا أن ندعوكم لحفل إطلاق الرواية المصورة "لستُ هنا لستُ هناك"، كتابة هلال شومان ورسوم إيما حركة.
نلتقي بكم يوم السبت 31 أكتوبر في السابعة مساء، سيحضر الحفل هلال شومان، وستناقشه الكاتبة رشا عباس.
العنوان:
maps.app.goo.gl/DyyVBqC7b9ervF…
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ArabLit & ArabLit Quarterly @arablit.bsky.social retweeted
🧵 October, November and December carry the weight of unbearable loss for We Are Not Numbers.
During these months, Israel killed people who helped shape our community, nurtured young voices and believed in the power of Palestinian storytelling.
They were more than names in our people who helped us tell them.
We remember them, their words, their dreams and the lives stolen from them. Their voices remain part of who we are, and their legacy lives on in every story we continue to tell.
⤵️
During these months, Israel killed people who helped shape our community, nurtured young voices and believed in the power of Palestinian storytelling.
They were more than names in our people who helped us tell them.
We remember them, their words, their dreams and the lives stolen from them. Their voices remain part of who we are, and their legacy lives on in every story we continue to tell.
⤵️
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ArabLit & ArabLit Quarterly @arablit.bsky.social retweeted
One more time .. another great line-up for #PalFest at the Sakakini ..
Ramallah, our programming continues tonight with reflections, music and poetry from Aria Aber, Dalia Taha, Brandon López, Doreen St Félix, Fred Moten, Nesrine Malik, Iman Mersal (online) and more.
6:30pm at the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
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ArabLit & ArabLit Quarterly @arablit.bsky.social retweeted
NEW: On Friday, dockworkers at 111 ports in 22 countries and regions on five continents will stop work in a coordinated strike against war, according to the most recent information from the organizing unions.
More than 25 dockworkers’ unions have now signed on, from Marseille ontevideo, Melbourne to Oakland. Days ago the count stood at about 100 ports in 17 countries, and that figure doesn’t include the dozens of unions in other sectors that have pledged support. Their demand is simple: no weapons and no military cargo through their ports. Nearly everything the world ships passes through the docks, and without the workers who load and unload it, nothing moves.
In France, the main dockers’ union says the country’s ports will be 95% shut. Italy, India, Greece and Turkey face 24-hour strikes, and Morocco and Cyprus will see stoppages of up to two hours, with rallies planned in port cities around the world. In Greece, metalworkers, ship-repair workers and young people are joining the dockers, and in the US, ILWU Local 10 is striking in Oakland and San Francisco. The unions are working from the Istanbul Declaration, signed in May, with each one deciding for itself how to take part. They are also fighting for their own jobs, against cuts from automation and for contracts, raises, shorter hours and safety.
The unions point to escalating wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and the danger of a generalized war. They condemn Israel’s new crimes in Hebron, carried out with the backing of the US, NATO and the EU. Israel’s lockdown of the city is now in its sixth day, with more than 3,000 Palestinians displaced, according to the UN. Palestinian unions have endorsed Friday’s action.
In Italy, the fight has spilled beyond the docks. The union USB has called for a nationwide general strike. Last night, the Italian government ordered transport workers back on the job last night. USB said it would defy the order and accept the steep penalties.
The unions are calling on workers and young people everywhere to stand with the dockworkers, saying “Ports for peace and the peoples, not launching pads for war.”
I’m reporting from Calabria, Italy, and I will be in Genoa tomorrow ahead of the strike to report on the ground during the mobilzation.
More than 25 dockworkers’ unions have now signed on, from Marseille ontevideo, Melbourne to Oakland. Days ago the count stood at about 100 ports in 17 countries, and that figure doesn’t include the dozens of unions in other sectors that have pledged support. Their demand is simple: no weapons and no military cargo through their ports. Nearly everything the world ships passes through the docks, and without the workers who load and unload it, nothing moves.
In France, the main dockers’ union says the country’s ports will be 95% shut. Italy, India, Greece and Turkey face 24-hour strikes, and Morocco and Cyprus will see stoppages of up to two hours, with rallies planned in port cities around the world. In Greece, metalworkers, ship-repair workers and young people are joining the dockers, and in the US, ILWU Local 10 is striking in Oakland and San Francisco. The unions are working from the Istanbul Declaration, signed in May, with each one deciding for itself how to take part. They are also fighting for their own jobs, against cuts from automation and for contracts, raises, shorter hours and safety.
The unions point to escalating wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and the danger of a generalized war. They condemn Israel’s new crimes in Hebron, carried out with the backing of the US, NATO and the EU. Israel’s lockdown of the city is now in its sixth day, with more than 3,000 Palestinians displaced, according to the UN. Palestinian unions have endorsed Friday’s action.
In Italy, the fight has spilled beyond the docks. The union USB has called for a nationwide general strike. Last night, the Italian government ordered transport workers back on the job last night. USB said it would defy the order and accept the steep penalties.
The unions are calling on workers and young people everywhere to stand with the dockworkers, saying “Ports for peace and the peoples, not launching pads for war.”
I’m reporting from Calabria, Italy, and I will be in Genoa tomorrow ahead of the strike to report on the ground during the mobilzation.
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Congratulations to our Nashwa Nasreldin and to gifted Omani writer Amal Al Saeedi (and to the future English-language readers of Side Entrance to the House):
arablit.org/2026/10/29/nas…
arablit.org/2026/10/29/nas…
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🚨USA-based ppl,
Looks like the @maamoulpress online shop is going on hiatus Nov 7 - December 31; you'll have to get your orders in now: maamoulpress.com. 🚨
Their stuff is so beautiful; sharing a few photos from their email newsletter.
Looks like the @maamoulpress online shop is going on hiatus Nov 7 - December 31; you'll have to get your orders in now: maamoulpress.com. 🚨
Their stuff is so beautiful; sharing a few photos from their email newsletter.
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To The World, written by Jehad Abu Dayya and illustrated by Esraa Al Banna
Now available in German and Spanish:
coastallinespress.com/p/to-the-world…
Now available in German and Spanish:
coastallinespress.com/p/to-the-world…
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ArabLit & ArabLit Quarterly @arablit.bsky.social retweeted
Mada Masr Editor-in-Chief Lina Attalah was released following several hours in custody after the New Cairo Misdemeanor Court convicted her on the charge of managing a website without a license during the first hearing in the session this morning.
The court imposed the maximum a LE3 million fine and an order for the closure of Mada Masr’s website and the confiscation of its equipment and devices.
Mada Masr paid the fine in full to the court, waiting several hours before procedures were taken for Attalah’s release.
During the release procedures, Attalah learned of a one-year prison sentence issued against her in absentia in 2024, on charges of publishing false news and managing an unlicensed website. Her lawyers took steps to challenge the ruling, with a hearing in a retrial of the case scheduled for November 11.
During the court session this morning, the court refused to accede to defense lawyers’ requests for an opportunity to review the case file, to submit additional evidence to the court and for additional witnesses to be heard. It then appointed an unknown party to act as Attalah’s defense lawyer, despite the presence of her appointed defense counsel in court and her own objection to being represented by a court-appointed attorney, according to the director of the Egyptian Initiative for Human Rights, Hossam Bahgat.
The court imposed the maximum a LE3 million fine and an order for the closure of Mada Masr’s website and the confiscation of its equipment and devices.
Mada Masr paid the fine in full to the court, waiting several hours before procedures were taken for Attalah’s release.
During the release procedures, Attalah learned of a one-year prison sentence issued against her in absentia in 2024, on charges of publishing false news and managing an unlicensed website. Her lawyers took steps to challenge the ruling, with a hearing in a retrial of the case scheduled for November 11.
During the court session this morning, the court refused to accede to defense lawyers’ requests for an opportunity to review the case file, to submit additional evidence to the court and for additional witnesses to be heard. It then appointed an unknown party to act as Attalah’s defense lawyer, despite the presence of her appointed defense counsel in court and her own objection to being represented by a court-appointed attorney, according to the director of the Egyptian Initiative for Human Rights, Hossam Bahgat.
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ArabLit & ArabLit Quarterly @arablit.bsky.social retweeted
Twitter mutuals, I'm compiling a list of fellowships, grants, research support for a talented Sudanese writer who is a refugee and trying to finish a book on the revolution and war. They need support to be able to finish the research. Please share if you know of any. 🙏🏾🙏🏾
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ArabLit & ArabLit Quarterly @arablit.bsky.social retweeted
Two of my short stories published in Wasafiri, beautifully translated by Mayada Ibrahim.
“This fiction is simultaneously disconcerting and grounding — unfolding in medias res, with scenes and imagery that linger long in the reader’s mind.”
“This fiction is simultaneously disconcerting and grounding — unfolding in medias res, with scenes and imagery that linger long in the reader’s mind.”
In these two stories by @IbtisamAzem, things are not quite as they seem. Translated by Mayada Ibrahim, this fiction is simultaneously disconcerting and grounding — unfolding in medias res, with scenes and imagery that linger long in the reader's mind.
buff.ly/u2xKrsb
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ArabLit & ArabLit Quarterly @arablit.bsky.social retweeted
In these two stories by @IbtisamAzem, things are not quite as they seem. Translated by Mayada Ibrahim, this fiction is simultaneously disconcerting and grounding — unfolding in medias res, with scenes and imagery that linger long in the reader's mind.
buff.ly/u2xKrsb
buff.ly/u2xKrsb
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ArabLit & ArabLit Quarterly @arablit.bsky.social retweeted
There are no words—defense lawyers denied adequate time to review case files, a judge refusing to hear witnesses or review documents, police officers filling the room, the court appointing @Linaattalah a lawyer AGAINST her will and despite her 8-person legal team.
For shame.
For shame.
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ArabLit & ArabLit Quarterly @arablit.bsky.social retweeted
As Attalah told me last week, Mada Masr had in fact dillgently sought to obtain licencing and was denied--a tactic to keep independent media like hers in a perpetual grey zone until they are deemed to have overstepped. thetimes.com/article/a4b9e0…
Following an absolute farcical trial that makes a mockery of the rule of law, an Egyptian court has fined @Linaattalah LE 3 million and ordered the closure of @MadaMasr, Egypt's leading independent media outlet, relied on by the world's diplomats, researchers, and scholars.
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ArabLit & ArabLit Quarterly @arablit.bsky.social retweeted
In a sham proceeding, a Cairo court has fined Mada Masr chief editor @Linaattalah 3 million EGP on charges of operating a website without a license & ordered the closure of Mada Masr, one of Egypt’s last remaining independent media outlets. Lina is detained until the fine is paid
قررت الدائرة التاسعة بمحكمة جنح القاهرة الجديدة، برئاسة المستشار محمد مبارك، معاقبة رئيسة تحرير «مدى مصر»، لينا عطالله، بغرامة قدرها ثلاثة ملايين جنيه، في اتهامها بإدارة موقع بدون ترخيص، وغلق «مدى مصر»، وهو الحكم الذي أعقبه احتجاز عطاالله على يد قوات الأمن.
المدير التنفيذي الشخصية، حسام بهجت، الذي حضر الجلسة، أوضح لـ«مدى مصر» أنه بعد رفع الجلسة إثر تمسك الدفاع بطلبه الحصول على وقت كافٍ للاطلاع على أوراق القضية، أمر القاضي بإخلاء القاعة بالكامل باستثناء «المتهمة» وفريق الدفاع الحاضر عنها، ما تبعه امتلاء القاعة بضباط وحرس بزي مدني، وحضور ضابط «الأمن الوطني».
بعدها، خرج رئيس المحكمة وممثل نيابة أمن الدولة، وأعلن رئيس المحكمة أنها قررت التمسك برفض جميع الدفوع الإجرائية المقدمة من الدفاع، بما في ذلك ضم أي مستندات أو سماع أي شهود، قبل أن يطلب من فريق الدفاع تقديم مرافعته، والذي تمسك بعدم الترافع في ظل عدم الاستجابة للطلبات المقدمة، ليطلب القاضي فجأة إدخال أحد المحامين غير المعلومين لأي من أفراد فريق الدفاع، «وفي تصرف مذهل لجميع الحاضرين» أعلن القاضي أن المحكمة قررت انتداب محامي للدفاع عن المتهمة.
عند تلك النقطة تعالت صيحات جميع أعضاء فريق الدفاع رفضًا لحضور محامي منتدب في ضوء حضور المحامين الأصليين الثمانية، فيما تحدث لينا عطالله نفسها، وأعلنت رفضها حضور هذا المحامي عنها، وهو ما رفض رئيس المحكمة تسجيله في محضر الجلسة.
«وفي تصرف أكثر إثارة للصدمة»، شرع رئيس المحكمة بنفسه في تسجيل طلبات المحامي المنتدب في محضر الجلسة، دون حتى أن ينطق المحامي بكلمة من الأصل، قبل أن يبدأ القاضي في تلاوة حكم الإدانة، وسط صراخ وصيحات اعتراض فريق الدفاع، مقررًا إدانة لينا عطاالله ومعاقبتها بالعقوبة الأقصى، وهي الغرامة بمبلغ ثلاثة ملايين جنيه وغلق موقع «مدى مصر» ومصادرة المُعدات والأجهزة. وبعدها فوجئ الحاضرون بأفراد الأمن يحيطون بلينا عطاالله، ويحملونها من على الأرض إلى خارج القاعة، حيث لا تزال إلى الآن محتجزة.
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ArabLit & ArabLit Quarterly @arablit.bsky.social retweeted
"Egyptian journalist Lina Attalah goes on trial today over a 'licensing violation' for independent news outlet @MadaMasr — a license authorities have withheld for years. Authorities are weaponizing media laws to shut down one of the country's last independent outlets. CPJ demands is intimidation, and calls on the Egyptian government to allow Mada Masr, and every independent outlet to work without fear of prosecution."
— Sara Qudah, MENA Regional Director
#JournalismIsNotACrime
— Sara Qudah, MENA Regional Director
#JournalismIsNotACrime
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ArabLit & ArabLit Quarterly @arablit.bsky.social retweeted
Mada Masr Editor-in-Chief Lina Attalah was fined LE3 million by the New Cairo Misdemeanor Court, which convicted her on charges of managing an unlicensed website, issuing an order for the website’s closure. Attalah was taken into custody after the issue of the ruling.
Tuesday’s rcuit of the New Cairo Misdemeanor Court, presided over by judge Mohamed Mubarak, was temporarily suspended for deliberations after Attalah’s defense counsel requested time to review the case file.
After the court returned from deliberations, the judge ordered the courtroom cleared of everyone except Attalah and her defense counsel, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights’ executive director Hossam Bahgat, who was also present, told Mada Masr. The room then filled with plainclothes officers and guards, with a National Security Agency officer in attendance, he added.
The presiding judge and a Supreme State Security Prosecution representative returned to the session and the judge announced that the court has decided to stand by its rejection of all the procedural arguments presented by the defense, including requests to bring in any documentation or hear any witnesses.
The judge then asked the defense team to present its plea. The counsel insisted that it would not submit a plea as long as its requests were unanswered by the court.
The judge then abruptly asked for a lawyer unknown to any member of the defense counsel to be brought in, “in a move that astonished all those present,” said Bahgat, and announced that the court decided to appoint a lawyer for Attalah.
At that point, all members of the defense counsel cried out to reject the court’s appointment of a lawyer when the eight chosen lawyers were present. Attalah herself spoke to say she did not accept the court-appointed lawyer acting on her behalf, an objection the judge refused to have recorded in the session’s minutes.
"In an even more shocking move,” said Bahgat, the judge himself began to log down the requests of the court-appointed lawyer, without the lawyer having said a word. The judge then read out the conviction amid shouts and protests from the defense counsel.
The judge sentenced Attalah to the maximum possible penalty: a LE3 million fine, the closure of Mada Masr’s website and the confiscation of its property.
Security personnel then surrounded Attalah, lifted her off the ground and took her out of the courtroom, where she remains in custody in the courthouse.
Tuesday’s rcuit of the New Cairo Misdemeanor Court, presided over by judge Mohamed Mubarak, was temporarily suspended for deliberations after Attalah’s defense counsel requested time to review the case file.
After the court returned from deliberations, the judge ordered the courtroom cleared of everyone except Attalah and her defense counsel, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights’ executive director Hossam Bahgat, who was also present, told Mada Masr. The room then filled with plainclothes officers and guards, with a National Security Agency officer in attendance, he added.
The presiding judge and a Supreme State Security Prosecution representative returned to the session and the judge announced that the court has decided to stand by its rejection of all the procedural arguments presented by the defense, including requests to bring in any documentation or hear any witnesses.
The judge then asked the defense team to present its plea. The counsel insisted that it would not submit a plea as long as its requests were unanswered by the court.
The judge then abruptly asked for a lawyer unknown to any member of the defense counsel to be brought in, “in a move that astonished all those present,” said Bahgat, and announced that the court decided to appoint a lawyer for Attalah.
At that point, all members of the defense counsel cried out to reject the court’s appointment of a lawyer when the eight chosen lawyers were present. Attalah herself spoke to say she did not accept the court-appointed lawyer acting on her behalf, an objection the judge refused to have recorded in the session’s minutes.
"In an even more shocking move,” said Bahgat, the judge himself began to log down the requests of the court-appointed lawyer, without the lawyer having said a word. The judge then read out the conviction amid shouts and protests from the defense counsel.
The judge sentenced Attalah to the maximum possible penalty: a LE3 million fine, the closure of Mada Masr’s website and the confiscation of its property.
Security personnel then surrounded Attalah, lifted her off the ground and took her out of the courtroom, where she remains in custody in the courthouse.
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ArabLit & ArabLit Quarterly @arablit.bsky.social retweeted
قررت الدائرة التاسعة بمحكمة جنح القاهرة الجديدة، برئاسة المستشار محمد مبارك، معاقبة رئيسة تحرير «مدى مصر»، لينا عطالله، بغرامة قدرها ثلاثة ملايين جنيه، في اتهامها بإدارة موقع بدون ترخيص، وغلق «مدى مصر»، وهو الحكم الذي أعقبه احتجاز عطاالله على يد قوات الأمن.
المدير التنفيذي الشخصية، حسام بهجت، الذي حضر الجلسة، أوضح لـ«مدى مصر» أنه بعد رفع الجلسة إثر تمسك الدفاع بطلبه الحصول على وقت كافٍ للاطلاع على أوراق القضية، أمر القاضي بإخلاء القاعة بالكامل باستثناء «المتهمة» وفريق الدفاع الحاضر عنها، ما تبعه امتلاء القاعة بضباط وحرس بزي مدني، وحضور ضابط «الأمن الوطني».
بعدها، خرج رئيس المحكمة وممثل نيابة أمن الدولة، وأعلن رئيس المحكمة أنها قررت التمسك برفض جميع الدفوع الإجرائية المقدمة من الدفاع، بما في ذلك ضم أي مستندات أو سماع أي شهود، قبل أن يطلب من فريق الدفاع تقديم مرافعته، والذي تمسك بعدم الترافع في ظل عدم الاستجابة للطلبات المقدمة، ليطلب القاضي فجأة إدخال أحد المحامين غير المعلومين لأي من أفراد فريق الدفاع، «وفي تصرف مذهل لجميع الحاضرين» أعلن القاضي أن المحكمة قررت انتداب محامي للدفاع عن المتهمة.
عند تلك النقطة تعالت صيحات جميع أعضاء فريق الدفاع رفضًا لحضور محامي منتدب في ضوء حضور المحامين الأصليين الثمانية، فيما تحدث لينا عطالله نفسها، وأعلنت رفضها حضور هذا المحامي عنها، وهو ما رفض رئيس المحكمة تسجيله في محضر الجلسة.
«وفي تصرف أكثر إثارة للصدمة»، شرع رئيس المحكمة بنفسه في تسجيل طلبات المحامي المنتدب في محضر الجلسة، دون حتى أن ينطق المحامي بكلمة من الأصل، قبل أن يبدأ القاضي في تلاوة حكم الإدانة، وسط صراخ وصيحات اعتراض فريق الدفاع، مقررًا إدانة لينا عطاالله ومعاقبتها بالعقوبة الأقصى، وهي الغرامة بمبلغ ثلاثة ملايين جنيه وغلق موقع «مدى مصر» ومصادرة المُعدات والأجهزة. وبعدها فوجئ الحاضرون بأفراد الأمن يحيطون بلينا عطاالله، ويحملونها من على الأرض إلى خارج القاعة، حيث لا تزال إلى الآن محتجزة.
المدير التنفيذي الشخصية، حسام بهجت، الذي حضر الجلسة، أوضح لـ«مدى مصر» أنه بعد رفع الجلسة إثر تمسك الدفاع بطلبه الحصول على وقت كافٍ للاطلاع على أوراق القضية، أمر القاضي بإخلاء القاعة بالكامل باستثناء «المتهمة» وفريق الدفاع الحاضر عنها، ما تبعه امتلاء القاعة بضباط وحرس بزي مدني، وحضور ضابط «الأمن الوطني».
بعدها، خرج رئيس المحكمة وممثل نيابة أمن الدولة، وأعلن رئيس المحكمة أنها قررت التمسك برفض جميع الدفوع الإجرائية المقدمة من الدفاع، بما في ذلك ضم أي مستندات أو سماع أي شهود، قبل أن يطلب من فريق الدفاع تقديم مرافعته، والذي تمسك بعدم الترافع في ظل عدم الاستجابة للطلبات المقدمة، ليطلب القاضي فجأة إدخال أحد المحامين غير المعلومين لأي من أفراد فريق الدفاع، «وفي تصرف مذهل لجميع الحاضرين» أعلن القاضي أن المحكمة قررت انتداب محامي للدفاع عن المتهمة.
عند تلك النقطة تعالت صيحات جميع أعضاء فريق الدفاع رفضًا لحضور محامي منتدب في ضوء حضور المحامين الأصليين الثمانية، فيما تحدث لينا عطالله نفسها، وأعلنت رفضها حضور هذا المحامي عنها، وهو ما رفض رئيس المحكمة تسجيله في محضر الجلسة.
«وفي تصرف أكثر إثارة للصدمة»، شرع رئيس المحكمة بنفسه في تسجيل طلبات المحامي المنتدب في محضر الجلسة، دون حتى أن ينطق المحامي بكلمة من الأصل، قبل أن يبدأ القاضي في تلاوة حكم الإدانة، وسط صراخ وصيحات اعتراض فريق الدفاع، مقررًا إدانة لينا عطاالله ومعاقبتها بالعقوبة الأقصى، وهي الغرامة بمبلغ ثلاثة ملايين جنيه وغلق موقع «مدى مصر» ومصادرة المُعدات والأجهزة. وبعدها فوجئ الحاضرون بأفراد الأمن يحيطون بلينا عطاالله، ويحملونها من على الأرض إلى خارج القاعة، حيث لا تزال إلى الآن محتجزة.
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