TIMEP

You can read this article in Arabic here. In South Lebanon, the room to live normally is shrinking by the day. Israel continues its near-daily attacks, while its army occupies around 60 villages beyond the so-called “Yellow Line.” There, the demolition of homes and destruction of other structures continue unabated, leaving residents with dwindling prospects of returning to an ordinary, dignified life. Life in Lebanon was already difficult.

We, the undersigned civil society organizations and independent media outlets, join together to condemn the escalating crackdown on independent Egyptian investigative journalism platform Matsadaash, which now includes the arrest of six journalists, constituting the entirety of the newsroom.

In late July 2026, a new law designated the Future of Egypt Authority for Sustainable Development (FOEA) a presidency-affiliated “institution of a special nature,” granting it administrative and financial independence along with unprecedented economic, organizational, and investment powers. The law capped the rise of an entity that began as a land reclamation project in 2017 and has since become one of Egypt’s most significant economic actors.

*This article is part of “The Arab Uprisings 15 Years On: More Than a Moment” project. In 2025, the Egyptian government’s Urban Development Fund aired a television ad promoting its new real estate projects. The protagonist navigates daily annoyances: nowhere to park, nosy neighbors, noisy nights, and burglaries.

On November 3, 2026, Americans will head to the polls to vote in the U.S. midterm elections. In the lead-up to the vote, a number of policy files affecting the MENA region, from the war on Iran to talks with Lebanon, have become a key part of the mainstream U.S. policy discussion. The midterms additionally offer an opportunity for observers to assess the Trump administration’s foreign policy at-large in the MENA region.

On the concrete floor of an unfinished building in Jobar, northeastern Damascus, amid the rubble left by years of war, residents gathered to discuss the future of their homes. More than a year and a half after the fall of the Assad regime, there is still no credible plan for rebuilding the neighborhood, and frustration is mounting. The meeting was the latest attempt by residents to organize.

When protesters took to the streets more than 15 years ago in what would become the Arab Uprisings, calls for justice in the face of decades of human rights abuses, corruption, and impunity were at the heart of these movements. In the years since, advocates across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have remained steadfast in their mission, while developing innovative and creative ways to pursue justice.

In August 2026, a Lebanese judge initiated new proceedings against former Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh and former head of Bank Audi Samir Hanna over alleged financial crimes, including embezzlement and illicit enrichment. How can Lebanon deliver justice out of years of financial crisis?

When I read that Egyptian security forces had arrested more than 50 people for participating in an anti-government online group, I immediately thought of the scorn so often directed at my generation in Egypt—the so-called Generation Z—for being apolitical. I last heard this accusation from my friend Farid during a trip home earlier this year. An activist turned banker, Farid has a penchant for blaming Gen Z for failing to “carry the torch” of the 2011 revolution.

Syria is only just emerging from decades of Assad rule, during which the regime and its security forces tightly controlled media narratives, leveraging fear to keep the population in line. The country now faces a new set of challenges that could derail efforts aimed at its rebuilding and at restoring trust in the government.