Regional Voices

Regional Voices: Another journey. Another loss. Another uncertain future. Assem Dawla carefully loaded mattresses and bags onto a pick-up truck, the midday sun glinting off the newly laid concrete blocks. But these weren’t building materials; they were the stark yellow markers of Israel’s expanding military zone, pushing deeper into Gaza City’s Zeitoun district. It was, […]

Regional Voices: Loss binds families across divides, fueling a yearning for change. Old Man Khalil sat sipping sweet tea outside his carpentry workshop in Beit Hanoun, Gaza. The scent of sawdust mingled with the ever-present dust from the rubble. “Another election in Israel,” he said, his voice raspy. “It doesn’t much matter to us here, […]

Regional Voices: A mother’s grief, a nation’s reckoning. The scent of jasmine hangs heavy in the air of Haifa, but it doesn’t sweeten the mood. Old Man Youssef sits outside his carpentry shop, his hands still, for once. Usually, the rhythmic rasp of his plane fills the street. Today, silence. “Everyone is talking about the […]

Regional Voices: Cautious optimism blooms after years of separation. The chipped Formica table at the roadside chai khana (tea house) was sticky with sweet tea. Old Man Hassan, a Kuwaiti truck driver, ran a calloused hand over his weathered face, finally allowing himself a small smile. “Ten years,” he murmured, more to himself than to […]

Regional Voices: Syrians rebuilding, balancing freedom with fear. The scent of jasmine and strong cardamom coffee hangs heavy in the air of a Damascus café. Old Man Tariq, who’s run this place for sixty years, pours me a tiny cup. “It’s different now,” he says, his voice raspy with age and, I suspect, a lingering […]

Regional Voices: Fear for vulnerable communities, a loss of faith. Old Man Tariq sits outside his small teahouse in the Souk al-Hamidiyah in Damascus, Syria, meticulously cleaning a samovar. He’s seen empires rise and fall, wars come and go. Now, he watches the faces of refugees passing through, a near constant stream, though their origins […]

Regional Voices: A mother’s hope, a region’s fractured trust. The chipped turquoise paint of the tea stall barely holds onto the brick wall. Old Man Hassan, its keeper, makes the sweetest chai in Isfahan. He offered me a glass, unprompted, as I sat watching families stroll through Naqsh-e Jahan Square. “So many have passed through […]

Regional Voices: A single spark now holds the weight of a home. Nisreen Abu Saada carefully coaxes a flame from a well-worn cigarette lighter, the small spark illuminating her face in the dim light of the Gaza tent camp. Around her, the scene is one of makeshift living – tents pitched close together, the air […]

Regional Voices: Everyday lives overshadowed by escalating tensions. Old Man Tariq sits outside his small shop in Isfahan, meticulously polishing a copper teapot. The scent of rosewater and cardamom hangs in the air, a comforting familiarity in a city increasingly laced with apprehension. He’s seen decades of shifting sands in Iran–US relations, but says this […]

Regional Voices: Shared anxieties for peace, a fragile normality. The scent of warm bread hangs heavy in the air of Khalil’s bakery in Saida, Lebanon. Dust motes dance in the sunlight streaming through the open doorway, illuminating the creases around his eyes as he carefully shapes a loaf of khubz. “It’s quieter today,” he says, […]