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Ben Ashraf

Benjamin Ashraf

Ashraf

Benjamin Ashraf is The New Arab's Deputy Features Editor. He is also a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Jordan's Center for Strategic Studies and a member of Red Pepper's Admin Collective.

 

Areas of focus: Critical Theory, Post-Colonialism, Aesthetics, and Sound Studies.  

 

Follow him on Twitter: @ashrafzeneca

Emboldened by far-right rhetoric, a new music genre has emerged in Israel, one that celebrates the death of Palestinians and the destruction of Gaza.

21 December, 2023

Gaza's healthcare is on its knees. Critical fuel shortages have forced 13 out of 35 hospitals to close, while Palestinian bodies pile up. The New Arab spoke with Al-Shifa Hospital's Ghassan Abu-Sittah about the catastrophic conditions on the ground.

25 October, 2023

Book Club: While liberal anti-racists obsess over diversity; new forms of racism have seeped into the routines of liberal regimes. Arun Kundnani's 'What Is Antiracism?' instead theorises an anti-racism that is radical, universal, and anti-capitalist.

11 October, 2023

Analysis: Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has been gifted the keys to the West Bank, an unprecedented concession that allows him to realise his 2017 manifesto to annex Palestinian territory and turn it into a Jewish theocracy.

22 March, 2023

Analysis: There are few more divisive figures in Pakistan than General Pervez Musharraf. Seizing power in a bloodless coup, Musharraf's admirers credit his liberalising agenda, while his detractors accuse him of 'selling off' the country to the US.

20 February, 2023

A wave of anti-boycott legislation has swept across the United States, with Palestine the first casualty. Julia Bacha's film Boycott traces this dangerous trend through three disparate plaintiffs, unveiling an optimistic face of American resolve.

22 November, 2022

Digging beneath the mainstream, Palestinian record label MaJazz Project is unearthing the sounds and stories of unsung pioneers; from the revolutionary Intifada anthems of Riad Awwad to the utopian folk of Al Fajer.

01 September, 2022

India and Pakistan's chauvinistic independence displays often forget the tragedy of Partition, where millions were either killed or displaced. 75 years on, a virtual reality project is reconnecting survivors with the childhood homes they once knew.

12 August, 2022

Five years after the Grenfell Tower fire killed 72 of its residents, none of those found responsible have faced criminal charges or been held to account. Today, we remember the legacy of the victims and reiterate our lasting call for justice.

14 June, 2022

After decades of existential interrogation, the UK’s Asian Underground is finally reaping the rewards of a long struggle to be seen and heard, with Riz Ahmed’s Oscar-winning performance the latest triumph for the burgeoning creative community.

31 May, 2022