COVID-19GovernanceInternational Relations Blog Posts

Majority of Palestinians expect Israel to annex the Jordan Valley and the settlement areas in the West Bank

Two-thirds of the Palestinian public expect Israel to annex the Jordan Valley and the settlement areas in the West Bank, and the majority expresses support for the PA policy of ceasing to implement the Oslo agreement and to sever relations with Israel. But large majorities express worry about the likely consequences of the PA policy on them and on their…

June 23, 2020

DiscriminationMigrationReligion

Migration of Palestinian Christians: Drivers and Means of Combating it

The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) conducted a public opinion poll among Palestinian Christians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip during the period between 27 January and 23 February 2020. The poll sought to explore the reasons that drive Christians to emigrate from their homeland in Palestine to other countries and the various means that…

June 8, 2020

COVID-19Gender Issues

Domestic Violence and Arab Women’s False Choice during COVID-19

Domestic violence is back on the radar in the public spheres across MENA due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, this crisis could serve as an opportunity to transform domestic violence from a private matter to a public concern in Arab countries and a chance to reform unequal gender relations through the elimination of long-standing gender norms. Domestic violence historically…

June 1, 2020

Gender IssuesMigration Blog Posts

A MENA Paradox in Migration?

Throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), high female educational attainment is not met with commensurate participation in economic and political life, a phenomenon the World Bank dubs the “MENA paradox.” Is this paradox mirrored in gendered migration trends in the region? According to the fifth wave of the Arab Barometer, men are nearly twice as likely as women…

May 14, 2020

Political Institutions Blog Posts

Arab Political Parties and the Dual Challenge of Trust

One of the most puzzling facets of contemporary Arab politics is the low level of trust in institutionalized political agents. While the average Arab citizens’ levels of trust in the security apparatus, the military, and the judiciary are relatively high, trust in the government/cabinet and local governments decline, reaching their lowest levels with Islamist movements and parties, parliaments, and political…

May 12, 2020

EconomyInternational RelationsPolitical Institutions

The Maghreb Integration Report 2020: Economic Partnerships as an alternative for Political Stalemate

The Maghreb is one of the least politically and economically integrated regions in the world. The trade exchanges within the region stands at less than 5% of the overall foreign trade exchanges of the Maghreb countries, which is much lower than all other regional trade blocs around the world. This has major negative impacts. A 2018 report by the International…

May 6, 2020

GovernanceHealth Blog Posts

The Palestinian Health System: Improving its Financing and Enhancing the Quality of its Services

The spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) has revived attention in the Palestinian health apparatus and its structure, capabilities, resilience during disasters, the nature of the health insurance system and joint obligations and responsibilities that underlies it. The quality of health services is the goal of the Palestinian health system. Thus, the government tries to provide various health services in the institutions…

April 22, 2020

Environment Blog Posts

Climate Change: a Tertiary Concern for Arab Citizens

Climate change poses one of the most serious threats to the Middle East and North Africa. A largely water scarce region, environmental deterioration threatens precipitation cycles, food supply, public health, and more. In fact, the results of Arab Barometers’ fifth wave of surveys show that a majority of citizens view climate change as a cause for concern. In Lebanon, nearly…

April 20, 2020

Religion Blog Posts

Is the MENA Region Becoming Less Religious? An Interview with Michael Robbins

In late 2019, the research network Arab Barometer released the results of new polling surveys that show that there has been a decline religious faith and trust in religious parties across the Middle East and North Africa. Naman Karl-Thomas Habtom, a graduate student at Cambridge University and Senior Vice President of the Cambridge Middle East and North Africa Forum, recently had…

April 6, 2020

EconomyGender Issues Blog Posts

PEER REVIEW: Arab Barometer

The Arab Barometer is a nonpartisan research network, hosted at Princeton University, which provides insight into the social, political, and economic attitudes and values of people across the Arab world. They have been conducting high quality and reliable public opinion surveys in the MENA region since 2006 and make the data publicly available (free of charge) on their website. The Arab Barometer is currently updating…

March 31, 2020

Health Blog Posts

FACT SHEET: WORLD HEALTH DAY

Background In the fifth and latest wave of the Arab Barometer, we asked over 25,000 citizens throughout the Middle East and North Africa a series of questions related to World Health Day, including questions relating to evaluations of the healthcare system, and to environmental health issues. The following factsheet sets out some of the main findings and links to wider…

March 30, 2020

Gender Issues

Egypt’s Sexual Harassment Problem: Encouraging Reporting as a Possible Remedy

Sexual harassment (SH) is a serious problem in Egypt. In the Arab World, Egypt ranks first in SH: the Arab Barometer’s fifth wave finds that within a twelve month period, 42 percent reported some verbal harassment and 29 percent reported some physical harassment across genders. The problem is particularly acute for women, with 63 percent of women reporting some form…

March 26, 2020