Policy Analysis

Anna Lührmann was part of a short-term election observation mission of the National Democratic Institute (NDI). In addition to briefings and debriefings in Amman, she observed polling in Jarash in Jordan’s North. Based on this experience and NDI’s preliminary statement on the election she assesses the democratic quality of last week’s elections for the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation...

Palestinian Center for Policy Research and Strategic Studies (MASARAT) in cooperation with Heinrich Böll Stiftung started on 2011 a project to facilitate communication between different young Palestinians in different locations: West Bank, Gaza Strip Israel, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. The communications was mainly through video conferences and internet.

The IJS is a branch of Institute for Palestine Studies (IPS), a highly respected institution, which is very influential in the Palestinian context. For the last six years IJS cooperated closely with Heinrich Böll Stiftung (hbs), mainly in publishing the Jerusalem Quarterly (JQ) journal.

The Heinrich Böll Stiftung Ramallah welcomed Barbara Unmüßig, the co-president of the hbs, from 01 April to 05 April 2012. Ms Unmüßig attended numerous meetings with civil society actors and conducted three field trips, starting with a tour to Al Walajeh , the separation  wall and the settlements  in the area around Bethlehem, led by George Rishmawi from the Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies. 

The Heinrich Böll Stiftung in Ramallah invited Raji Sourani, head of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), to Germany. During the trip he briefed officials, NGO activists and politicians from all parties represented in the German Parliament about the current situation in Palestine and the Gaza strip

The sound of heart beats was deafening in Sanaa’s 20th street when protestors moved in the demonstration’s forefront. Around 15 snipers were positioned on rooftops on two sides of Dairi street intersection with 20th street. Protestors planned on Friday, March 18th, to expand the sit-in area and to erect new tents at the intersection. An account of the people’s revolt in Yemen prior to the departure of Ali Saleh by Nadia Al-Sakkaf/ Chief Editor of the Yemen Times......

Perspectives - Political Analysis and Commentary from the Middle East is a publication series of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung’s offices in Beirut and Ramallah provides a platform for analysis and viewpoints of experts from the region. The self-immolation of young and jobless Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi in the provincial town of Sidi Bouzid, being deprived of his vegetable stand and humiliated by the authorities, triggered popular movements and historic events in the Arab World completely unexpected in their magnitude…

On the occasion of their visit to the region, 15 members of the Grüne Jugend (Green Youth), the political youth organization of the German Greens, spent two days in Palestine. Heinrich Böll Stiftung Arab Middle East Office Ramallah organized meetings with Palestinian politicians, partner organizations and a tour to the Jordan Valley.

Democracy protests in Egypt:EU has to decide whether it will continue with its support for authoritarian Arab regimes and their security apparatuses that, for decades, have prevented democractic change? or whether they are willing back a difficult, possibly chaotic process of democratic change.  

Israel’s raid on a flotilla of humanitarian aid has refocused global attention on Gaza’s isolation. In a new Q&A, Taghreed El-Khodary, visiting scholar on hiatus from reporting in the Gaza Strip for the New York Times, details what’s happening on the ground in Gaza and how the incident will shape politics in the area. El-Khodary says that Israel’s action helps Hamas and the group is now operating from a position of greater strength.