Category: News In English

About an international controversy and vision By Youssef Kanjou and Michael Seifert On 24th July 2020 the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul was reopened as a mosque. Before that it was a museum, which is the main tourist attraction in Turkey with over three million visitors annually. The Turkish president had decided and announced this a few weeks earlier, after the highest Turkish court had cleared the way for it. Recep Erdoğan, thus, triggered an international controversy with several protests. But why does half the world seem to be arguing about this? The Hagia Sophia has been on the UNESCO World… Read More

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“The rich are at war and the poor are fighting against it,” said a Syrian who has been suffering due to the war in Syria for nine years, especially at hands of the massive monetary inflation. The Syrian Pound fell to a record level. At the beginning of June, money changers on the black market asked 3000 Lira for one dollar. However, the official price remained at 700 Lira, which caused retailers to close their stores in many cities. At the beginning of the Syrian war in 2011, a dollar was said to have cost 47 lira. According to the… Read More

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by Ademola Adetunji   The world seems to be surprised that Covid-19 is contained in some African countries. Compared to Western and some Asian countries, the health system in many African countries is poorer. Many hypotheses and predictions are circulating that the poor African continent is on the verge of collapse. But the continent of Africa was better prepared for the outbreak than some developed continents like Europe, Asia and North America. Africa seems to have learned from past experiences. Nigeria is a sovereign state in West Africa, which borders Niger, Chad and Cameroon and has a population of around… Read More

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By Youssef Kanjou In 2016, I was able to visit Idrimi, the King of Aleppo in his last exile in the British Museum to know him better and read his famous story. He himself wrote it on his statue and it begins with his family which ruled the city of Aleppo around 1500 BC. His father had a conflict due to a revolt in the city. Therefore, Idrimi and his six brothers had to flee to the city of Emar on the Euphrates east of Aleppo. This city was ruled by his uncles. But Idrimi was not treated as a… Read More

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The general election in Syria on Sunday, July 19th ended as expected. According to the state news agency Sana, 183 of the 250 seats in the People’s Chamber were won by the ruling Baath party with its allies. They came together to form the “National Unity” alliance. Part of the 67 other seats went to business people who support the current ruler, Bashar al-Assad. Around 1,600 candidates competed, including 200 women. The election was held only in the government-controlled regions – just under 70 percent of the country’s territory. The turnout was 33.2 percent. In 2016, 57.6 percent of those… Read More

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By Will Thomas  The author is a volunteer in the editorial department of tünews INTERNATIONAL. After staying in Tübingen and Berlin as part of a federal scholarship, he returned to the USA in April 2020. There he found a country in unrest. We have offered him the chance to share his experiences with us. In the German text, he uses certain English phrases where he found no suitable translation.   Battles are breaking out in US-American cities. In my previous article, I explained the origins of the current unrest. In this article, I am recounting my own on the ground… Read More

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By Batool Hadous, Danyah Mahfouz, Hanin Kanjou, Hayet (name changed), Majd Kanjou, Meryem (name changed),Michael Seifert, Mohammed, Oula Mahfouz, Roula Al Sagheer, Sara Al Sagheer, Yousof Mahfouz   Soon, all pupils will be able to go to school temporarily, but still for most of them, online-learning in home-schooling is on the agenda. How do kids from refugee families experience this situation, to which they have been exposed since March 17th? The editorial staff of tünews INTERNATIONAL posed this question when Sara, a 5th grader at secondary school, handed in a text about this very topic. Her opinion is unambiguous: “We… Read More

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By Youssef Kanjou Corona has forced us to learn German from home via the Internet. My course started in March at the Volkshochschule, which got interrupted shortly after the start because of Corona. This also led to the closure of all schools in Germany. Volkshochschule decided to continue the course online. Currently we have two hours of lessons every afternoon on video conference with the Zoom program. This is the first time I have to learn a language online; after everything in life has gone online. It seems to be a very significant experience for me. The teacher teaches with… Read More

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From Sajia Yarmal Afghanistan has been embroiled in devastating wars for many years now. People have suffered severe psychological hardships. Millions of people were killed or displaced. Taliban, the terrorist group that has claimed the lives of thousands of Afghans over the past ten years by claiming jihad and enforcing Islamic law, and has never allowed the Afghan people to live a prosperous life. The war continues and dozens of military and non-military people are killed every day. Alongside war, poverty and hunger are other big threats to Afghanistan, a country with a population of over 30 million. Based on… Read More

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By Salwa Saada and Feras Trayfi As of May 21st, according to the Syrian government reports, 58 cases of Coronavirus have been confirmed and 36 patients have recovered while three have died. Approximately 6,781 people are quarantined and 2,557 of them are under health control. Nobody can confirm the authenticity of these numbers. Many hospitals and healthcare facilities have been destroyed because of the nearly ten-year war, and the rest are in dire straits. In addition, there is a shortage of medical personnel as well as a shortage of the equipment as well as devices required for the examinations, as… Read More

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By Michael Seifert Albania was one of the first countries in Europe to take drastic measures to combat the Corona virus in early March. A strict curfew completely paralyzed public life. Between 5 a.m. and 1 p.m. only one person per household could leave the house for a maximum of one hour to run important errands. To do this, you had to obtain police approval by SMS at least 24 hours in advance. There was a general exit ban on weekends from Saturday afternoon to Monday morning. Pensioners were not allowed to leave the house at all. All public transport… Read More

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by Youssef Kanjou Many non-Muslims and those who have never visited Muslim countries consider Ramadan only as a month of worship. However, reality shows that it is more. It also determines other aspects of life, such as everyday routines, social as well as economic life; especially before the war in Syria. It is well known that during Ramadan people do not eat during the day, but the food is still very varied this month. This is because popular markets offer specialties that are only available in Ramadan. This is because the dishes are prepared for the end of the day,… Read More

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by Wolfgang Sannwald   The author is an employee of the District Office Tübingen. He personally participated in the meetings of the administrative staff for the management of the Corona pandemic in the district of Tübingen from March 23rd to May 5th.   It was Shrove Tuesday, February 25th, 2020, when the Corona epidemic reached the district of Tübingen. Martina Guizetti, the press spokeswoman of the district administration office, remembers a call from the Landrat (chief of district administration) that evening. Joachim Walter was reacting from a carnival procession to the first detected infection in the administrative district. This was the… Read More

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by Wolfgang Sannwald In 2016, an expert in the “arrest barrack” at the Natzweiler-Struthof memorial in Alsace said that 19 people were temporarily locked in a shockingly narrow cell with six square meters during the German tyranny before 1945. She then told a group from Tübingen about other ill-treatment and torture. Ibrahim (name changed by the editors), who had fled from Syria to Germany a year before and has lived in Tübingen ever since, turned pale: he had just fled from such a prison. At that time, political reasons for fleeing Syria were hardly known in detail. Now German courts… Read More

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My home (country) By Oula Mahfouz   I used to think that home was just one specific place and that I could never leave my home country (Syria). In 2012 we had to flee our home in Damascus because of the fighting. I had rented an apartment in the centre of Damascus with my big family. Soon my parents and siblings left Syria one by one. I was the last one to stay in Damascus. This time was very difficult for me, because I was in my home country, but felt estranged. Then already my idea of home had begun… Read More

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Self-help Social Forum Tuebingen By Feras Trayfi   What are self-help groups? And is there such a thing for fugitives and migrants as well? With these and other questions in mind, our editors Aliaa Abd Khalaf, Feras Trayfi and Mostafa Elyasian were guests at the Social Forum in Tuebingen. Barbara Herzog, a self-help consultant and graduate psychologist at the Social Forum, answered their questions. With which problems do people come to these groups? People with the same problems and diseases meet in a self-help group. They exchange experiences as well as information and support each other. If you want to… Read More

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News 1: Fridays for Future Under the title “Fridays for Future”, pupils from all over the world demonstrate for climate protection every Friday. On Friday, 20th September 19 there will be a “global climate strike” in which young and old can participate. The strike will also be held in Tübingen from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the city centre. Some editors from the tünews INTERNATIONAL team who visit the school regularly discuss climate protection there. That’s why this topic also plays an important role in our editorial team. For more information on the strike: www.facebook.com/events/1266083293577864/   News 2: Advice… Read More

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Theatre festival The LTT (Landestheater Tuebingen) celebrates its 40th anniversary at this year’s theatre festival. There will be various events all around theatre, including a fashion show and a guided tour for children. Under the title “Home is where you have your Kartoffelsalat”, a cooking performance will start at 7 p.m. in which locals and refugees will cook together. Some members of the tünews INTERNATIONAL editorial staff will also prepare dishes there. There is no entrance fee. The festival will take place on Saturday, 14.09.19 at the LTT-Theatre in Tuebingen. For more information, dates and prices: www.landestheater-tuebingen.de News 2: Intercultural… Read More

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Soundcheck Learning by doing! from the editorial team   Not having the most important element in front of you but rather in the background does not mean it doesn’t exist. The sound technician is one such element that simply cannot be forgotten whenever doing an event. Our man this 4th 4all was Carlo Heimisch. He was responsible for having all the sound in order. That meant having the sound on and running, doing sound checks with each of these bands and having them come in their sequence with minimum time between each band’s performance. And the best part was that… Read More

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DJ Linda The right mix from the editorial team   Linda has been heard of before in this very magazine’s previous edition. Coming from the casual background of often being encouraged to play music at gatherings, she turned professional so to speak with this very event last year. “Yes, this time I thought about it and actually prepared my set along with considering the mix between each”, she mentions in her interview for the Wüste Welle. Her ideas for the mix were also interesting considering she was playing genres from dub to cumbia to electronic versions of folk music and… Read More

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Die Vagari Folk forever …! from the editorial team   As naturally as the world is your stage, folk music is almost a natural part of your act. Keeping this folk instinct alive were the musicians of Die Vagari. It was Cristobal Araya, a folklorist himself, the clarinet player from the Tuebingen Südstadt, Sofia, Cedric, Paula and Nabeel, the other musicians following suit in this effort. Incidentally, all were members of Folklang—this 70 odd member ensemble playing folk music from all over the world—that dissolved due to reasons of lack of sustainability. Somehow, when one door closes, another one opens,… Read More

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DJ Stefan History in the making by Claron Mazzarello   Stefan Sergei happened to make history at this fourth edition of 4ALL fest. Not only was he the first handicapped person on a heavy electronic wheelchair could enter Epplehaus (since it has not yet been made accessible for handicapped people), but he was also our DJ for this very night. And he played music from Russia and Ukraine. “Yes, I was born in Russia. This was where I first deejay-ed on cassettes, somewhere around 2002 or 2003. I came to Deutschland in 2004”, Stefan answers in his radio interview for… Read More

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kopfundherz Urban pop from Stuttgart by Penelope Hoeth   “kopfundherz”, it means head and heart, are Chillhan, Don Jahin, Rager the Rager and Rian. The band from Stuttgart makes German Urban Pop, Hip Hop and Rap. At the 4ALL Intercultural Fest in the Epplehaus Tübingen they played songs from their album “Mukke oder Tod”. The music was sometimes there are harmonic vocals mixed with catchy beats, and at other times rap with acoustic or electric guitar. But it is exactly this unique mix that makes the band. The band started in summer 2013 with frontman and songwriter Chillhan and guitarist… Read More

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TBTF Blowing it up from the editorial team   Firstly, the name of this band—“To big to fail” (TBTF)—is exactly how it is when one experiences them perform live. They come with costumes and a get up giving this great feel of togetherness on stage—all of its 9 members. Then with their funky music, it is just not possible for one’s body to ignore the vibrations of this ensemble. They all somehow were connected with each other in the musician circuit of Tübingen; most of them with this band called the “Funky Latinos”. This is the origin from where Too… Read More

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Canned Wizardry The magic of music! from the editorial team   Rock, blues, jazz, hip hop, world music and many more rhythms came from the music of “Canned Wizardry”. As their name suggests, it truly is the coming together of six musicians contributing their parts to make magic. “For us, music is magic”, says Silvio Hund, the lead vocalist of this band. While he is also the songwriter, he is supported by guitars drums and sometimes the didgeridoo and the harp. Come this next 4ALL fest this September 21, they will come around again to perform, but this time in… Read More

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Cooking Chili and Maqluba by Sylvia Haden   It is 3:00 on a Saturday afternoon. The “intercultural kitchen forum” for adults to meet, exchange thoughts, cook—and of course, to eat begins. Many boxes of food arrive. The first shift of the kitchen crew consists of the initiators of the cooking event themselves: Karl, Jacky and Lulieta from the Hausgemeinschaft LU 15 (Ludwigstraße) and Sylvia from tünews INTERNATIONAL. They slice and grate, cook and bake, decorate and arrange until late into the night. Hummus spread on a flatbread, covered with tomatoes, cucumbers, fresh green chilli peppers and salad leaves—the first dish… Read More

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Workshop Shadows in Tübingen from the editorial team   This whole shadow theatre experience in all ways, was about realising one’s own ideas and developing them into a performance finally. After all, the world is your stage. Even for Sabine Effmert and Robert Arnold who conducted this workshop and then performance, from the start of their shadow project till now, or rather from the start of their respective careers in this line of art, till now, it has also all been about realising ideas. Sabine studied figure theatre in Stuttgart and Robert is an actor and director with about 11… Read More

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Tuebingen The mood has changed By Sameer Ibrahim   In 2015, Germany, the economically strongest country in Europe, opened its doors benevolently to those fleeing war and misery, bringing hundreds of thousands of refugees into the country. The university city of Tuebingen, like other cities, took in more than a thousand refugees, having a population of only about 90,000. The majority of the fugitives were accommodated in sports halls and reception centres as well as a small number in residential buildings. Due to the large crowds and the limited space in the reception centres, the refugees were initially concentrated very… Read More

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Integration Language is the key by Ute Kaiser Naeem Nazari knows from experience what it means to be a refugee. In 1984, when he was two years old, his family fled with him from Afghanistan to Iran. At home, the Soviet-backed government and US-backed resistance groups fought each other. Nazari had no problems at school in Iran and passed the A-Levels. But refugees were not allowed to study there. He really wanted that. Therefore, in 2006 he returned to Afghanistan to study and gave up a job in Iran. In 2007 he started studying German in Herat. This decision should… Read More

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Society Reversed roles? By Sameer Ibrahim   As part of my work as a federal volunteer at tünews, one of my duties is to take part in educational seminars organised by the Federal Office for Families and Civil Society Affairs (BAFzA). Only recently did I travel to Bodelshausen, where a BAFzA seminar centre is located. The centre lies about 25 kilometres outside of Tübingen. This seminar lasted five days. On the third day there was a role play on the program. The seminar leader came up with an interesting idea – in a mixture of wit and seriousness. Said, done.… Read More

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Review The exchange has inspired me very much. By Pauline Menghini For the last two years, tünews has meant a lot to me, because working in the editorial team has been a big part of my everyday life. From March 2017 I worked as a volunteer, then as a working student in the project and at that time I did not know exactly what to expect. But I should realize that very quickly. First it was my job to supervise the radio show and to accompany writing processes. Then I was allowed to get more involved in the content planning… Read More

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Success I took every chance I got by Mohammad Nazir Momand Jawad Taherpor is 32 years old and was born in the region of Herat in Afghanistan. He is the author of the book “You can’t hold me down”. Eight years ago, he came to Germany as a refugee. In a short time, he was able to learn German up to a very high level, so that he was able to enrol in a university very soon. He took advantage of the opportunities he had in the best way possible and built himself an existence while attending university. This young… Read More

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Native tongue Arabic classes for children By Oula Mahfouz   Since October 2018 there is an Arabic language class for children, held in Mössingen. 13 Syrian children meet there every Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m. to learn Arabic together. Their teachers are Kamila Alali and Khadija Mahmoud, who gave language classes in Syria as well. This idea came up when a group of Arab women in Mössingen complained about their children forgetting Arabic or not even learning it at all. Kamila Alali took it upon herself  to organize an Arabic class for children. In order to … an adequate… Read More

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Studying in Tuebingen: The refugee program of the University of Tuebingen makes it possible By Feras Trayfi   During the last years, a great number of refugees from various countries and with different reasons for fleeing their countries arrived in Germany. There are many among them, whose course of education has been interrupted by their… ?? In order to specifically target and help those people, the University of Tuebingen founded the “refugee-program”. This nine-month-program is to provide them with … to find good career options and follow their dreams.   Feras Trayfi and Michael Seifert from tünews INTERNATIONAL attended a… Read More

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Integrationcourse Strengths and weaknesses by Michael Seifert The integration course is compulsory for all recognized refugees and of central importance for their integration into German society. But in many cases, it is publicly criticized. For example, Annette Widmann-Mauz, Minister of State for Migration, Refugees and Integration, called for a “quality offensive for the integration courses” in 2018. Because: “In the years 2017/2018, the overall pass rate for language test B1 dropped to below 50 percent.” We asked the editors of tünews INTERNATIONAL about their personal experiences with the integration course. The range of opinions varies widely, from very positive to… Read More

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World Refugee Day On Thursday, 20.06.19 the World Refugee Day is held globally. This day was declared to be a worldwide day of action by the United Nations in 2001, in order to shed light on the fates of refugees around the world and work towards improving their living situations. In Germany, this day was declared the national commemoration day for the victims of displacement and expulsion, to bring special attention to the victims of the Second World War as well. Numerous humanitarian organisations around the world will take action on this day to support refugees around the world.  … Read More

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