by Dr Terence Ascott, SAT-7 Founder and President As we explore the top issues facing the Middle East, it is important to note that generalisations about the region do not work! The countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are as different to each other as the countries of Europe. So, this brief overview needs to be read […]
The disturbing spectre of interracial conflict came to the fore in parts of the Middle East and North Africa this month. It was most extreme in reports of genocide from Darfur, Sudan, but evident too in events in Tunisia and in the ongoing conflict in the Holy Land. The conflict in Sudan that has displaced nearly 3 million people has […]
In recent months we have all been shocked and saddened by media reports of the violence in Sudan and the desperate plight of its citizens. Since April, more than 250,000 people have fled from the fighting into neighbouring countries, alongside nearly two million who are internally displaced. Many of them are in desperate need, lacking even basic food supplies, or […]
“We spent the evening of Good Friday at church in all-night prayer. The next morning, we woke up to a loud noise at 9am. We didn’t understand what was happening. Shrapnel broke the kitchen window.” So begins the story of Ingy Kamal, a mother from Khartoum who had to make the risky decision to leave Sudan with her family in […]
Syrian refugees Fayez and Souha and Lebanese teenager Anthony tell SAT-7 how friendships have overcome prejudice and made a world of difference in their lives. “When we first met, we had a fight, but what matters now is that we became buddies and best friends.” Teenagers Fayez Farah (16) and Anthony Ghanem (15), from Syria and Lebanon respectively, both participated […]
Elections in regional big player, Türkiye, and a humanitarian disaster brought on by fighting in Sudan dominated this month’s Middle East news. Above: Nadia Adel’s family lived near the airport on Khartoum which quickly became a target of fighting. She and her daughters Lobna and Neama tell how God protected them during their escape to Egypt. Intense fighting between the […]
Civic and religious leaders and government ministers gathered at SAT-7’s Lebanon studios on Thursday 9 February for an event to mark the publication of a very special book. It comprises moving stories that young people of different faiths, nationalities and races told at Storytelling Clubs that formed part of SAT-7’s social cohesion project, Lebanon, Our Story (LOS). The book, also […]
SAT-7 Grants Coordinator Phil Good lives in East Beirut. In this personal blog, he shares how Lebanon’s economic collapse has added an older generation of poorer Lebanese to a church that has already welcomed hundreds of Syrian refugees. What should a church look like? I guess a church is situated in a location and should be a reflection of the […]
The images of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine have shocked us all. Footage of indiscriminate bombings of apartment blocks, hospitals and critical infrastructure, such as water and electricity hubs, assail us like flashbacks of recent events in the Middle East. What we are witnessing in Ukraine is a continuation of the devastating attacks Russia made on civilian areas of Syria […]
Home for Sudan-born Ashwaq is a tiny, one-bedroom flat she shares with her baby son in Cairo. It’s a lonely and precarious existence. A long way from the one she dreamed of when she graduated in psychology and pre-school education, and came to Egypt in search of work. Tears flow as this young woman talks to the makers of SAT-7 […]
