Turkey Media Roundup (November 4)

[Thousands march in Istanbul in solidarity with Kobanê. Image by Sadik Gulec / Shutterstock.com] [Thousands march in Istanbul in solidarity with Kobanê. Image by Sadik Gulec / Shutterstock.com]

Turkey Media Roundup (November 4)

By : Turkey Page Media Roundup Editors

[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Turkey and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the Turkey Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each week`s roundup to turkey@jadaliyya.com by Sunday night of every week.]

English

Kobanê / ISIS

Rojava: A New Born Country A short documentary on the emergence of Syrian Kurdistan and the YPG militia.

Asya Abdullah: Soon We Will Give the Good News PYD Co-President Asya Abdullah gives updates about the situation in Kobanê and condemns Erdoğan’s claim that Kobanê is an Arab town.

Turkey`s Obstruction of Kobani`s Battle against ISIS Meysa Abdo, a commander in the YPG, describes the on-the-ground conditions in Kobanê and calls on Western countries to support the resistance and pressure Turkey to do so as well.

Western Fascination with "Badass" Kurdish Women Dilar Dirik critiques the western media coverage of Kurdish women, asserting that we should not only appreciate their fierceness but also their politics more broadly.

Erdoğan Plays "Arab Card" in Kobani Fehim Taştekin challenges Erdoğan’s characterization of Kobanê as an Arab city and examines the ethnic history of Kobanê, claiming that “[it] is one of the junctures where the tragedies of Kurds and Armenians intersected.”

The Situation in the Middle East: Win-Win or Lose-Lose? Describing Turkey’s “key role” in managing relations among Middle Eastern countries, Markar Esayan speculates that other countries are unfairly trying to “limit Turkey instead of benefiting from its potential.”

Peshmerga Soldiers Are a Friendly Force Trying to Rescue Kobani İlnur Çevik praises the Turkish government’s approach to the various Kurdish armed forces fighting in Kobanê and its support of the peshmerga soldiers from Iraqi Kurdistan..

Can the Peshmerga Stop ISIL? Grouping PYD and ISIL together as terrorist groups, İbrahim Karagül speculates that the PKK and the PYD want the war in Kobanê to continue while Turkey and the peshmerga are working to end the war.

Fall of Aleppo Is Ankara`s Real Concern Murat Yetkin says that Turkey’s decision to allow Peshmerga and FSA fighters is motivated by a desire to keep Aleppo from falling to ISIS.

Time to Face Up to Kobane Verda Özer writes that the events in Kobane have disintegrated borders in the region and changed the dynamics of the peace process in Turkey.

Spy Agency vs. Turkish Military and ISIL Lale Kemal claims that the different priorities between the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) have troubled Turkey’s approach to the fight against ISIL.

Turkish Military Angered by Ankara`s Peshmerga Move Semih İdiz describes the military’s frustration with the Turkish government’s decision to allow Peshmerga fighters to move through Turkish territory into Kobane.

The Middle East "Mastermind" Who Worries Erdoğan Mustafa Akyol analyzes Erdoğan’s claims about an unknown party conspiring to destabilize the Middle East and to obstruct Turkey’s role within it.

Peace and Reconciliation Process

Kurds and Their Rights Ali Bulaç examines how Islamic discourse on rights should encourage Muslims to support those in pursuit of their human rights.

Turkey`s Kurdish Problem on Crash Course with the Next Elections Murat Yetkin notes that the AKP cannot compete for both Kurdish votes via the peace process and Turkish nationalist votes by rejecting Kurdish claims of belonging.

The AK Party`s Take on the "Solution" Cafer Solgun asserts that the AK Party’s approach to the peace process with the PKK has only been successful in rhetorical terms.

What Does the PKK Want? Taha Özhan claims that, because the PKK thrives in environments of conflict, it has become increasingly disconnected from the desires of Kurds themselves.

A Solution and Peace, Even if It Is to Spite Them Abdülkadir Selvi compares the peace process in Turkey with the case of the UK/IRA as well as South Africa, urging the leadership to opt against continued war.

Stimulating Turkey`s Three Sore Points Markar Esayan claims that, since the beginning of the peace process, some forces have attempted to cause trouble on Turkey’s three sore points: 1) secular sensitivity, 2) religious sensitivity, and 3) Kurdish-Alevi sensitivity.

Turkey`s Rapprochement with the Arab World İhsan Aktaş says that though the west wants to support the Kurds against Turkey and the Arab world, the affirmation of the relationship between Turkey and the Arab world is best for all parties involved.

Economics of the Reconciliation Process Sadık Ünay writes that the peace process promises economic incentives for all parties involved, and that “great power meddling" is trying to interrupt its development.

Ermenek Mine Accident

Blindsided in Black Coal İbrahim Türkmen asserts that although Turkey has overcome domestic obstacles to join the world in a new era of global economics, the tragedy of the mining accident means that Turkey still has work to do.

Incapable Minister, Incapable Government Yusuf Kanlı describes the government’s insensitivity to the mining accident and its seeming inability to do anything to change the conditions that cause such disasters.

Only the AKP Is Innocent Günal Kurşun writes about the tendency of the AKP to maintain its innocence concerning the mining disasters of the past year, in spite of all evidence to the contrary.

Profit-Crazy Mine Owners Are the Culprits İlnur Çevik claims that mine owners have been negligent of the government’s efforts to tighten regulations on the mining industry.

Is a Republic Without People Possible? Orhan Oğuz Gürbüz looks at the contradiction between the discourse of “New Turkey” and the government’s continued disenfranchisement of its population.

Other Pertinent Pieces

Don`t Do Business, Mind the (Gender) Gap Emre Deliveli analyzes recent data about the lag in women’s empowerment and economic development in Turkey.

Fethullah Gülen Speaks at UN Selçuk Gültaşlı examines the discourse of a speech about peace written by Fethullah Gülen that was delivered recently at the UN, as compared with the Turkish state’s discourse about peace.

President Erdoğan Still Thinks He`s Prime Minister Lale Kemal claims that Erdoğan is operating beyond the purview of his powers as President.

Why Worry about Headscarf Issue in Turkey? Barçın Yinanç analyzes the education system in the wake of the new government decree allowing girls as young as ten years old to wear the headscarf to school.

Istanbul Makes Audacious Bid to be European Green Capital 2017 In spite of the ongoing urban transformation of Istanbul, the municipal government has entered a competition to be the European Green Capital in 2017.

Turkey Finds Out One Is the Loneliest Number According to Kadri Gürsel, the Turkish government has been alienating its allies since 2009, and is now struggling to face the threat of ISIS on its own.

Is NATO Membership Shackling Turkey? Metin Turcan appraises claims that Turkey’s membership in NATO is preventing it from becoming a global actor.

Erdoğan Confronts Allies, Rivals Alike Over Syria Semih İdiz claims that the Turkish government is delusional to think it has sway in other Sunni countries because it has “painted itself into a corner by insisting on misguided policies.”

Unknown Codes of the New Alevi Initiative Yahya Bostan claims that under Prime Minister Davutoğlu, the Turkish government is mustering resources to address the grievances of Alevis.

The White House Would Be a Tiny Wing of Turkey`s New Presidential Palace Ishaan Tharoor examines the extravagance of Turkey’s new Presidential Palace in Ankara in light of the transformation of the government under Erdoğan.

While the Republic Is Transforming On the ninety-first anniversary of the Turkish Republic, Etyen Mahçupyan claims that a look at Turkey’s history shows that  “it is still too far from democracy.”

Longest NSC Meeting Testament to Erdoğan`s Leadership İlnur Çevik asserts that “New Turkey” under Erdoğan’s presidency is taking shape, as evidenced by the recent ten-hour long meeting of the National Security Council.

Turkish

Kobanê / ISIS

Rojava: ortak düşmandan ortak neşeye Praising the Rojava Revolution, Olcay Çelik argues that we should fight against ISIS not only because they kill innocent people but because they “threaten the kind of life we want to live, our imagination, and our joy and humor.”

Kamplardan notlar Enver Sezgin relays his observations from camps in Diyarbakır that host Yezidis who fled from ISIS brutality in Sengal and Kobane.

ABD`nin PYD açılımının boyutları Hurşid Deli analyzes US military aid to PYD, which had once been considered to be a terrorist organization by the US.

Kobanê’de tarih yazmaya devam “Kobane is a candidate for being a milestone in the history of the Middle East,” writes Nazan Üstündağ.

Ankara`nın Kobane`den daha büyük kaygısı Halep Murat Yetkin reports that Turkey’s biggest nightmare would be Aleppo after Kobane, because if ISIS attacks Aleppo, 1.5 million more Syrian refugees would cross into Turkey in one week.

Kobanê’de savaşan bir kadın gerilla anlatıyor “We are defending a democratic, secular society of Kurds, Arabs, Muslims, and Christians who all face an imminent massacre,” writes Narin Afrin, a female commander of the resistance in Kobani.

Kobane için sesler A video in which volunteers narrate why they went to Kobane.

Kobanê`de çocuk olmak A photo series titled “Being Children in Kobane.”

Ortadoğu`daki gelişmeler ve Rojava Devrimi (1)-(2)-(3) The Socialist Solidarity Platform’s conference on the Rojava Revolution, YPG resistance against ISIS, and Turkey’s approach to Rojava.

Peshmergas Cross into Kobane

Pesmerge Kobani`de, Ankara "ofsayt"ta… Cengiz Çandar argues that the opening of Turkey’s borders to Iraqi Kurdish military troops, known as Pesmerga, for the first time constitutes a historical moment.

Suruç`ta peşmergeleri beklerken Yekta Kılıç’s observations from Turkey-Syria border where Turkey’s Kurds flocked onto the streets to greet the Peshmerga convoys making their way towards Kobane.

Peşmergenin Kobanê’ye gidişini sağlayan etkenler Analyzing the reasons that led to the Peshmergas crossing into Kobane, Hüseyin Ali argues that Turkey couldn’t resist the pressure imposed on it by many actors to “open a corridor” to Kobane.

Biji Serok Obama! Amberin Zaman comments that Turkey reluctantly decided to open its border to Peshmerga troops because of US pressure.

Peşmerge IŞİD`i durdurabilir mi? İbrahim Karagul speculates that the PYD/PKK want to continue war in Kobane in order to gain military power and national support.

Em dîsa hatin Kobanê! “Peshmergas crossing into Kobane to help the YPG will constitute one of the main pillars of Kurdish national unity,” writes Özcan Kırbıyık.

Peşmergeler Kobani’de: Ne değişti? Ne değişir? (1)-(2)  According to Ruşen Çakır, Kurds had the chance of developing a regional strategy, especially after getting international support, especially from the US, against ISIS.

Peace and Reconciliation Process

AKP, çözüm ve Kobanê Ahmet Özer argues that the AKP should change its foreign and domestic policy by “offering a friendly hand” to all Kurds, especially Kobanes.

Evet otoriter bir hukumetle de baris sureci yurutulur Ezgi Başaran interviews Mithat Sancar, a member of the “wise people committee,” about the peace process in the wake of the public discussion between Nuray Mert and Sırrı Süreyya Onder last week.  

Altan Tan’ın örneği talihsiz oldu Cansu Çamlıbel’s interview with HDP parliamentarian Ertuğrul Kurkcu about the peace process.

AKP oyununun sonu Adil Bayram criticizes the AKP’s equating the PYD/PKK with ISIS while at the same time trying to continue peace negotiations.

Kurt sorunu her seyden once bir dil sorunudur Ahmet İnsel argues that the Kurdish question stems from the assumption that using the language of peace will necessarily means weakness, humiliation, being defeated, loss of masculinity, and loss of authority.

Oyalama politikalariyla bir yere varilmaz Sahin Alpay argues that the AKP stalls the peace process, and calls for a new constitution that would open the way for the PKK to engage in democratic, legitimate, and legal politics.

Kürtlere akıl vermenin dayanılmaz hafifliği Commenting on the discussion between Nuray Mert and Sırrı Süreyya Onder last week, Meltem Oral argues that Nuray Mert’s approach to the peace process means putting Turks’ “homework” on the Kurdish movement.

Kobanê`den sonra çözüm süreci ve AKP`nin tükenişi Aysel Tuğluk, Van independent MP, highlights that the AKP is no longer a partner in the peace and negotiation process.

Kürtler vahşidir öyle mi! Frederike Geerdink examines the hate speech created in the media against Kurds.

HDP’nin anlaşılmaz suskunluğu M. Delila questions the silence of the HPD in the wake of the AKP’s blaming of the HDP for initiating violence during the Kobane protests in Turkey.

Maalesef karamsarım, gidiş iyi değil! Hasan Cemal draws a dark picture of the future of the peace process and Turkey’s democratization in general.

Barış treni devrilirse Ali Bayramoğlu argues that the success of the peace process is contingent upon the abandonment of the use of violence by the Kurdish movement.

Çözüm sürecinde ve Kobani`de neler oluyor According to Abdulkadir Selvi, Prime Minister Davutoğlu’s statement—“We must manage psychology. Otherwise, Turkey will end up in partition”—is very important for the peace process.

CHP, Kürt sorunu ve cözüm süreci Tanju Tosun argues that the CHP does not work hard for the peace process.

Bugün hangi ‘mümkün çözüm’ü ıskalıyoruz? “Participation in a modest and equal negotiation with Öcalan is today’s possible solution; but it might not be possible tomorrow,” writes Alper Görmüş.

PKK ne yapmak istiyor? According to Oral Çalıslar, despite the PKK/KCK’s harsh condemnations of the peace process, they still point to the Öcalan as the ultimate leader to say the last words.

Republican Day, the AKP, and Democracy

Yeni devletin, ‘Erdoğan devleti’nin simgesi Ak Saray! (1)-(2) Criticizing Erdoğan’s new “White Palace,” Hasan Cemal argues that the AKP regime has transformed Turkey from military tutelage to “civilian tutelage.”

Türkiye`de demokrasi ``makul şüphe`` altında According to Ömer Taşpınar, Turkey suffers from political opportunism, increasing polarization, and the lack of democracy and inclusive citizenship.

Adını Cumhur(iyet) koyduk Examining the history of the ninety-one-year-old Republic, Oya Baydar criticizes the exclusion and denial mechanisms in Turkey.

Icerde `demokrasi acigi`, disarda `nufuz kaybi` Cengiz Çandar reports that, according to the Wall Street Journal, Turkey suffers from “democracy deficit” inside and from “loss of power” outside.

Ermenek Mine Accident

Yeni Türkiye’nin fıtratı! Neşe Yavuz reports that just after the death of eighteen mine workers in a flooded mine in Ermenek, seventeen seasonal agricultural workers died in Isparta on their way to apple fields.

İşçi ölümlerinde dünya 3.sü olan Türkiye`de 9 ayda 1414 işçi öldü According to an ILO report, Turkey is the world’s third-highest in the rate of worker deaths with 1414 worker deaths in nine months.

Kârlı ve kanlı sektör: Kömür yerüstüne işçi yeraltına Aziz Çelik argues that subcontracting, privatization, and flexible and unsafe working conditions are the main reasons for worker deaths in mines and construction sites.

Daha cok olum izleyecegiz! Jale Özgentürk argues that there might be many more worker killings since Turkey plans to increase its share in coal from twenty-five to forty percent.

TEMA uyarmış: Konya’da kömür çıkartmak için tüm yeraltı sularını çekmek gerek Pelin Cengiz highlights that TEMA (Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion, for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Habitats) had already warned that it would be a massacre to open a mine in Ermenek because of the abundance of natural groundwater.

Ölü işçiler ülkesinin `iş güvenliği` meselesi Criticizing the lack of work safety in Turkey, Latif Işçen urges the government to collaborate with professionals to improve work safety and working conditions.

Kazalar ve AKP (1)-(2) Murat Belge criticizes the AKP for the high record of worker deaths under its governance.

Ölmemeyi dahi akıl edemeyen işçilerin ağır ihmali… According to Murat Sevinç, the government humiliated mine workers’ relatives by saying, “We wish you wrote a letter to warn us about bad working conditions; we would have fixed it.”

Other Pertinent Pieces

Bugün Soma yarın Yırca Mehveş Evin reports that Soma, where 301 mine workers died in May 2014, is again on the agenda with another catastrophe: expropriation and chopping of thousands of olive groves in favor of the construction of a coal power plant.

Soma’da neler oluyor? Muhammet Alkış accounts for the ongoing struggle of mine workers in Soma.

Camiye karşı mısınız? Hüseyin Sengül criticizes the use of the figure of mosque in order to legitimize the demolishing of the Validebag Grove.  

Validebağ korusunun kısaltılmış tarihi Sennur Sezer presents a brief history of the Validebağ Grove.

Published on Jadaliyya

Epohi Interview with Jadaliyya Co-Editor Ziad Abu-Rish on the Emergence of ISIS and Regional Ramifications

New Texts Out Now: Nazan Maksudyan, Orphans and Destitute Children in the Late Ottoman Empire

Erdoğan, Türk milliyetçiliği kartına oynuyor

After Gezi: Erdogan and Political Struggle in Turkey (Video)

Declaration by Scholars for Peace in Solidarity with the Saturday Mothers of Turkey

 

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The Chronicle of Higher Education Interviews Jadaliyya Co-Founder Bassam Haddad

The following interview was conducted by Ursula Lindsey with Jadaliyya Co-Editor Bassam Haddad in preparation for a feature about Jadaliyya for The Chronicle of Higher Education. The feature was published on 29 September 2014 and can be accessed by clicking here.

Ursula Lindsey (UL): Could you send me any statistics on the readership of Jadaliyya? I would like to get a sense of the overall size of the readership, and how it is geographically distributed.

Bassam Haddad (BH): We have become much less interested in numbers after having passed an important threshold in 2013, but we do not totally ignore them! Unfortunately (because one would like to see an alternative), the best indicator of the growth and expansion of readership has been “Facebook Reach,” which increased from around fifty thousand per week during the first six months in 2010–2011, to one million in 2012–2013, and surpassed 2.3 million in 2014. We actually stopped monitoring such numbers as closely, but know that our social media and classroom presence continues to increase steadily as our Facebook followers have surpassed 130,000. These followers are pretty active in circulating our content, and constitute a large part of how Jadaliyya content is disseminated. Twitter is another indicator. However, we refrain from tweeting too much, as shown by our tweets-to-followers ratio—which is perhaps among the highest (9900 tweets and twenty-seven thousand followers), at about thirty percent. The closest we have seen in our field is about forty-five to fifty percent. This reflects the extent to which each post/article, and/or tweet, is generating interest. It is important to note that our Arabic reading audience, world-wide but mainly in the region itself, has quadrupled since 2011, and now constitutes almost thirty to thirty-five percent of our readership, a testimony to how local informed readers elect to turn to Jadaliyya frequently—largely because our writers on local matters are either writing from the region or are intimately connected with the region.

As to other forms of tracing numbers, such as unique visitors, they seem quite inconsistent because the extent to which Jadaliyya is read not only via Android, iPhone, and iPad apps, but also because of the unusually large level of circulation of PDFs via huge email lists (which we are on and we see!) and, most importantly, its ubiquitous presence on syllabi (for instance, our unique visitors to the site hover around 500,000 a month, while most read Jadaliyya off line via email, PDF, or apps). Our Middle East scholars/educators/researchers list, now combined with that of Tadween Publishing, our sister organization, tops eight thousand engaged Jadaliyya readers who are increasingly assigning material from Jadaliyya.

The reason this happens is not only because we have good content. There is plenty good content if one searches the net carefully. Rather, it because of four very specific reasons: first, our good content has a long shelf-life, an outcome that is built into the editorial process; second, Jadaliyya content serves as an explicit resource or reference, through twelve topical and country/region-specific Media Roundups, profiles and archival posts for reference use, as well as weekly pedagogical reviews of new books, films, documentaries, art exhibits, and relevant social media items; third, Jadaliyya, in conjunction with Tadween’s blog, has become the space that most educators/researchers constantly visit for matters related to academic freedom, publishing, and higher education in the region as well as the United States and Europe; finally, our Jadaliyya content is selectively tapped to produce books and pedagogical publications that are published by Tadween Publishing and other publishers like Palgrave and Pluto Press, giving more gravity, and more longevity, to Jadaliyya content. One important source of such readers is JADMAG, of which we have so far produced five issues geared to educators, and chock-full of resources that are compiled and categorized at the end of each issue. (see www.JadMag.org or www.TadweenPublishing.com for more information). 

This source of readership is constantly expanding as Jadaliyya seems to be the only available site for such content (now quadro-lingual), and is our litmus test and what keeps us on our toes from day to day. The reason we emphasize this source in relation to numbers and quality is because the population of students reading Jadaliyya material based on educators’ choices is increasing exponentially at times, and serves as our most consistent source of readership with time especially that newcomers from that sphere become loyal readers. 

It is no surprise that the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) consistently sends us their critical public letters to publish when they want to reach the broader academic and research/journalist communities, including beyond the United States. It is not something you see consistently on any other website. And this applies to various other organizations that would like to reach the same expansive cohort (based in the United States, Europe, or the Middle East), including the new Arab Council for the Social Sciences (ACSS).

Our colleague and professor of Arabic literature at Brown University, Elias Muhanna, who also runs his own popular blog, Qifa Nabki, commented openly at a conference that he does not know a professor teaching the modern Middle East who does not have a variety of Jadaliyya articles on their syllabi—an honor that ranges from rare to unique when it comes to similar online publications. 

UL: We discussed stories that caused particularly strong debates, and you mentioned the critique of DAM`s video. Are there any other pieces that sparked debates?    

BH: Just to clarify, this last piece sparked more than a debate, as some folks where actually unhappy with the approach—though we are still in good communication with the concerned parties (e.g., DAM) given our approach to the matter. The pieces that sparked debate, discussion, and the like are actually many, and I am not sure it would be fair to single out a handful. However, the notable pieces that drew heated debates and attention revolve around the July coup in Egypt, or around the nature of the Syrian uprising. But this is almost a continuous variable, and still sparks heated discussions that reflect the polarization on these matters among concerned publics. Nonetheless, we continue to get serious engagement—even if sometimes a bit over the top—from detractors on various topics, from Palestine and Syria, to articles on sexuality, Islam, and even literature and film. The fact that detractors of the entire publication continue to engage and critique reveals a sense of legitimacy that even this cohort associate with Jadaliyya. For a critical publication, this is priceless, and we think we will fail if we do not maintain that level of quality and legitimacy.

UL: What are the most common criticisms or suggestions for improvement your get? Do you think they are valid? Where do you see room for improvement? When I last saw Jadaliyya Co-Editor Sinan Antoon in Cairo, he said, for example, he thought the site might publish less so as to focus more on the quality of the writing. 

BH: Oh, dear, there are all kinds, and so many of which come from us, the editors, given that various page teams are relatively autonomous. Our position on critique is simple: we ignore any critique at our own peril. This does not mean that all criticisms are equally valid. They are not. It does, however, mean that we take them seriously and assume their validity until we can illustrate otherwise to ourselves and to others. In most instances, critiques do include a modicum of validity, and our responsiveness to nearly every single significant line of critiques (based on a compilation) is the reason we keep growing in quality and numbers. We surely miss some, and we surely make mistakes even in assessing critiques—but these represent a minority of cases within our practice. Based on what we have heard, we see room for improvement in soliciting even more writing from the region; in working harder to get more pieces from the scene, on intractably controversial matters, like Syria; and we agree that we, like any successful publication, can get too comfortable with its status quo of readership and contributors. But questions like yours, and internal discussions based on similar observations, push us on a quarterly basis to make a deliberate and explicit effort to reach out. This is in fact why we dramatically expanded the Arabic section (in terms of readership and contributors) during the past two years. 

All in all we operate on a five-year plan of sorts (despite the problematic association with five-year plans). At this point, as we are still in our fourth year, we are establishing ourselves as a serious and perhaps the go-to publication for informed readership. But you will soon see some changes that will expand our scope and spice things up a bit in a productive direction, at a time when we need not worry as much about the basics and daily operations. Our challenge, actually, is to maintain the essentially voluntary-based nature of Jadaliyya. Therefore, much of what we have focused on during the first years of establishment involves building the best team there is, or what we think is such, under these circumstances. It is a continuing challenge, but it has been working since 1992 when the parent organization, the Arab Studies Journal, started.

As to the question of quantity verses quality, we exercise a mean purge every quarter, precisely to avoid the false impression that quantity is synonymous with quality. Surely, we fail here and there. However, the one development since 2013 has been the reduction of the output rate—which we view as having been somewhat unavoidable as this is how you connect with new readership and contributors in the early stages—from about 175 pieces per month to about 110-120 (though this includes all posts and reports, etc.). But this challenge continues, and—frankly—we hold ourselves to standards that are not observed in comparable publications that either focus on one country, or one approach (e.g., Foreign Policy), or one audience, or one language, or one discipline, etc. So we have to make up our own standards for a new kind of publication. All this takes time, and we welcome any criticism that allows us to meat our challenge. We are not sensitive to productive critique at all! We will fail without it. 

UL: You mention detractors of the site—any examples?

BH: Every new initiative gives rise to critics, and that is a good thing. What is interesting about Jadaliyya’s critics, most of them at least, is that they critique and stick around for the most part—largely because of what they tell us verbatim at times: “We expect more from Jadaliyya,” or something of the sort. Now the question of who these critics are depends on the issue, and often our biggest critics on one topic are our biggest fans on another. Syria is a good example where we get flack from both pro-opposition corners and anti-opposition corners, but you would find avid readers of other Jadaliyya pages among both varieties. Do we have critics that do not think Jadaliyya is worth reading at all? You bet! There is very little we can do to convince those voices otherwise. Having said all of that, the fact is that Jadaliyya has filled a gap and presented a centrifugal force around which critics of mainstream discourse on the region in the United State and beyond hover. That in and of itself has generated detractors. 

UL: It seems to me that Jadaliyya has a pretty clear, consistent identity, both in its politics and its theoretical orientations. The people who edit and write it are generally the same age and peer group, and many have known each other for a long time. Do you think you have a wide enough variety of views? Do you feel like Jadaliyya has been able to spark debates outside of a community of like-minded contributors and readers? 

BH: [One factual note: the editors and contributors are by no means of similar age or belong to similar social circles—not after 2011, regarding the latter comment, and have never been, regarding the former comment. We have had more than a thousand contributors and the Jadaliyya team surpasses eighty people living in different countries now. Any cursory view of any fifty consecutive posts reveals a variety that easily surpasses most comparable publications. As for views, it is a political challenge, not always a question of diversity. See below.]

This is the one-million dollar question. Yes, any good publication must struggle with this dialectic of building a readership based on a particular kind/nature of knowledge production, but then expanding it to attract new readership and contributors while retaining the reason for its success. Are we guilty of not doing this perfectly? Absolutely. Have we gone far beyond most other publications to allow for serious internal differences and reach out to new and alternative views? Absolutely. But that does not exhaust the question. As mentioned above, we are in the building stage, and we view a good part of the shortcomings as related byproducts. However, this is one of our fundamental goals as we enter and complete our fifth year, and it will not come without its risks, risks we are very happy to take. Most importantly in reference to sparking discussion or debates, Jadaliyya articles have been written about and discussed in conferences and in social media in ways that have actually jump-started broader research questions and helped set research agendas—not to mention the impact of Jadaliyya on the carriers of junior writers who make their debut there and then get picked up by other institutions who are hiring, paying, and producing knowledge. The list is pretty long.

Having said that, two comments are relevant here. First, we are not and do not pretend to be an open forum for all views. Though I suspect you recognize that and you are not asking about why we do not highlight and invite problematic (racist, sexist, classist, etc. writers), but rather, from within the perspective we support, we may still afford more variety—and that is totally fair, and the above addresses our need to meet this challenge in increasingly better ways.

The second comment is political, and refers to the context within which Jadaliyya and other publications emerged in recent years. We see ourselves as a counter-discourse in relation to the dominant and quite entrenched discourse on the Middle East in the United States primarily, but also beyond. We also see ourselves in the same manner in relation to the petro-media empire of some Arab states. In this context, we are trying to provide an alternative reference point for sound daily analysis on the region. To establish that difficult reality and standard, we have had to be more focused on consistency and quality, sometimes at the expense of maximum diversity. So, we are not, per se, seeking diversity of “views” in the absolute sense, which is a matter/goal that speaks more to liberal concerns that are often divorced from realities of power and its direct relation to dominant discourses. However, where we have room to improve on this particular point, which is how we understand your question, is to establish even more diversity “within” the “general” perspective we endorse. And, yes, we do have some work to do in that respect, but not always for lack of trying. We are fighting an uphill battle and we also have to pay attention to the challenge of dragging everyone along while expanding this spectrum (i.e., the million-dollar challenge/question above). The years ahead will speak louder than any words regarding our genuine interest in making this happen within the context of a counter-discourse movement.

Also, we do not pay our writers, and this restricts us by excluding many careerist writers who might have provided a diversity of sorts despite differing views.

Finally, it is important to note that beyond the essentials, we have ongoing viewpoint disagreements within Jadaliyya regarding content and particular pieces. We think it is a testament to the absence of a rigid conception regarding which particular views are welcome.

UL: Finally, there is an argument that young academics should focus on scholarly work and publication and not "waste" their ideas and time on writing for web sites and other venues. How do you respond to that? 

BH: We totally agree in principle, considering the kind of online publications and quality that proliferates. And whereas we would give the same advice, we cannot ignore the fact that the strategic position of Jadaliyya within the academic community can be a plus for rising academics who would like to be read and heard. Last year alone, several folks within and outside Jadaliyya remarked to us how valuable their Jadaliyya contributions were in capturing the attention of employers/academics in the hiring process. This semi-exception is borne out of the fact that Jadaliyya has indeed become the go-to place for academics generally, despite what this or that observer can say, sometimes legitimately, about the quality of this or that post. We just have to make sure that this continues to be kept to a minimum in the coming five, or ten, years!

So, in short, it depends. In the case of Jadaliyya, publishing there can be used strategically to enhance one’s chances of getting an academic job. We used to think that this was not the case before we were told otherwise by employers and during academic interviews. Used properly, it can be a plus, and this is not confined to Jadaliyya, as there are a number of quality publications out there. The world is changing, and the academic community is following suit, even if at a few steps behind.

UL: Are you planning on publishing anything soon on Obama`s war on ISIS?

BH: Yes, we have published a number of pieces addressing the rise and nature of ISIS, in both Arabic and English, and, beginning the week of 22 September, our fourth anniversary incidentally, we are publishing a regular media roundup specifically on ISIS-related articles. Stay tuned!