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Ma’an News Agency

Palestine Reporting

Jerusalem family fights against all odds to prevent eviction

Posted on April 22, 2015 by Alex Shams

Originally published on Ma’an News Agency on April 22, 2015. JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — On a small alley in Jerusalem’s Old City, a Palestinian family is fighting both Israeli government and Jewish

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Israel Palestine Reporting

After police killings, anger simmers in Negev Bedouin villages

Posted on February 5, 2015 by Alex Shams

Originally published on Ma’an News Agency on Feb. 5, 2015. BEERSHEBA (Ma’an) — The killing of two Bedouin youths in southern Israel by police over the last week has shocked the

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Palestine Reporting

Group calls for Orthodox church reform over alleged Israel land sales

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Alex Shams

Originally published on Ma’an News Agency on Jan. 14, 2015. BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Christmas is a time for holiday cheer in Bethlehem, as thousands from across Palestine and around the world

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Palestine Reporting

Birzeit students hold solidarity event with Black struggle in US

Posted on December 18, 2014 by Alex Shams

Originally published by Ma’an News Agency on December 18, 2014. BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Nearly 100 students at Birzeit University in the central West Bank on Wednesday took part in a

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Palestine Reporting

Designing the ‘Ceremonial Uniform’ for the Palestinian Authority: An Interview with Omar Joseph Nasser-Khoury

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Alex Shams

Originally published by Ma’an News Agency on March 27, 2014. “The Ceremonial Vniform” opened to the public at Birzeit University Museum on March 20. Created by Palestinian artist Omar Joseph

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Palestine Reporting

Widespread flooding in Gaza forces thousands to flee homes

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Alex Shams

Originally published on Ma’an News Agency on Dec. 13, 2013. BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Gaza Strip was pounded by fierce winds and rain again on Friday as flooding reached dangerous levels

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Palestine Reporting

Reviving the Palestine pound to strengthen Palestinian independence

Posted on November 26, 2013 by Alex Shams

Originally published on Ma’an News Agency on Nov. 26, 2013. BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — In markets across historic Palestine, tourists can buy coins and bills emblazoned with the phrase “Palestine pound.” The

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About me

Alex Shams is an Iranian-American writer and a PhD student of Anthropology at the University of Chicago.

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  • Iran’s Protesters Are Caught Between State Repression and Foreign Intervention
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  • The Take: How can Iranians rebuild while crackdowns intensify?
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About

Born and raised in an Iranian-American family in Los Angeles, Alex Shams has long been fascinated by the stories that places can tell us. Growing up, he learned Persian and Spanish; in college, he learned Arabic and studied abroad at the American University of Cairo before moving to Beirut after graduation. After receiving his master’s in Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard, he moved to Bethlehem, Palestine, where he was a journalist at Ma’an News Agency, the largest independent Palestinian news organization. He received his PhD. from the University of Chicago in Sociocultural Anthropology. His dissertation, entitled “Constructing Islamic Modernity: Power, Religion, and Masculinity in Post-Revolutionary Iran,” was based on three years of ethnographic research in Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan as well as archival research in the British Library and Ba’ath Party Archives.

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