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Israel Palestine Reporting

Armenians in Palestine mark 100 years since Genocide

Posted on April 23, 2015 by Alex Shams

Originally published by Ma’an News Agency on April 23, 2015. JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — The Armenian community of the Holy Land this week marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of

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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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Palestine Reporting

Birzeit students rally as thousands turn out to vote

Posted on April 22, 2015 by Alex Shams

Originally published on Ma’an News Agency  on April 22, 2015. RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Thousands of students at Birzeit University in the central West Bank went to the polls on Wednesday, bringing

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Palestine Reporting

Freedom Theater play takes new look at Nativity Church siege

Posted on April 19, 2015 by Alex Shams

Originally published by Ma’an News Agency on April 19, 2015. JENIN (Ma’an) — In a small alley hidden among the hardscrabble streets of Jenin refugee camp, memories of the bloody

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Palestine Reporting

Kale Project challenges Israeli control over Palestinian agriculture

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Alex Shams

Originally published on Ma’an News Agency on April 8, 2015.  BEIT QAD (Ma’an) — Up a small, bumpy road on a hill overlooking the northern West Bank town of Jenin,

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Israel Palestine Reporting

Israeli filmmaker explores life through the eyes of Palestinian teen

Posted on March 11, 2015 by Alex Shams

Originally Published by Ma’an News Agency on March 11, 2015. JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — The short documentary “Khelil Helwa (Hebron is Beautiful)” follows a young boy from Hebron’s Tel Rumeida neighborhood as

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Palestine Reporting

Palestinian village imprisoned in holy shrine of Nabi Samuel

Posted on February 12, 2015 by Alex Shams

Originally published by Ma’an News Agency on February 12, 2015. NABI SAMUEL (Ma’an) — The tomb of the Biblical prophet Samuel is blessed with a stunning view over Jerusalem from

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Palestine Reporting

2 years after youth shot by soldiers, friends honor him with mural

Posted on January 15, 2015 by Alex Shams

Originally published on Ma’an News Agency on January 15, 2015. BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — As the second anniversary of the death of a young Palestinian boy from Bethlehem approaches, his friends

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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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About me

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

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Recent posts

  • Workshop: Investigating Power
  • The “Terrorists” in My Grandmother’s Neighborhood
  • A Persian Christmas Story: How A Jewish Shrine in Qazvin Connects Palestine and Iran
  • ‘They Hit Everyone and Anyone’: From Lebanon, residents share what life has been like since Israel launched its attack.
  • Iran Braces for Uncertainty After President Raisi’s Death
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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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Popular posts

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    A Persian Christmas Story: How A Jewish Shrine in Qazvin Connects Palestine and Iran
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