Middle East Report, “Exit Empire—Imagining New Paths for US Policy,” Spring 2020, No. 294, Vol. 50 No. 1

Executive Director

Mandy Terc mandyterc@merip.org

Managing Editor & Photo Editor

Michelle Woodward mwoodward@merip.org

Issue Editors

Waleed Hazbun University of Alabama

Shana Marshall (Chair of the Editorial Committee) George Washington University

Pete Moore Case Western Reserve University

Jacob Mundy Colgate University

Format: Online

ISSN 3065-744X

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This article was published in Issue 294.

Deportation as Punishment and the Everyday War on Migrants from Turkey to the United States
A woman crosses into Syria from Turkey through the Kassab crossing on December 27, 2024. Aaref Watad/AFP via Getty ImagesMembers of the MIT Graduate Student Union demonstrate outside the John F. Kennedy Federal Building on April 1, 2025 to demand the Trump administration cease attacks on the 1st Amendment and immediately release union members, including Tufts graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk. Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
MER Article

Deportation as Punishment and the Everyday War on Migrants from Turkey to the United States

Fulya Pınar • 13 min read
Unpacking the Gender 'Paradox’ Behind Arab Women in Tech
Palestinian students take part in Science Days Palestine at Al-Qattan Cultural Center in Gaza City on August 21, 2023. (Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
MER Article

Unpacking the Gender 'Paradox’ Behind Arab Women in Tech

Fida Adely, Jennifer Olmsted, Sana Odeh • 11 min read
Courts of Exclusion—Working-Class Masculinity and Anti-Afghan Racism in Iran
The poster for the 2016 documentary film “Overruled” by Farnaz and Mohammad Reza Jurabchian. The original title in Persian is “Eteraz Vared Nist.”Ismael Khodaei, seen in a still from the film.An Afghan broom maker in the Iranian city of Mashhad. Broom making (Jarubafi) is a profession predominantly taken up by Afghans in the city. Reza Heidari Shahbidak.
MER Article

Courts of Exclusion—Working-Class Masculinity and Anti-Afghan Racism in Iran

Paniz Musawi Natanzi • 15 min read
Dirty Work—The Hidden Machinery and Human Toll of Europe’s Broken Recycling Trade
An illegal dump in Adana, Turkey in 2020. Plastic packaging from popular British supermarkets like Sainsbury's and French frozen food retailer Picard is ending up being dumped illegally in the Turkish countryside. (Yasin Akgul/AFP via Getty Images)
Migrant Workers

Dirty Work—The Hidden Machinery and Human Toll of Europe’s Broken Recycling Trade

Adnan Khan • 15 min read
'We Want to Breathe'—Dispatch from Gabes, Tunisia
Protesters carry placards and chant slogans as they march in the southern city of Gabes, Tunisia, on October 31, 2025, demanding the dismantling of the state-run phosphate processing plant. (Fethi Belaid/AFP via Getty Images)
Activism

'We Want to Breathe'—Dispatch from Gabes, Tunisia

Dhouha Djerbi • 8 min read