Recent work
The Weight of Gold: A Mandaean Journey Through Exile
Cut off from the society that nourished their way of life, the followers of this ancient Gnostic religion are slowly disappearing
Nora Adin Fares was born into a lineage of Mandaean goldsmiths, a tradition passed down through generations. But this ancient Gnostic religion and its unique connection to gold are now facing extinction. Cut off from their homeland and their way of life, Mandaeans have been forced to find new ways to uphold tradition through exile and the heavy weight of a heritage on the brink.
24 hours on a mediterranean rescue ship - from mayday to rescue
'Tell them what happened': Rescue on the high seas. Published on Aljazeera January 2024
George Totari from Nazareth believes the resurgence of his 1970s hit ‘Leve Palestina’ shows that a new generation wants more political engagement from their artists. Published in Hyphen Online march 2024.
Families living around the Arctic Circle are divided over how to fast during a holy month with up to 23 hours of daily sunlight.
For 44-year-old Lina Farhat, this year might have to be different. Having undergone surgery for breast cancer a few months ago, she worries that she might not be able to fast for the entire month.
Even so, she is looking forward to the peaceful silence during her moments of prayer and dedicating them to the people suffering in Gaza, which as a Palestinian, moves her greatly.
Photography by Mats Lindberg/Getty Images and Elin Berge/INSTITUTE. Published in Hyphen Online march 2024.
Kultur på svenska
Essay: Reconquering my mother tongue
Arabic became Sweden's second largest language years ago, yet fluency often proves elusive, especially for those who grew up speaking it at home.
Journalist Nora Adin Fares travelled to Amman, Jordan, determined to reclaim her fading mother tongue. But as she quickly discovered – after a Syrian language teacher dryly assessed her skills at "zero" – the journey back to Arabic is far more complex than it seems. Why is keeping Arabic alive so challenging, even in the diaspora?
How a 50-year-old Swedish protest song became an anthem for Palestine
Ramadan where the sun never sets
‘Genocide song contest’: how eurovision split sweden over israel’s war on gaza
Thousands of protesters drowned the streets of Malmö in a sea of black, white, red and green as they called for a boycott of Israel amid Eurovision bias. Published in The New Arab May 2024.
More reads
A woman has to be ‘stronger than a lion’ to cross the sea
From finding love in a smugglers' den to risking everything for a new life, these are the stories of the women braving the Mediterranean.
‘Never-ending humiliation’: Recalling horrors in Libya’s migration centres
Rescued in the middle of the Mediterranean, two men describe their experience being trafficked.
Published in Aljazeera march 2024.
