Berlin – Exile, Transit, Emergency Shelter
Chapters 7
On the Need to Shape the Arab Exile Body in Berlin
Journeys from the Abyss: Constructing the Migrant as Illegal
Urban Citizenship: A Right to the City?
From the 20th Century as ‘the Century of the nation-States’ to the 21st Century as ‘the Century of Cities’
Rethinking and Thinking Beyond Arendt: On the Lost Right to Have Rights
The Local Turn in the Migration Debate
Archive
Benno Simoni’s life in partitioned Berlin
Benno Simoni describes how he grew up and lived as a Jew in the GDR and – until the building of the Berlin Wall…

The Berlin “OPlatz” movement
An interview with refugee activist Bashir Zakaria on Berlin Oranienplatz conducted in 2013, in which he tells the story of his flight and arrival…

İsa Artar’s perspective on Berlin, German politics and history
Because of his political and journalistic activities, İsa Artar came under state pressure and police observation in Turkey. Before he was sentenced to a…

Nazeeha Saeed about how her journalistic activism changed after coming to Europe
Nazeeha Saeed, a journalist from Bahrain who lives in Paris and Berlin in exile since 2016, speaks about her journalistic work in Bahrain and…

Nazeeha Saeed about her openness for changes and her visions
Nazeeha Saeed, a journalist from Bahrain who lives in Paris and Berlin in exile since 2016, speaks about her visions for the future: As…
“Through his name he becomes conspicuous.”
Ilija Trojanow, who fled with his parents from Bulgaria to Germany in 1971 and whose life is marked by experiences of migration, deals in…
The Syrian coast in the nose
Kefah Ali Deeb came to Berlin in 2014 and spent six years writing a taz column about her old home country Syria and her…

Nazeeha Saeed’s persecution as a critical journalist in Bahrain
Nazeeha Saeed was harassed by state authorities because of her journalistic activities in Bahrain. In this excerpt she describes how she arrived at the…
Good Morning, Berlin
Kefah Ali Deeb came to Berlin in 2014 and spent six years writing a taz column about her old home country Syria and her…

Mahdi A. on Life Experience and Making Friends in Berlin
Mahdi A. talks in an interview about the initial difficulties in meeting his classmates in Berlin and how he dealt with the experience of…
Alaa Muhrez: Refugee is Only a Word
On an unusually bright morning in Berlin I was sitting alone, sipping a cup of coffee and hesitating over a loud noise. This word…

İsa Artar on the loss and reconstruction of his identity after flight
Because of his political and journalistic activities, İsa Artar came under state pressure and police observation in Turkey. Before he was sentenced to a…

İsa Artar on his political and journalistic activism in Turkey
İsa Artar was politically active in Turkey, among other things with the Gezi protests and as editor-in-chief of a critical online platform. When, after…

“Home are memories”
In an interview, Widad Nabi describes what the words home and future mean to her.

Nazeeha Saeed’s worries about Europe’s shift to the right
Nazeeha Saeed, a journalist from Bahrain who lives in Paris and Berlin in exile since 2016, tells about her worries in face of Europe’s…

Nazeeha Saeed about discrimination against minorities in the Gulf and in Europe
Nazeeha Saeed, a journalist from Bahrain who lives in exile in Paris and Berlin since 2016, speaks about the discrimination against minorities and the…

Seven Reasons to Fall in Love with Berlin
Literary “love letter” by Widad Nabi to Berlin

Mahdi on Support
Mahdi, who decided to flee Iran at the age of fourteen and has been living in Berlin ever since, tells where and from whom…

Berlin: It’s a Consolation
In an interview, the writer Widad Nabi speaks about what Berlin means to her.
Your reservations do not help me
Kefah Ali Deeb came to Berlin in 2014 and spent six years writing a taz column about her old home country Syria and her…

Alaa on the German job centre
Alaa Muhrez talks about her experiences in searching a job in Berlin.

İsa Artar about subliminal prejudices
Because of his political and journalistic activities, İsa Artar came under state pressure and police observation in Turkey. Before he was sentenced to a…

Nazeeha Saeed about the Attribution “Refugee,” “Asylum,” and “Exile”
Nazeeha Saeed, a journalist from Bahrain who lives in Paris and Berlin since 2016, talks about how she came to call herself a “journalist…

On the Frontline: Walking While Cut in Half
In his poetic essay, Karam Alhamad describes his thoughts about belonging and feelings to Berlin. He feels as a Syrian in Berlin only in…
oneself for a lifetime.”
“There is life after the flight. But the flight acts upon oneself for a lifetime.”
Ilija Trojanow, who fled with his parents from Bulgaria to Germany in 1971 and whose life is marked by experiences of migration, deals in…
Here in Berlin?
Somayeh Rasouli, who fled to Berlin from Afghanistan, reports on the difficulties that arise with “little prospect to remain” in building a new life…

Why ‘refugee’ makes me think of success. A commentary
Hussam Al Zaher, founder and editor-in-chief of kohero magazine, on public discourse around refugees in Germany, self-determination and external perceptions. The article was originally…

Selafet Hizarçi on family and neighborhood support structures
Selafet Hizarçi came to Germany from Turkey in 1969, where she immediatly began to work, learn the language and lateron started a family. Within…
Please explain to me what integration is
Kefah Ali Deeb came to Berlin in 2014 and spent six years writing a taz column about her old home country Syria and her…

New Friendships
Alaa Muhrez talks about the new friendships she has made in Berlin and about the potential as well as difficulty when it comes to…

Mahdi A. on Berlin
Mahdi A. describes his initial helplessness after his arrival in Berlin, what the city means to him now and his plans for the future.

My home – an unfulfilled dream
Khatereh Rahmani describes her attempt, despite separation from her family and uncertainty about the future, to build her new life and everyday life in…

Alaa on arriving in Berlin
Alaa Muhrez on the reasons for her flight from Syria and Egypt, the decision for Germany and what she learned to appreciate about Berlin.

İsa Artar’s trial in exile and the (in)possibility of return
Because of his political and journalistic activities, İsa Artar came under state pressure and police observation in Turkey. Before he was sentenced to a…

İsa Artar about Istanbul and Berlin
Because of his political and journalistic activities, İsa Artar came under state pressure and police observation in Turkey. Before he was sentenced to a…

Alaa Muhrez’s Experience of Discrimination in Working Life
First Alaa Muhrez and her husband moved to a village near Leipzig, then they moved to Berlin. Alaa describes experiences of discrimination that she…

Selafet Hizarçi about experiences of discrimination
Selafet Hizarçi came to Germany from Turkey in 1969, where she immediately began to work, learn the language and started a family. As part…

This is Berlin.
The expectations of refugees who come to Germany are high: they should integrate, learn the language, build a new life for themselves and at…

Nazeeha Saeed about settling in in Paris and Berlin
Nazeeha Saeed was harassed by state authorities because of her journalistic activities in Bahrain. In this interview excerpt she speaks about how she settled…

Mahdi’s Flight to Berlin
At the age of 14, Mahdi A. decided to leave Iran and flee to Europe. He tells why he decided to flee, about the…