Middle East/North Africa Forum

This is a region that includes some of the richest and poorest places in the world, as well as some of its most extraordinary sights (dating back to some of the most ancient times in all of history), cultures, ecotourism, beaches, and more.

And here our beat is Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

31 Members

Join Us!

Forum

The top 7 musts in the West Bank of Palestine - plus one more

Kyle Taylor Palestine´s West Bank - a territory of just under 2,200 square miles with a population of 4.2 million, wedged betwen Israel and Jordan - has long been a trove of history and culture enjoyed by millions of visitors in recent decades, especially those attracted to biblical history (mostly but far from exclusively Christians from around the world). But beginning in the fall of 2023, Israel responded to the brutal murders and kidnappings of more than a thousand of its citizens by…

Started by Max Pesling

0 Replies

My first Omani wedding: a distinctive Arab cultural experience

The female security guard discreetly slips me through a side door and gestures for me to sit at the table in the corner. The Arabic music is pulsating and the room is reverberating with the nervous energy of 400 women. Suddenly, the lights dim and everyone turns to watch. A bride, dressed in a Western-style long white wedding gown with matching trailing veil has a death grip on her bouquet of roses as she takes very slow measured steps down the center aisle towards the “Bride’s Love Seat.”…

Started by Tripatini

0 Replies

8 of Yemen´s most compelling destinations

Dan Significantly bigger than California and more than twice the size of the United Kingdom and this wedge of a country of 24 million on the Arabian Sea and running along the southeast corner of the Arabian Peninsula is troubled, to say the least – one of the world´s poorest countries and embroiled in a bitter, brutal civil war that makes it off limits to tourism for the moment. But it´s still well worth showcasing some of the wealth of historical, cultural, and natural riches Yemen has to…

Started by Max Pesling

0 Replies

15 ways to celebrate Christmas in Dubai

Wirestock In the United Arab Emirates Islam is of course the main religion, but Dubai especially is a world city, with many non-Muslim residents, and has embraced the more secular trappings of the Yuletide season making them a vibrant part of Dubai in December. Here are 15 excellent examples: read post

Started by Tripatini

0 Replies

You need to be a member of Tripatini to add comments!

Join Tripatini

Comments are closed.

Comments

Tripatini September 14, 2023 at 2:28pm

Once again our thoughts are with disaster victims, this time in North Africa, due to the earthquake in Morocco and the catastrophic flooding on the coast of Libya. To contibute what you can to aid victims, click here for Morocco https://time.com/6312509/morocco-earthquake-victims-how-to-help/ and here for Libya https://time.com/6313307/help-flood-victims-libya/

Morocco Earthquake: Here's How to Help

At least two aftershocks exacerbated the disaster, with the latest being a 3.9 aftershock on Sunday.
Wissam Al Khoury May 14, 2023 at 10:05am

The Arabian Travel Market took place a few days ago in Dubai, and CNN took the occasion to run an interesting piece on how culture, heritage, and history are driving tourism across the Middle East: https://edition.cnn.com/videos/business/2023/05/11/arabian-travel-m...

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/business/2023/05/11/arabian-travel-market.cnn
Tripatini February 11, 2023 at 11:28am

Our profound and heartfelt condolences to the people of Turkey and Syria on the wrenching devastation wrought by this past week's catastrophic earthquake, and we urge our readers to contribute to relief efforts being coordinated by numerous aid groups around the world, to help the millions who have been ijured and made homeless in severely cold weather. You can find a list of highly rated such groups at https://www.charitynavigator.org/discover-charities/where-to-give/e....

Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria

Highly rated charities providing relief and recovery in the wake of the devastating earthquakes affecting Turkey and Syria.
Jordan Simon January 8, 2023 at 10:14pm

Wow, looks like a bunch of stunning new luxury hotels are bursting out all over the region! https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-26/best-over-the-to...
José Balido December 12, 2022 at 12:46pm

Syria's Assad régime has launched a flurry of tourism development projects and promotion campaigns - including Western travel blogger/vlogge/influencerr dupes - designed to convince prospective visitors (and investors) that Syria is a safe place for a wonderful vacation. Plenty of critics aren't having it, though. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/oct/28/whoever-...

‘Whoever says Syria’s safe is a liar’: country’s tourist drive at odds with human rights record | G…

Vloggers visit the country to create audience-boosting content, but critics say they’re being cynically used by the Assad regime
Max Pesling October 3, 2022 at 9:14am

MP Qatar Airlines was just recently announced as the "favorite" airline of 2022 by the influential Skytrax, a UK-based airline and airport review and ranking site, based on more than 14 million customer surveys in more than 100 countries between September 2021 to August 2022 More details: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/skytrax-world-airline-awards-202...

The world's best airline for 2022 named

Airline review site Skytrax has revealed its 2022 rankings of the world's best airlines, with an old favorite taking the number one spot and a contro…
Mo Madhoun September 12, 2022 at 6:16pm

https://arabscountries.com/new-year-celebration-in-uae/
New Year celebration in UAE: UAE is famous for its astonishing fireworks during the New Year celebration; however, there are many other amazing places that you can attend during the New Year celebration in UAE. Moreover, Dubai is one of the main touristic destinations all over the world. Also, the government exerts all its efforts to facilitate everything for the tourists.

New Year celebration in UAE

New Year celebration in UAE is an amazing adventure that you will never forget ar there are many activities and amazing places to visit.
David Paul Appell September 12, 2022 at 12:26pm

The ancient Berber desert oasis town Ghadames has a fascinating walled UNESCO World Heritage old quarter, but it has been declared endangered due to the country's civil strife as well as neglect by the government in Tripoli. This past May, Al Jazeera focused on its plight: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/through-war-and-decay-libya-e2...

Through war and decay, Libya’s ‘desert pearl’ tries to hold on

Instability in the rest of Libya has effects deep in the desert, finds Al Jazeera’s Malik Traina.
Wissam Al Khoury August 12, 2022 at 11:25am

Socotra Island is a UNESCO World Heritage site due to its unique fauna and flora - especially the endemic, dramatic dragon's blood tree - and actually a bit closer to Somalia than Yemen. It had managed to stay largely insulated from Yemen's brutal civil war but has just been seized by the Southern Transitional Council, separatists who want to restore the independence of South Yemen. I guess for the time this pretty much drives the last nail into the coffin of tourism hereabouts, sadly. And just yesterday the Boston Globe ran a piece about Socotra which took note of two even more profound threats to the island's ecosystem: development by the United Arab Emirates and global warming: https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/otherworldly-beauty-in-the-ba...

Otherworldly beauty in the balance in the Galapagos of the Middle East

An archipelago in Yemen is home to stunning biodiversity. Civil war, geopolitical wrangling, and climate change threaten all of it.
José Balido July 13, 2022 at 9:16pm

On another front re Qatar World Cup, here's an eye-opening piece from the BBC summarizing the main controversies surrounding it, including abuse of foreign workers, oppression of gays/lesbians, corruption, and more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60867042

World Cup 2022: How has Qatar treated stadium workers?

Qatar has used thousands of foreign workers to build its World Cup facilities. Many may have died.