Video: Middle East

Who Betrayed Hevrin Khalaf? — Our World, BBC

In October 2019, a rising star of Syrian democratic politics, 34-year-old Hevrin Khalaf, was brutally murdered in the Kurdish-governed north east of the country. Yalda Hakim travels to Syria to investigate this young woman's killing, her battle for freedom and empowerment, and her colleagues' view that her death was the result of President Trump's withdrawal of support from the Kurds, who have been a key American ally in the defeat of so-called Islamic State.

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Twitter in the Middle East — The Listening Post, Aljazeera

From a Saudi spy scandal to suspicious closures of accounts, is Twitter in the Arab world really promoting free speech?

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Britain's Hidden War — Dispatches, Channel 4

With BAE helping to keep Saudi jets flying, and British military officers working in the Saudi Air Operations Centre, Dispatches investigates the extent to which the war in Yemen is made in Britain. Read the Dispatches press release for more information.

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Targeting Yemen: The Fight Against Al Qaeda — BBC News

Safa Al Ahmad reports from Yemen on the escalation of America's covert war against Al Qaeda. She meets survivors of US attacks and finds evidence of undeclared civilian casualties and blunders by US special forces.

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How the Saudis ended up with so many American weapons — Vox

And why they want more. Saudi Arabia and the US have a partnership that's been in the making for over seven decades. It started after World War II and survived the Iranian Revolution, the Cold War, the Gulf War, September 11, and the proliferation of conflicts across the Middle East. This whole time, the US has been selling weapons to Saudi Arabia — now its number one customer. The US supplied those weapons because the Saudi’s threats have usually been a threat to the US as well. Today, there's a shift in the relationship. Saudi Arabia’s intervention in Yemen has created the worst humanitarian disaster in the world — and thrown the Middle East into chaos. The problem is, the Saudis are using US bombs to do it.

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Weapons of Mass Deception — Our World, BBC

It has been a year since Qatar's neighbours cut off diplomatic and economic ties. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt all accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism. A BBC investigation has uncovered an ‘arsenal’ of media weapons being used in the war of words in the Gulf, and examines whether people in the region will ever know the truth in an age of fake news and twitterbots.

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Nawal El Saadawi: Egyptian writer and activist — Hardtalk, BBC

Zeinab Badawi speaks to Egyptian activist and writer Dr Nawal El Saadawi. She is a medical doctor, writer, activist, campaigner and outspoken political critic, and has been described as the Arab world's leading feminist. She was banned from speaking in the Egyptian media and imprisoned under the government of President Sadat for her outspoken views. Zeinab asks her how much freedom of expression there currently is under President Sisi, and about the status of women in Egypt today.

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Royal Windsor Horse Show, Sponsored by Tyrants — Real News Network

Bahraini activists expose the tyranny of Bahrain’s King Hamad, and the relationship between the UK and Bahrain which endorses a violent regime through sponsorship, arms deals and a new UK naval base.

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Conflict and Cholera: Yemen's Catastrophe — Our World, BBC

The youngest and most vulnerable are paying a terrible price for over two years of war in Yemen as food, medical shortages and now a deadly cholera outbreak take their toll.

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The Special Relationship Between the UK and Saudi Arabia — Andrew Smith (CAAT), Real Media

Andrew Smith, from Campaign Against the Arms Trade, talks to Real Media about their recent court case. CAAT called a judicial review of the government's continued approval of arms sales to Saudi Arabia despite overwhelming evidence from a multitude of independent organisations casting doubt on the legality of Saudi bombings and the war on Yemen. Part of the hearing was held in secret, and despite an array of independent evidence about the illegal use of arms in Yemen, the verdict went against CAAT, but the tide of public and political opinion is definitely turning.

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The Funeral Bombing — Our World, BBC

On 8th October in Yemen's capital Sanaa, Saudi-led coalition jets bombed a funeral in a community building. 140 people were killed and more than five hundred injured. It was the deadliest attack in the 21-month air campaign which is aimed at re-instating Yemen's government from the Houthi rebels. The coalition's investigation team said “incorrect information” led to aircraft wrongly targeting the location. Nawal al-Maghafi travelled to Yemen to investigate what happened.

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Captagon: Syria's War Drug — Radwan Mortada, Chavala Madlena, BBC

Syria's War Drug: A look inside production of Captagon, the powerful amphetamine being used by soldiers in Syria. So, who's importing this stuff into the Middle East? Er, it just so happens that a Saudi prince has been charged.

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Rojava: Syria's Secret Revolution — Darius Bazargan, Mehran Bozorgnia, Our World, BBC

Is the Middle East's newest country a territory called “Rojava”? Out of the chaos of Syria's civil war, mainly Kurdish leftists have forged a radical, egalitarian, multi-ethnic mini-state run on communal lines. But with ISIS Jihadists attacking them at every opportunity — especially around the beleaguered city of Kobane, how long can this idealistic social experiment last? Our World has gained exclusive access to Rojava, from the frontlines, to the politicians and refugee camps.

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The Powers Behind The Islamic State — The Real News

Investigative journalist Nafeez Ahmed gives specific examples of how Saudi, Qatari, and American interests have supported the group formerly known as ISIS, and what the global community can do now to reign them in. Ahmed also talks about the pipeline geopolitics that are driving the current conflicts in the Middle East.

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Obama to Visit Saudi Arabia, Key Source of Funding for Growing Jihadi Militarism in Middle East — Democracy Now

Despite Saudi Arabia’s funding and arming of militants in Syria, Iraq and beyond, President Obama is set to visit the kingdom to meet with King Abdullah. It’s the only Middle Eastern or Gulf nation on Obama’s overseas itinerary. Many analysts say the conflict in Syria has grown into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Saudi Arabia’s links to jihadist groups go back decades. Fifteen of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers were Saudi. The 9/11 Commission Report identified Saudi Arabia as the main source of al-Qaeda financing. And in 2010, WikiLeaks published U.S. diplomatic cables which identified Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest source of funds for Islamist militant groups.

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Yemen: America's New Frontline — Yalda Hakim, Our World, BBC

Yemen is the new frontline in America's war with Al Qaeda. From the use of drones, to the treatment of detainees, President Obama has promised a new approach to fighting Al Qaeda. Yalda Hakim has been to Yemen to find out what this means for people living there, and to ask if America is creating more enemies than it's killing.

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Iran-Contra? Prince Bandar heads secret Saudi-CIA effort to aid Syrian rebels, topple Assad — Democracy Now

The Wall Street Journal recently revealed new details about how Prince Bandar bin Sultan al-Saud — Saudi's former ambassador to the United States — is leading the effort to prop up the Syrian rebels. Intelligence agents from Saudi Arabia, the United States, Jordan and other allied states are working at a secret joint operations centre in Jordan to train and arm hand-picked Syrian rebels.

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Solar Mamas — Jehane Noujaim, Plus Pictures and Steps International

Solar Mamas follows the remarkable story of Rafea, a mother-of-four from Jordan who challenges the status quo of her traditional marriage by travelling to India to train as a solar engineer for six months. Along with 27 other mothers and grandmothers from poor communities around the world — many of whom are illiterate — she will learn the skills needed to bring electricity and light back to her village.

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Chomsky: “This is the Most Remarkable Regional Uprising that I Can Remember” — Democracy Now

In recent weeks, popular uprisings in the Arab world have led to the ouster of Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the imminent end of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's regime, a new Jordanian government, and a pledge by Yemen's long-time dictator to leave office at the end of his term. Chomsky speaks about what this means for the future of the Middle East and US foreign policy in the region, how US fear of the Muslim Brotherhood is really fear of democracy in the Arab world, and what the Egyptian protests mean for people in the US.

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Fight for Oil: 100 Years in the Middle East — Dieter & Joachim Schroeder

The history of the race for oil in the Middle East, and the conflict it caused between world powers in the 20th century, is explored in this documentary series.

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From Balfour to Blair — Aljazeera

This special 30-minute film investigates the role of British policy in the Middle East, from the beginning of the 20th century to today.

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The Real Friends of Terror — Ted Honderich

Can suicide bombers ever be justified? Professor Honderich, Britain's leading moral philosopher, is unafraid to tell the truth as he sees it. Taking what he says is the betrayal of the Palestinian people as his starting point, Honderich reveals who shares moral responsibility for recent acts of terrorism, and points a finger at the politicians. Bizarrely, David Aaronovitch presented a response to this programme, failing completely to address Honderich's “Principle of Humanity”.

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Declassified: Ayatollah Khomeini — Ten Worlds Productions

Historical look at the relationship between Iran and America. Reveals how the US installed a dictatorship with secret police, via the puppet Shah.

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Hot Spots: Iran — Jim Muir, BBC

The US-backed coup of 1953, the hostage crisis in 1979, and the recent nuclear stand-off have all contributed to a mistrust between Iran and the US. Can they ever make up?

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Promises and Betrayals — Content Productions

Documentary on how British double-dealing during WWI ignited the conflict between Arab and Jew in the Middle East. This is a story of intrigue among rival empires; of misguided strategies; and of how conflicting promises created a legacy of bloodshed which determined the fate of the Middle East. This film pieces together a disturbing picture of a cynical and duplicitous war time government.

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US ready to seize Gulf oil in 1973 — James Landale, BBC

Recently made public British government documents show that the US was considering using force to seize oilfields in the Middle East during an oil embargo by Arab states in 1973.

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