دوريات المركز

Drawing on data from the 2024-2025 Arab Opinion Index, this report explores evolving public attitudes toward social media across Arab countries. It examines how individuals use digital platforms to acquire and engage with news and participate in political and social discourse, especially in the context of ongoing regional conflicts. The findings reveal high levels of reliance on social media for information, alongside growing concerns over misinformation, censorship, and cultural harm. Despite widespread support for content regulation, many continue to use these platforms to discuss political and social issues. The report underscores the complexity of digital awareness and engagement in the Arab region and calls for more qualitative research to unpack public views on censorship, freedom of expression, and the impact of social media on political awareness and democratic values.

Tunisia’s democratic transition has attracted considerable scholarly attention, and is often portrayed as a notable exception. However, the reversal of most democratic gains in the decade following the 2011 revolution has called this narrative into question. This study deconstructs the notion of Tunisian exceptionalism through a critical examination of civil society, tracing its role from the pre-revolutionary period through the democratic transition, and up to Kais Saied’s 2021 coup. The study shows that Tunisian civil society contributed to the derailment of the democratic transition in three ways: first, by exacerbating Islamist-secular polarization, resulting in a fragmented “two-headed” civil society; second, by becoming an extension of political parties; and third, by encroaching on the role of the state, undermining its legitimacy and effectiveness in the public sphere.

Ahmed Zeineldin, Death Between Society and Culture (Doha/ Beirut: ACRPS, 2024), pp. 223.

This study examines the history of land governance in Palestine from the late Ottoman era to the Israeli occupation that began in 1948, focusing on the structural transformations that shaped land tenure and control. It explores rent, ownership, and spatial planning as interrelated spheres for understanding the conflict’s dynamics. The study addresses how Ottoman law was utilized to regulate land ownership and how the British Mandate introduced significant reinterpretations of ownership that served broader colonial objectives. It also analyses the tools employed by the Israeli occupation to dispossess Palestinians, including legal mechanisms, expropriation, and spatial planning, while highlighting the historical, social, and political dimensions of the fight for land.

Ahmad Amara, Beersheba Region, Southern Ottoman Palestine: Land, Society, and State (Doha/Beirut: ACRPS, 2024), pp. 344.