Ursula Owen
Editorial

News and Media

MEHRAK GOLESTAN
Dirty Kuffar. Islamist rappers meet cyber-censorship

ALEXANDER REYNOLDS
Terror in Thailand. Bangkok tries to get to grips with an Islamic insurgency

ANIA DABROWSKA
Freedom is a big word. A celebration in pictures of South Africa's 10th anniversary

MARCEL BERLINS
Libel tourism. Welcome to London, libel capital of the world!

MICHAEL GRIFFIN
True today, false tomorrow. A writer finds a libel writ on the breakfast table - and his book gets pulped

TABITHA MORGAN
Aphrodite's other island. Cyprus stays divided as Greeks vote their Turkish neighbours out of the EU

Opinion

JAMES THACKARA
A man more sinned against than sinning . . . The release of Mordechai Vanunu provokes a discussion of our nuclear future

Writing on the walls

FELIPÉ FERNANDEZ-ARMESTO
This story doth a wall present. The very long history of walls & Omid Salehi's photos of same in Tehran

KAMILA SHAMSIE
High on walls. A lesson in irony from Pakistan

RUBÉN MARTÍNEZ
Fortress America. How the Great Wall of America brings death in its wake

GLENN PATTERSON
A strange kind of peace. Belfast wins a 'Keep Britain Tidy Award' - with photos by Namiko Kitaura.

IRENA MARYNIAK
Think Roma, say Jew. The ghettoes remain and discrimination becomes 'official' in Europe

MARTIN ROWSON
Stripsearch.

STEPHANIE LE BARS and MARION VAN RENTERGHEN
Walking the wall. Israelis say it's a security fence, Palestinians call it the wall of apartheid

WENDY PULLAN
A one-sided wall. An old solution for a very modern problem

RAJA SHEHADEH
A drive on a forbidden road. The trials and tribulations of getting home after a night out

EYAD EL SARRAJ
Crossings. Playing the waiting game in Gaza

AVRAHAM YEHOSHUA
Why the Zionists were right Lament for the death of optimism

FLASHPOINT

A matter of conscience

MEET THE NEIGHBOURS

UMBERTO ECO
May the force be with you. A strong case for a united Europe.

MARTIN PLUHACEK-REINER
Czech Republic: Always the bridesmaid. The eventful history of Brno

JAAN KAPLINSKI
Estonia: A home named Tammiku. A tale of deportations and conquest on the road to today

LÁSZLÓ KRASZNAHORKAI
Hungary: City of phantom gentlemen. The ghosts that walk the streets of Gyula

NORA IKSTENA
Latvia: Looking for the Livs. On the track of a vanishing people

MARIUS IVASKEVICIUS
Lithuania: The howling wolf. Matchmakers and malls in Vilnius

ANDRZEJ STASIUK
Poland: Vanishing point. The multiple exits and entrances of a Polish escapologist

VALERIU NICOLAE
Roma: Exclusion within. 'It has to be better; we've known the worst'

DUSAN DUSEK
Slovakia: Home of the heavenly hairdresser. The Pope, the hairdresser and a good bowl of soup

KATARINA MARINCIC
Slovenia: Window on Ljubljana. Lives that hide behind windows

MICHAEL FOLEY
Bulgaria: Waiting in the wings. And next time it's the Balkans . . .

CULTURE

EDWARD LUCIE-SMITH
Loot! Who owns the Arch of Titus?

BABEL WENDY PEARLMAN
Palestine: Voices under occupation

DIARY LEDIO CAKAJ and MARIA BURNETT-GAUDIANI
August in Albania

LETTER

ESTHER MOIR
Zimbabwe: Absolute scarcity of everything