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The Syrian Civil War, now in its sixth year, has displaced an estimated 11 million people (with numbers constantly escalating), nearly half the country's population. Of these, the United Nations estimates 4.8 million Syrians have fled their homeland. News reports have tended to focus on the struggles of those crossing the Mediterranean and seeking asylum in Europe, but most refugees have sought safety in the neighboring countries of Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan, where they have dispersed and “settled” in towns and cities. A comparative few have settled in host government and/or UNHCR sponsored camps. Jordan's Za‘atari Camp, just seven miles from the border, is the largest Syrian refugee camp. Its population peaked at more than 120,000 residents and currently has between 75,000 – 80,000 residents most of whom are from the Dara'a area. The camp is numerically equivalent to Jordan's fourth largest city.

The Saudi-led intervention in Yemen’s civil war is well into its fourth year. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project estimates that military and civilian deaths number nearly 100,000, nea...

The Voice of a Condor opens with Reverend Naim Ateek's humorous anecdote about Americans who are unaware that Christianity “was born” in Palestine and that there are, in fact, Christian Arabs. Even in academic circles, discussion of Palestinians tends to focus narrowly on the Muslim Palestinians in Israel and residents of the occupied territories or refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon. Christian Palestinians once comprised more than ten percent of the population, but their numbers have been declining in the Holy Lands for more than a century. Today, they represent less than two percent of the population.

Anthropologists generally recognize that beyond being contests, sports contain important sociopolitical symbols. Several recent studies suggest ritual is an appropriate framework for both analyzing the symbolic messages transmitted through sports contests and explaining why these messages are powerful and evocative. This article contributes to this discussion by analyzing data on two sports events in the newly united Republic of Yemen. The analysis focuses on how the ritual structure is an essential component in symbolically generating a new national identity, demonstrating equal participation in the new government, and advancing the formation of the state.

As documented in many parts of the world, football clubs are important symbols of resistance, integration and identity. This article traces the multiple roles of sport rituals in North Yemen and South Yemen. In each nation, football has been a symbol of resistance to colonial or imāmate power and of regional integration into and identification with nationalist and state agencies. Before their union in 1990, football matches between the two Yemens were symbolic expressions of the success of the nations' opposing ideologies. The union of the two nations was marked by widespread public support but few obvious indications of unity or identity. Since unification, football rituals have been used to promote a new national identity. The first national football championship and the selection of a national team were instances where union was obvious. While a new national identity may be emerging, there are renewed signs of football as a symbol of resistance.

This study examined family forms in rural and semi-rural areas of the central highlands of Yemen and especially in the town of Amran. Data were obtained from fieldwork by 14 scholars over 35 years a period marked by a sociopolitical revolution (1962) and an economic restructuring. Changes occurred in internal households economic activity and traditional statuses and roles. During the 1970s and 1980s a period of high migration and a consumer economy more families became nuclear ones while after return migration in the mid-1980s extended families and multiple family households returned. This study examined residence ideals actual family composition the influence of external forces on the domestic cycle work force participation by family composition and some causes of household variation. The cultural ideal was a frame of reference for all informants at some point. Cultural influences result in emulation of the most prominent families the belief that Islam favors large families and no birth control care of aged parents by resident sons and fraternal solidarity. This ideal was prevalent in the prerevolutionary period in practice. Now remittances impact on father-son relations marriage patterns life styles business investment and housing. The rise of commerce and services reduced the link between migrants kin and land. But return migration led to a return to farming increased family size repatriation into camps loss of kinship ties and difficulties in assimilation. Large families diversified their economic productivity. Extended families are the ideal but family composition is changing due to a range of factors.

In early 2011, the “Arab Spring” reached Yemen. Protesters in Sana'a challenged Ali Abdullah Saleh's thirty‐three‐year‐long presidency. Their movement gained momentum; huge crowds demonstrated dail...

The author describes trends in return migration to Yemen as a result of political events in surrounding countries. The impact on Yemen is discussed with a focus on economic factors and space limitations. (ANNOTATION)

Although not often studied, sport can be an important agency for developing a national consensus. This paper examines how the North Yemen government has used sports to promote political integration. Existing clubs were consolidated into a national sports system. New clubs have been formed. There are now clubs in regions that had refused to accept government control. Analysis indicates that this expansion has extended into most areas of the country. Underlying the rapid growth of clubs is that they are voluntarily formed by local youth. Political integration has been possible because clubs are considered to be politically neutral. While clubs provide important links to the central government they have also become legitimate expressions of regionalism.

xii-xvi), the inconsistent use of Hellenized forms such as "kitharephoroi" when other Greek words regularly have been Latinized, and a tendency to offer weak conjectures which only muddy the waters (e.g., p. 97). Most of these last points, however, are quibbles. Troxell has provided numismatists, archaeologists, and historians with a masterly, thorough and reliable description of the internal development and organization of the coinage of the Lycian League which will remain as the standard reference work on the subject for many, many years to come.