Maria Kicha is a Russian writer, a PhD in Law, a historian, and traveler. Apart from teaching at Russian State University of Justice, research of the Middle East is her key occupation. Even though she does not usually refer to herself as an Oriental Studies specialist, Maria is the author of three brilliant books on the region: “Mecca: Biography of the Mysterious City” published in 2019, “Istanbul: Crossroad of Ages, Faiths, and Cultures,” and “Dynasties: How Power Works in Today’s Muslim Monarchies,” 2021. (All books are published in Russian. Translation of the titles by the author of this interview). She is famous across her country primarily as the author of a Russian-language blog on social media, which she regularly updates with reports from the Middle East and articles on related topics, as well as with rare visual materials. By August, 2021 nearly 36,000 people are subscribed to the blog. Maria speaks English, Italian, Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, and Armenian. She has been travelling across the Middle East for a decade and witnessed recent tragic events in Iraq and Lebanon. She shared her impressions and views with me during a Zoom call on July 29, 2021 directly from Beirut.
There is no functioning government in Lebanon. The Lebanese anger at their political elite is unprecedented. Jordan lives off transfers, transits, including the port of Aqaba, toll roads, different American and British donations and Tourism. They forced all bedouins into tourism. COVID-19 cut it off. Iraq degraded due to decades of wars, Saddam’s [Ṣaddām Ḥussayn] regime (1979–2003) and American intervention. Egypt and Cairo are overpopulated. The Taliban in Afghanistan claim that they adhere to human rights but then added “in accordance with the Muslim values and national interests.” This, however, doesn’t stop them from beating women who walk around without a maḥram (male guardian in English).
There is a lot of domestic violence with women, if they can, taking revenge on men. It is sad Christians are leaving. The common discriminator for all Arab and Muslim countries is Islamisation. “The Middle East, its history and the current state, it demonstrates Islam at work,” Maria Kicha says.