Hamed Abdel-Samad & Philipp Peyman Engel

The attack on October 7 and the Gaza war have dramatically changed the situation in the Middle East. But also in Germany: Suddenly, things that had long been taboo were being said, and attitudes here too became more radicalized. Even among friends: Abdel-Samad and Peyman Engel wrote letters to each other for months on the situation in the Middle East and exchanged views directly and controversially. They have now turned this exchange into a book. In their discussion, they now react to current developments and provide an assessment of the fragile peace between the ruins.

Philipp Peyman Engel is an author and editor-in-chief of the weekly newspaper Jüdische Allgemeine. In 2024, Engel was awarded the prestigious Ricarda Huch Prize by the city of Darmstadt. His essays appear regularly in SPIEGEL and ZEIT.

Political scientist and journalist Hamed Abdel-Samad has worked for UNESCO as well as at the Chair of Islamic Studies in Erfurt and at the Institute for Jewish History and Culture in Munich. Since March 2025, he has been a visiting professor at the Faculty of Law at Keio University in Tokyo.

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