In cooperation with Werkraum Schöpflin and BuchBasel

They couldn't be more different: Saba-Nur Cheema's family comes from Pakistan, and she herself grew up in a troubled neighborhood in Frankfurt, shaped by conservative Muslim community life. Meron Mendel was born in Israel and grew up in a kibbutz in the middle of the desert, shaped by military service in the West Bank and Lebanon before coming to Germany to study.

As a couple, Mendel and Cheema look at the polarized world and talk about it. Their conversations and texts, which are both personal and political, deal with kitchen drawers, raising children, and colonialism. They deal with identity politics, the Middle East conflict, Ramadan lighting in downtown Frankfurt, and Christmas trees.

How can we organize ourselves in solidarity across ideological and national borders, build political resilience, and develop progressive social models? Cheema and Mendel's book Muslimisch jüdisches Abendbrot (Muslim Jewish Dinner) and their public appearances are invitations to conversation and analyses of our present – pleas for openness in difficult times.
 

In cooperation with the International Literature Festival BuchBasel (November 14–16, 2025). Free admission for festival pass holders. More information about BuchBasel 2025 here

“Im Kopf von ...” (In the mind of ...) is a series of discussions and reflections organized by Werkraum Schöpflin and Kaserne Basel. It invites contemporary thinkers to take us into their intellectual worlds—their research, doubts, analyses, and hopes. Together, we ask how we can not only withstand a crisis-ridden world, but also position ourselves in solidarity and resistance across borders!