Year: 2009

By Joharah Baker – Jerusalem Saying we are back to square one hardly does our situation justice. If we are to be more accurate, we should say we are below zero, pushed back to a […]

Thousands of Palestinians have marked the 61st anniversary of the "Nakba" or "catastrophe," in which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced following the creation of Israel. Demonstrators marched through cities across the West Bank […]

Jail Arabs Who Mourn Israeli Creation: Lieberman

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s party wants to ban Israeli Arabs from marking the anniversary of "the Catastrophe" in 1948 when Israel was created as thousands of Palestinians marked the 61st anniversary of the Naqba that […]

Israel PM Meets Jordanian King

Israel’s prime minister has held talks with King Abdullah II of Jordan as part of an attempt to improve ties with Middle East nations before a planned meeting with Barack Obama, the US president. Binyamin […]

CIA Chief Held Secret Talks in Israel with Top Officials

CIA chief Leon Panetta held secret talks in Israel with top officials who assured him the Jewish state would not launch a surprise strike on Iran, a report said on Thursday. According to the public […]

Pope in Nazareth, Braces for Netanyahu

Amid an almost blackout by major Israeli dailies, Pope Benedict XVI travels to Nazareth, the boyhood town of Jesus, on Thursday, May 14, a day after calling for a Palestinian state and ending Israel’s long-running […]

The Drones Are Coming: New War on Civilians

By Ramzy Baroud US President Barack Obama took the podium in a White House press conference and stood with an all-embellished confidence that often accompanies new presidents. He was flanked by two leaders whose apparent […]

Pope’s ‘Pilgrimage’ Mired in Politics

By Jonathan Cook – Nazareth Pope Benedict XVI upset the schedule on his first day in Israel by leaving an interfaith meeting in Jerusalem early on Monday night after a leading Muslim cleric called on him […]

Pope Urges Palestine State, Gaza Siege End

Pope Benedict XVI called on Wednesday, May 13, for an independent state for the Palestinian people, hoping the long-running siege slapped on the impoverished Gaza Strip would come to an end soon. "The Holy See […]

Abbas Delays Installing New Palestinian Cabinet

President Mahmoud Abbas has postponed a plan to swear in a new Palestinian government, Palestinian officials said on Wednesday. He had planned to unveil a new cabinet under Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in a move […]

Israel Hands over Lebanon Cluster Bomb Maps

Israel handed over to United Nations peacekeepers maps of where it dropped cluster bombs in Lebanon during the 2006 war with Shiite group Hezbollah, the UNIFIL peacekeeping force said late Tuesday. The U.N. and the […]

Netanyahu May Be in for a Surprise

By George S. Hishmeh Benjamin Netanyahu, the right-wing Israeli prime minister, is going to Washington on Monday for talks with President Barack Obama. But he may be in for a surprise. His host is not […]

Rising Militarism: US-Latin American Relations

By James Petras One of the most striking aspect of contemporary US-Latin American relations is the profound divergence between the hopes, expectations and positive image of the Obama regime and the policies, strategies and practices […]

Recognizing The Jewish State’s Right to Exist

By Jerry Levin Recently Prime Minister Netanyahu became the first Israeli Prime Minister to voice a demand that Palestinians must recognize “The Jewish State’s right to exist” before it will enter talks. Right up until […]

Israel’s Cast Lead, Palestine’s Sharpeville

By Sayed Dhansay It has been just over three months since Israel unilaterally declared an end to operation Cast Lead and withdrew its forces from the Gaza Strip following its 22 day onslaught there. According […]

Abbas Tells Ahmadinejad to Bury His Head in Sand

Acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas said the Iranian president is not entitled to giving his opinion on Palestine. Acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas hammers Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for making supportive remarks about […]

Obama Picks Egypt

By Rannie Amiri The White House announced Friday that President Obama will deliver his much anticipated (and promised) address to the Arab and Muslim worlds on June 4 from Egypt. Is Egypt the best venue […]

Lieberman Not Welcome in Egypt

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Tuesday that Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s firebrand foreign minister, is still not welcome in Egypt, according to remarks reported by the official MENA news agency. When asked whether Lieberman would […]

Lebanon’s Path from Perdition to Redemption?

By Franklin Lamb – Al Buss Palestinian Refugee Camp, Lebanon "When I graduated from Medical School here in Beirut more than 20 years ago there were 80 students in my class. The top dozen or […]

Pope Urges Religious Reconciliation

Pope Benedict XVI has called on followers of the three major monotheistic religions to put their differences behind them and work towards reconciliation. The pope made the comments as he celebrated an outdoor mass on […]

The US Empire and the Economic Crisis

By Ivan Eland A few—and only a few—prescient commentators have questioned whether the U.S. can sustain its informal global empire in the wake of the most severe economic crisis since World War II. And the […]

Palestinians Want Pope against Wall

Palestinian Christians want Pope Benedict XVI to bear witness to a symbol of their daily sufferings; Israel’s towering apartheid wall that is eating up their land. "We want the world to see him with the […]

What’s Happening at Kerem Shalom?

Kerem Shalom is currently the only entry point for commercial and humanitarian goods from Israel into Gaza, and as such has become a life-line, but how does it work? A small crossing without the facilities […]

Third of World in Exchange for Israel Peace

The Obama administration is reportedly working on a comprehensive approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict offering Israel recognition by Arab and Muslim countries in exchange for talks on all peace tracks. "What we are talking about […]

Abbas Plans New Palestinian Cabinet

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has said he will swear in a new government, without the rival Hamas movement, in the next 48 hours. Announcing his intention on Monday, he said that he was not […]

Remembering Jenin

By Stephen Williams The Martyrs’ Cemetery is but a few meters from Jenin Refugee Camp. On a warm, sunny day I stood in front of the memorial to the victims of the massacre of 2002 […]

Pope: Anti-Semitism is ‘Unacceptable’

Pope Benedict XVI on Monday denounced anti-Semitism and appealed for Middle East peace based on a two-state solution on the latest leg of his Holy Land pilgrimage that will take him to Jerusalem and the […]

Nuclear Shadow over the Middle East

By Jeremy Salt – Ankara "Unfortunately the Middle East finds itself in the shadow of a nuclear threat. We shall not give up. We shall not surrender." These remarks could have been made by the […]

Netanyahu ‘Wants New Peace Talks’

Benyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, has said that he hopes to resume the peace process with the Palestinians in the coming weeks. Negotiations have been stalled since Israel launched its devastating assault on the Gaza […]

Palestinian Refugees and Lebanon’s Election