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Month: January 2013

Rebuilding in Gaza between War and Peace
By IRIN Ashraf Azzam, 33, stands in the ruins of his house in Zeitoun Area, Eastern Gaza City, destroyed in an Israeli bombing attack two months ago. “Everything went so fast. In the beginning, a […]

Israel Boycotts UN Human Rights Council
Israel has become the first country to boycott a UN Human Rights Council review of its rights situation, sparking heated debate among diplomats on how to respond. “I see that the delegation of Israel is […]

No Security Firms for African Refugees: Opportunities and War in Mali
By Ramzy Baroud The British security firm G4S is set to rake in massive profits thanks to crises in Mali, Libya and Algeria. Recognized as the world’s biggest security firm, the group’s brand plummeted during […]

Arab League Delegation to Submit New Peace Proposal to US
A delegation representing the Arab League will soon head to the United States to move forward the Middle East peace process, a Palestinian envoy said Tuesday. Muhammad Sbeih, secretary-general for Palestinian affairs in the Arab […]

Another Better Way for Mahmoud Abbas
By Rima Merriman “The clearest distinction between [Mahmoud] Abbas’s Fatah and their main competitor, Hamas, is that Fatah argues for negotiations as the only way to resolve the conflict, and Hamas argues for violent resistance […]

Hamas Chief Holds Talks with Jordan King
Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal on Monday rejected talks on confederation with Jordan before the establishment of a Palestinian state, official Jordanian media reported. “Talking about the confederation with Jordan before the establishment of a Palestinian […]

Israeli ex-PM in Coma ‘Shows Brain Activity’
Seven years after suffering a massive stroke, comatose ex-Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon has surprised his doctors by displaying “a certain degree of consciousness,” said an expert who examined him using an MRI scan. The […]

Time for UK Liberal Democrats to Re-connect with Their Principles
By Stuart Littlewood Alistair Carmichael is the Liberal Democrats’ Chief Whip. His letter to Karen Pollock of the Holocaust Educational Trust about MP David Ward’s remarks just before Holocaust Memorial Day is now in the […]

The Times Does Gaza: Oh, No You Don’t, Ismail Haniya
By Steve Breyman It’s a news article! It’s a news analysis! It’s an op-ed! The Times’ is at it again in Gaza. Fares Akram’s recent piece about Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s visit to the […]

Activists Re-erect Tents at Bab al-Karamah
Dozens of Palestinian activists entered a demolished protest village in northwest Jerusalem on Friday, starting to rebuild the al-Karamah (Dignity) encampment. The tent village was established last Friday to protest Israel’s land confiscation and settlement […]

Witness: Israeli Soldier Killed Woman ‘in Cold Blood’
“I saw an Israeli soldier on the main road firing gunshots haphazardly, so I put my left hand on Lubna’s back, and grabbed her to try and run backward. A gunshot hit my hand, and […]

Malaysian PM in Solidarity Visit to Gaza
Malaysia’s prime minister has defied Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip to visit the Palestinian enclave, a move that has earned the ire of West Bank leaders, despite Najib’s pledge of solidarity with the Palestinian […]

A Vote against Common Sense
By Jamal Kanj Israelis voted on Tuesday to kill the prospect of peace. Out of 34 factions contesting election, voters chose right wing parties advocating land annexation and “Jewish-only” settlements. This should come as no […]

Israel’s Move to the Center
By Uri Avnery It was the night of the optimists. Tuesday at 10.01 pm, a minute after the ballot boxes were sealed, the three TV news programs announced the results of their exit polls. The […]

Are Zionists Now Calling the Shots in the Anglican Church?
By Stuart Littlewood Rowan Williams, the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, has stepped down from his post (sigh of relief). Williams’s role as a figure of unity in the worldwide Anglican Communion, which is represented in […]

Mourners Bury Woman, Teen Killed by Israeli Forces in Bethlehem
Hundreds of mourners on Wednesday attended the funerals of a woman and a teenager shot and killed by Israeli forces in Bethlehem. Lubna Hanash, 22, was shot in the head on Wednesday morning as Israeli […]

Bibi Still in Charge despite Losing Ground on Iran and Settlements
[vsw id=”yxgnDSNbEIA” source=”youtube” width=”425″ height=”344″ autoplay=”no”] With nearly all the votes counted, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud-Beitenu bloc is claiming victory in Israeli parliamentary elections. The Prime Minister has lost seats in the Knesset, but still remains […]

Qatar and US: Collusion or Conflict of Interests
By Nicola Nasser In his inaugural address on January 21, U.S. President Barak Obama made the historic announcement that “a decade of war is ending” and declared his country’s determination to “show the courage to […]

Exploited and Misused: The Impossible Discourse of the ‘Arab Spring’
By Ramzy Baroud A reductionist discourse is one that selectively tailors its reading of subject matters in such a way as to only yield desired outcomes, leaving little or no room for other inquiries, no […]

No War against Iran: Israeli and US Elections
By Ludwig Watzal The call for early elections brought Benyamin Netanyahu a Pyrrhic victory. The Israeli voters made it clear that his dreams are not up to the sky. Netanyahu and his right-wing partner Avigdor […]

Universalism and Individualism versus Tribalism
By William A. Cook ‘As it looks now, more than half the members of the 19th Knesset will belong to the extreme right and beyond, at least a dozen of them honest to goodness fascists.’ […]

Terrorists and ‘Terrorists’: Quotes Make the Difference
By Jeremy Salt The French bombing of Islamic extremists and terrorists in Mali contrasts nicely with France’s support for Islamic extremists/terrorists in Syria. Francois Hollande says Mali had to be stopped from becoming an Islamic […]

Grand Waffle in the Middle East
(Remarks by Ambassador Chas Freeman, delivered on January 16 at a conference of the Washington-based Middle East Policy Council, of which Chas is president emeritus. The remarks were circulated yesterday by the American Academy of […]

Israeli Exit Polls Show Lead for Likud
Preliminary exit polls from Israel show Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud party with the largest bloc of seats in the next parliament, but winning by a narrower margin than expected. The first round of exit […]

Israelis Vote in General Elections
Voting has begun in Israel’s general elections, which are expected to return Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to a third term with a smaller majority in a coalition government of rightwing and religious parties. Security has […]

PLO Leader Predicts Far-right Israel Vote Outcome
The Israeli elections are more likely to produce an even more extremist right-wing government led by the current prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, says senior PLO official Muhammad Ishtayya. In a lecture at the Ramallah branch […]

Inauguration Day: Two Nobel Laureates, Drones Apart
By Felicity Arbuthnot One day … Children at school will ask: What is war? You will answer them. You will tell them: Those words are not used any more. Like stagecoaches, galleys or slavery. Words […]

Drone War ‘Will Trigger New Arms Race’
By Jaya Ramachandran – London The increasing resort to drones by President Barack Obama will over the long term usher in “a new arms race and lay the foundations for an international system that is […]

Israeli Election Campaign Enters Final Hours
With less than 24 hours until Israelis vote in general elections, party leaders were campaigning down to the wire ahead of a ballot that is expected to return Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to office. The […]

Israel Removes New Palestinian Protest Camp
The Israeli army has removed a Palestinian protest encampment of four tents and a building under construction near a village in the occupied West Bank, military sources said. In addition to demolishing the structures near […]