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Month: January 2013

Abbas Calls on Arab States to Support Jerusalem
PA President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday called on Arab states to provide funds to implement a strategic plan to support Jerusalem at a summit in Saudi Arabia, Palestinian Authority media reported. Abbas said Arab states […]

Why the Palestinian Diaspora Must Become Politically Engaged
By Alan Hart – London (The following is the text of an address I delivered yesterday to a conference in London organized by the Palestine Return Centre on the subject of Britain’s Legacy in Palestine, […]

Is Syria Just Another Proxy War?
By Ali Younes For those who have been following the bloody events in Syria in the past two years, it is clear that there is no doubt that the regime of Bashaar al-Assad is responsible […]

The New State of Palestine: Division, Occupation and Diplomacy
By Fadi Elhusseini While the U.S. administration reconciled itself to walking the walk of Israel and talking the talk of its diplomacy when it comes to foreign policy towards the Palestinians, it has been announced […]

Partitioning the ‘Two-State Solution’
By John V. Whitbeck Words matter. They shape perceptions and understanding, both of past and present events and of future possibilities, and, thereby, can shape future events. The UN General Assembly’s vote of November 29 […]

Fatah: Abbas will Head Unity Government
President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas will head a unity government to be formed by Jan. 30, a Fatah official said Friday. Yahya Rabah told Ma’an the new government would be comprised of technocrats and […]

Netanyahu Vows to Not Dismantle Settlements
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, has said no settlements in the occupied West Bank will be dismantled if he wins next week’s general election. In an interview with Israel’s Maariv newspaper published on Friday, Netanyahu […]

How Serious Is the Threat to Jordanian King Abdullah’s Rule?
By Daniel Wagner and Giorgio Cafiero Calls for change have returned to Jordan, with large crowds demanding social, economic and political reform and objecting to the rising cost of living, high levels of unemployment, corruption […]

Iraq: A Twenty Two Year Genocide
By Felicity Arbuthnot Incredibly it is twenty two years to the day since the telephone rang in the early hours and a friend said: “They are bombing Baghdad.” It was not alone Baghdad, of course, […]

PA to Pay Partial Salaries on Sunday
The Palestinian Authority will pay public sector workers partial December salaries on Sunday, the finance minister said Thursday. Nabil Qassis said in a statement that government employees would receive half their December wages, with a […]

Girl from Gaza Takes First Prize in International Math Competition
Gaza’s children affirmed their place at the forefront of creativity and innovation last week, as a 14-year-old girl from Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza, took first place in an international math competition featuring the best […]

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Intifada
By Ramzy Baroud If Palestinian leaders only knew how extraneous their endless rounds of “unity” talks have become, they might cease their enthusiastic declarations to world media about yet another scheduled meeting or another. At […]

Palestinian Unity – Israel’s Nemesis
By Vacy Vlazna Nemesis: ‘the inescapable agent of someone’s or something’s downfall.’ Imagine Israel faced with a united front of every Palestinian who exists. Pro-Palestinian activists around the world shout from their hearts to the […]

Forbes Most Powerful People Deception
By Ivan Simic Every year we have the opportunity to read Forbes “the World’s Most Powerful People” list which is showing us who, by Forbes opinion, is the most powerful in the world. However, as […]

Your Nakba, and Mine – A Poem
By Ramzy Baroud When your grandfather deserted his horse At the lower edge of the Pacific My family’s steed was still grazing By the southern hills of Palestine Your Nakba started before mine But mine […]

Syria: the Cold War Continues
By Shafiq Morton With the Syrian death toll (consisting mainly of civilians) rising to 60,000 according to the UN, the 21 month-old uprising – which started off as a peaceful protest against President Bashar al-Assad […]

Egypt Resumes Qatar Fuel Shipments to Gaza
Egyptian authorities have resumed shipping Qatari fuel into the Gaza Strip via an Israeli-controlled crossing after unrest blocked the delivery route for over two months, a Palestinian official said Monday. Amr Hadhoud, the Palestinian representative […]

How 20 Tents Rocked Israel: Palestinians Take the Fight to Their Occupiers
By Jonathan Cook – Nazareth When the Palestinian leadership won their upgrade to non-member observer status at the United Nations in November, plenty of skeptics on both sides of the divide questioned what practical benefits […]

Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe – Book Review
Reviewed by Eric Walberg (Anne Applebaum, Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-1956, USA: Doubleday, 2012.) The period following WWII in eastern Europe is considered to be a black one, best forgotten. All the […]

Israel Evacuates E1 Protest Village, Activists Injured
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has pledged to move ahead with building a Jewish settlement in a strategic area of the West Bank, speaking just hours after Israeli troops dragged anti-settlement protesters from the site […]

Afghan Peace Volunteer: Drones Bury Beautiful Lives
By Kathy Kelly – Kabul (Below is a transcript of an interview with Raz Mohammad, an Afghan Peace Volunteer, with questions prepared by Maya Evans of Voices for Creative Non Nonviolence UK.) Raz Mohammad: Salam […]

Israeli Forces Shoot, Kill Worker South of Hebron
Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian worker on Saturday who was attempting to cross into Israel, Israeli medical sources said. Uday Kamil Muhammad Darwish, 21, was attempting to cross the border in an area south […]

Israel Orders Palestinian E1 Tent Evacuation
The Israeli Civil Administration has given Palestinian activists an ultimatum to quit a protest camp in part of the occupied West Bank where Israel has vowed to build new settler homes. As Palestinian politicians and […]

West Bank: Aid Agencies Tread Gingerly in Area C
As night descends in the Jordan Valley in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), a family in the village of Ras Al-Ahmar lights a small paraffin lamp in the tent they call home. There is no […]

Video: 5 Broken Cameras
A documentary on a Palestinian farmer’s chronicle of his resistance to the actions of the Israeli army.

FNB, Hamas and Al Aqsa Saga: War on Terror in Johannesburg?
By Iqbal Jassat What explains the decision by First National Bank of South Africa (FNBSA) to close the banking account of Johannesburg-based Al Aqsa Foundation? What informs FNBSA to target Al Aqsa – this country’s […]

Seeking Security in Afghanistan
By Martha Hennessy and Kathy Kelly This week, in Washington, D.C., Presidents Obama and Karzai will discuss a proposed Bilateral Security Agreement between Afghanistan and the United States. Presumably, they’ll note some of the main […]

Abbas and Meshaal in Cairo for Talks
The leaders of Fatah and Hamas held separate meetings in Cairo with the Egyptian president in the latest round of reconciliation talks between their long-divided factions. Egyptian officials had hoped to coax Mahmoud Abbas, the […]

Winter Storms Pound Levant Region
Severe winter weather has killed at least 12 people across the Levant region this week, as low temperatures and precipitation sweep across Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories. The UN appealed on Thursday […]

Nablus Gunmen Warn PA Security Services
A group of masked gunmen claiming affiliation to Fatah’s military wing warned on Thursday that they would fight back against the imprisonment of their members by Palestinian security forces. Parading through Nablus’ Balata refugee camp, […]