Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Hana Hussain
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Will Turkey ever be part of the European Union?
“I would like to hear a clear declaration,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a visit to Poland last week. “If you want to accept Turkey, just do it. If you don’t want to, just say that.” Erdogan was of course, speaking of Turkey’s bid to join the EU,...
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‘The Biggest Prison on Earth: A History of the Occupied Territories’ by Ilan Pappé
One of this year winner of the Palestine Book Awards, Ilan Pappé, talks about his book 'The Biggest Prison on Earth'...
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Between the eagle and the bear: where do Egypt’s loyalties lie?
Egypt’s announcement earlier this month that it would be signing the final agreement for an industrial zone near the Suez Canal with Russia before the end of this year, was just the latest in a series of headlines that have highlighted increased cooperation between the two states. Moscow and...
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‘Palestinian women are symbols of heroism,’ says Palestine’s youngest female mayor
At just 26 years-old, Yousra Badwan is Palestine’s youngest female mayor after being elected to the post in the Azzun municipality of the occupied West Bank earlier this year. Badwan tells MEMO about her reasons for pursuing political office, and how she hopes to help her community in the...
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MEMO hosts 'Palestine, Britain and the Balfour Declaration 100 years on'
Middle East Monitor hosted an all-day conference in London to commemorate and understand the repercussions of the Balfour Declaration 100 years on...
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The real reasons why Saudi women can now drive
The news broke suddenly this week that Saudi Arabia had ended its infamous ban on women driving. Women across the Kingdom celebrated as King Salman Bin Abdulaziz called for licences to be printed in preparation for the first female drivers to take to the streets in June next year. A...
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Remembering the Second Intifada
On 28 September 2000 then Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque with heavily armed Israeli policemen and soldiers provoking a Palestinian uprising that lasted five years...
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In London, West Bank activists mark 50 years of Israeli occupation
Fighting back against Israel's discourse that Palestinians are violent and peace cannot be achieved with them...
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‘Unliveable’: Gaza’s rising suicide rates
“I ask myself, what’s the point behind all of this and then I fall asleep.” Such is an excerpt from a short story by 22-year-old Mohanned Younis, a young writer and pharmacy graduate who committed suicide at the end of last month by inhaling poisonous gas. Having tried to leave...
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Jerusalem delegation to Britain raises the plight of Palestinians
The audience were told how in Israel, Jews who attack Arabs have immunity from arrest...
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Qatar’s migrant workers: Progress for the wrong reasons is not progress
The boycott of Qatar has ensured that the tiny Gulf state has featured regularly in the news, but legislation passed last month saw headlines take a break from the allegations of Doha funding terrorism abroad, and instead looked closer to home. The new law grants legal protection to domestic...
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Egypt and the IMF: a cycle of stagnation condemns Egyptians to economic slavery
“Let me start with the good news,” announced Christine Lagarde of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the Egypt Economic Development Conference in 2015 that outlined President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s plan for economic reform. “The journey to higher growth has already begun.” Anyone would think otherwise when, in March this...
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Remembering the arson attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque
On 21 August, 1969, an extremist Australian Christian, Dennis Michael Rohan, attempted to set fire to Al-Aqsa Mosque; his action had the apparent blessing of the Israeli occupation forces. Some 48 years later, the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa remains under as great a threat as ever. What: Arson attack Where: Al-Aqsa...
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Is Trump making the Middle East great again?
US President Donald Trump has had an eventful six months in office. If his own domestic exploits were not enough to fill the headlines, his policy towards the Middle East would certainly have compensated. When not sacking, hiring, shuffling and reshuffling his staff, his official visits to Saudi Arabia...
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'It’s a game to Israel, seizing and detaining Palestinians'
Hanaa Hasan asks former Hamas lawyer, Stanley Cohen, his opinion on the prisoner exchange talks between Israel and the Gaza Strip authority....
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Will the UK ever sacrifice its relationship with Saudi Arabia?
On 5 July, right wing counter extremism think tank the Henry Jackson Society, released a report citing Saudi Arabia as the foremost promoter of Islamic extremism in the Muslim world and the West. British politicians and the media reacted with concern at the report, pressuring the government to release...
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#HandsOffAlAqsa
Human rights activists and pro-Palestinian supporters around the world have taken to social media to express their opposition to the closing of Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli occupation forces. Following a deadly shootout last Friday, Israeli forces closed the compound and cancelled Friday prayers in the mosque for the first time...
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Remembering the attempted coup in Turkey
On this day in 2016, the Turkish military attempted to overthrow the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) and its leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Whilst the coup was unsuccessful, it was the bloodiest in Turkey’s history and its impact can still be felt strongly in the country a...