Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Professor Kamel Hawwash
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While Razan lost her life, Nikki Haley lost her humanity
Last Friday, 1 June, a Palestinian volunteer medic, Razan Al-Najjar, was fasting and tending to the wounded at Gaza’s artificial fence with Israel. Thousands of miles away, the US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, was scheming on behalf of Israel at the world body. The day ended with...
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The PNC meeting was ‘much ado about nothing’
After a 22-year lull, the highest Palestinian legislative authority of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), the Palestinian National Council (PNC), finally met in Ramallah for its 23rd session. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas faced severe criticism for holding the meeting in Ramallah, which remains under occupation, thus excluding many members...
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UNRWA, the US Embassy move and the Israeli occupation
This will be remembered as the year when the United States of America broke with the international consensus by moving its Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, thus recognising the Holy City as the capital of Israel. The deliberate timing of the move to coincide with next month’s 70th...
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The Great March of Return: An opportunity for Palestinians to return to Najd or is it Sedrot?
There is nothing like a trip to Beirut and a visit to Palestinian refugee camps to remind visitors of the nub of the Palestinian catastrophe, the Nakba which refugees continue to endure to this day. They were thrown out of their homeland simply because another people wanted to make...
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Israel, the West and shameless hypocrisy
The current crisis between Britain and Russia offers yet another example of the shameless hypocrisy of the West when dealing with Israel and almost any other country. Why bring Israel into the attempted murder of two people on the streets of Britain in which Russia, not Israel is implicated?...
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The Middle East Quartet still includes the US, so can it still play a role in the peace process?
Since US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the subsequent decision to cut American funding to UNRWA and the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah has announced formally and repeatedly that Washington cannot continue in its traditional role as the sole sponsor of...
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The PA must rise to the dangers facing the cause or make way for new leadership
Israel’s extremist, settler-led government is on a roll. US President Donald Trump’s Christmas gift of recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and his consequent surrogate bullying in the UN General Assembly on behalf of the colonialist entity has sent its leaders into a frenzy of actions that will have far-reaching...
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What options does Abbas have after that General Assembly vote?
As the dust settles on a significant week at the UN, in which America’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was rejected roundly by the international community, the Palestinians have made a commitment not to engage with the US in any future peace talks. Where, though, can the Palestinian...
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It’s time the international community stood up for Palestinian children
Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinian children is not a new development but rather one example of its many breaches of international law and international humanitarian law. While it has in the past faced criticisms for its maltreatment of Palestinian children, particularly in relation to minors that are taken into custody...
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How long before the Israeli flag flies over Riyadh?
At a recent MEMO conference entitled “Crisis in Saudi Arabia: War Succession and Future”, I asked Professor Madawi Al-Rasheed of the London School of Economics if she thought that the Israeli flag would be flying over Riyadh within the next two years. “In terms of an Israeli flag in Makkah...
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Netanyahu is redefining ethnic cleansing not pursuing genuine peace
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not known for missing an opportunity to push peace further into the distant future. The dust had not even settled on the Balfour Centenary, which the Palestinians marked with anger and Israel and its supporters celebrated, before Netanyahu took to the air to...
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If only Boris Johnson would write an ‘alternative’ article on the Balfour Declaration centenary
When it came to BREXIT, the now Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson wrote one article for, and another against, leaving the EU, to help him make up his mind. When this emerged, he explained it like this: “Everybody was trying to make up their minds about whether or not to...
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Israel is pushing its luck with the EU
When it comes to the various stakeholders in the Israeli Palestinian conflict Israel has guaranteed American support in almost whatever it does. Other stakeholders, including the EU, have consistently criticised Israeli government policy but consistently failed to back it up with any action. That is, possibly, until now. The Obama...
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Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes is, in fact, an own goal
Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes is now almost a daily occurrence. The reasons vary but the phenomenon is ultimately a form of collective punishment; the humiliation of the occupied by the occupier and a means to achieve “demographic control” of occupied Palestinian territory. The Zionist state publicises the demolition of...
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Palestine must push back against loss of traditional allies
When the PLO asked the United Nations General Assembly for an upgrade in Palestine’s status to “non-member observer state” on 29th November 2012, the motion was passed by a vote of 138 to 9, with 41 abstentions. The vote was met with ecstatic celebrations by the Palestinian delegation and disappointment on...
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Israel is sleepwalking towards tyranny not practising democracy
Let me start by acknowledging that democracy is in short supply in the Middle East. However, only one state claims to be a democratic state. In fact, Israel claims to be “the only democracy in the Middle East,” with the “most moral army in the world”. Increasingly, extremist Israeli governments...
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Every picture tells a story; can the Palestinians expect any justice from this bunch?
Throughout his first trip abroad as US president, during which he visited Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, Donald Trump expressed his desire to bring peace to the region. It would be, he said, the “ultimate deal.” He promised Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas: “We want to create peace between...
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When Congress celebrates the illegal occupation of Jerusalem, it defiles and redefines US values
The American people missed a major incident in the US Congress last week which should have worried them immensely. Their elected representatives celebrated an illegal act on their behalf. Yes, the US Congress celebrated the 50th anniversary of the illegal occupation of East Jerusalem by Israel, and its illegal...
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Israel knows that it only has to bide its time to get everything it wants
Recent commemorations of the 69th anniversary of the Nakba followed the long-awaited meeting at the White House between US President Donald Trump and his Palestinian Authority counterpart Mahmoud Abbas. While Israeli and Palestinian leaders, as well as political commentators and analysts, were busy digesting the public messages emanating from...
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No, it is not unfair to criticise Israel
As Palestinians mark a number of key, painful anniversaries in 2017, Israel is busy with not ending the occupation, but entrenching it and crying wolf claiming to be the victim in the decades-old conflict. The Palestinians recently marked the 69th anniversary of the massacre of Deir Yassin in which tens...
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The UK is quietly changing its policy on Israel and Palestine
Palestinians were delighted to see 2016 end with the UN Security Council passing resolution 2334 which reaffirmed the illegality of Israel’s settlement enterprise. The passing of the resolution was facilitated by the US abstention in the dying days of Obama’s administration. The UK played a key role in the...
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Richard Falk: People must shame UN for quashing 'apartheid Israel' report
The former UN Special rapporteur for Palestine was speaking at an event hosted by MEMO in London...
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The Palestinian leadership must embrace the Conference for Palestinians Abroad
In my last article for MEMO, I wondered whether the Conference for Palestinians Abroad (CPA) could lead to Palestinian unity of vision. It was a privilege to be with an estimated 6,000 Palestinians from 50 countries in Istanbul for the conference, which took place on 25 and 26 February,...
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Can the Istanbul conference for diaspora Palestinians lead to unity of vision?
The situation continues to get worse for Palestinians as they remain under occupation in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, and the latter has also been under siege for a decade. Those who make-up one-fifth of the Israeli population continue to suffer from official racism, with over...