Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Motasem A Dalloul
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Interview with Dr Ibrahim Al-Yazouri, a founder of Hamas
Dr Ibrahim Fares Al-Yazouri was born in the Palestinian village of Beit Daras in 1940. He fled from Zionist gangs to Ashdod with his family in 1948, and then to Al-Majdal before ending up in Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip. Home became a tent in...
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What was Trump thinking? Simple. Why delay the inevitable?
American President Donald Trump announced yesterday that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and said he had directed the Department of State to start working on moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city. “I have determined that it is time to officially recognise Jerusalem as...
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Are Hezbollah and Iran the real threat to Arabs in the Middle East?
The dramatic recent Saudi-led hike of incitement against Iran and Hezbollah peaked when the government in Riyadh called for the Arab League to convene a meeting and issue a statement on behalf of all the Arab nations criticising Iran and calling for Tehran to stop meddling in the affairs...
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Shaikh Raed Salah stands between Israel and Al-Aqsa Mosque, so he is kept in custody
On 15 August, the Israeli occupation police raided Umm Al-Fahm, the second largest Arab city in Israel, broke into the house of Shaikh Raed Salah and detained him for questioning. The Israeli courts extended his detention several times until the Public Prosecutor filed an indictment against the veteran community...
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‘Britain is responsible for my tragedy’
On the 100th anniversary of the Balfour declaration, the British promise to help create a Jewish national homeland in Palestine, Motasem A Dalloul interviews 81-year-old Palestinian, Abdul-Hamid Ramadan Al-Aloul, who has lived through the British occupation, the Nakba and Israeli air strikes on his home. “My mother told me that...
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Kuwait envoy represents conscience of Arab nations
The tide is turning on Israel's narrative and people are now able to see its atrocities...
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Was Hamas weak to make many concessions to Fatah?
The Palestinian Islamic Movement Hamas and the Palestinian Secular Movement Fatah signed last week a landmark reconciliation agreement that ended an 11-year rift between the two factions. They agreed on three main issues and postponed talks on the controversial issues that might have undermined the agreement. Brokered by Egypt, the...
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Israel’s colony-settlements are growing and are illegal; when will it be held to account?
In an attempt to change Jerusalem’s demographic balance in favour of the Jewish population, Israeli Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz and Knesset Member Yoav Kisch have proposed a bill seeking to extend the municipal boundaries of the holy city. If approved, this would involve the annexation of the illegal Jewish...
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Waiting for Palestinian reconciliation is like waiting for Godot
Despite the positive measures taken by Hamas and the positive remarks made by Fatah, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are still doubtful about Palestinian reconciliation. The Palestinian Authority (PA) and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas has made positive remarks about ending internal division and reconciling with Hamas after the latter announced...
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Is Abbas ready to end his punishment of Gaza?
As the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Ismail Haniyeh, made his way back to the Gaza Strip after an 11-day trip to Cairo, during which he announced the dissolution of the administrative committee in Gaza and agreed to reconcile with Fatah, the residents of the territory waited...
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Oslo: 24 years of Palestinian losses
On 13 September 1993 the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Israel signed the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, or what has commonly become known as the Oslo Accords. This, according to UN documents, aimed to establish the general guidelines for negotiations between the PLO and Israel, lay...
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Netanyahu has lost the freedom of speech game
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has always claimed proudly that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. On Thursday, he decided to educate diplomats, academics and journalists about the limits of freedom of speech in his “democratic” country. However, he failed miserably — without a hint of...
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Israel is a ‘democratic state’ built on undemocratic principles
The foundations of a democratic society are well-known and include personal freedoms, respect for law and order, equality for all citizens and controls to prevent the abuse of power. The state of Israel has always described itself as “the only democracy in the Middle East” in comparison with the...
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Is Israel really a safe haven for journalists?
Iranian journalist and blogger Neda Amin, 32, who fled her country to Turkey in 2014 over a series of articles critical of the government, arrived “safely in Israel” yesterday morning according to Times of Israel. Amin lived with a refugee status in Turkey until 5 July when Ankara told...
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Is Sisi right to say that population growth is an obstacle to economic growth?
In the Fourth Youth Conference held in Alexandria on Monday, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi called on Egyptians not to have more than three children. He warned that the growth in Egypt’s population is a “serious challenge ahead of economic growth and countering terrorism.” “Whenever I see a citizen having a...
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Is Abbas really halting contacts with Israel?
The President of the Palestinian Authority, the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Fatah, Mahmoud Abbas, declared a freeze on Friday on all contacts with Israel. His move was in protest at the latest measures taken by Israel at the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa, including the installation of metal detectors at...
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Why is Hamas throwing itself in to Egypt’s arms?
Three days ago, a senior official Hamas delegation ended a meeting with senior Egyptian officials held in Cairo. The visit came about ten days after the conclusion of a previous visit of top Hamas leaders to Cairo, including the Chief of Hamas’ political bureau in Gaza, Yahya Al-Sinwar. Such visits,...
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What happened when I needed minor surgery in Gaza?
On Tuesday 30 May I had a sudden severe pain in my left ear. It could not sleep as I felt the pain spread all over my body. I contacted the doctor at around 11pm and told him, he told me to take painkillers and told me to come...
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Israel uses ‘tunnel’ claim as an excuse to attack Hamas and UNRWA
Last Friday, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) announced that it had discovered a tunnel beneath two of its schools in the Gaza Strip. The tunnel was condemned for putting the lives of students and staff at risk. The Israeli government...
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The Palestinians got a big fat zero from Trump’s visit
When Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas went to Washington and met with his US counterpart Donald Trump earlier this month, his aides described the visit as “historic” and a prelude for grabbing Palestinian rights from the jaws of the Israeli tiger. “It was a strategic visit,” claimed Dr Husam...
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Hamas’ security forces are standing in Mossad’s way
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh yesterday officially announced details surrounding the assassination of Mazen Fuqaha which took place two months ago. It was the first time that Hamas officially accused Israel of being behind the killing, adding that security forces in the enclave had arrested the assassins, including the one...
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Ismail Haniyeh: the new top man within Hamas
Ismail Haniyeh has been chosen to take over from Khaled Meshaal as the head of the Hamas Political Bureau. The new top man within Hamas was born in Al-Shati (Beach) Refugee Camp, to the north west of Gaza City, in 1963; he still lives there, although he is expected...
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5,000 Gazans at risk of death due to power shortage
Generators have become the only lifeline for Gaza’s hospitals and patients who are in need of urgent medical care. However, with limited amount of fuel entering the besieged Strip, even these are likely to cease work and stop providing electricity, risking the lives of more than 5,000 patients, medical...
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What's the difference between Fatah and Hamas' future Palestinian state?
Khaled Meshaal, the head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, announced yesterday evening a new document of principles that outline the movement’s positons towards major issues relating to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. One of the most prominent articles of this document is the proposal of the...