Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Motasem A Dalloul
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Blinded by the siege on Gaza
Israel's use of numerous weapons to batter the besieged enclave has left a lasting damage to the lives of children....
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Abbas, Trump and the illusions of peace
The White House is waiting to host PLO leader and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at a meeting with his US counterpart Donald Trump. On the agenda will be a discussion of the “serious” prospects of peace that would end the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A senior PA delegation arrived in...
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Algerians mistrust elections as the most popular faction is kept away from politics
On 4 May, around 23 million Algerians will vote for 462 members of the National Peoples’ Assembly, the lower chamber of parliament. Around 11,000 candidates from 57 political parties are standing for election. To encourage and reassure the opposition to take part in elections, the Algerian authorities amended the Constitution...
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The West Bank and Gaza are already being separated
After Palestinian Authority (PA) employees in the Gaza Strip discovered that their salaries had been cut by a minimum of 30 per cent, experts and analysts said that this is likely a first step towards the full separation of the occupied West bank and the besieged coastal enclave. Employees noticed...
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Was the Jordan summit for the Arabs, Israel or the US?
Following more than two days of preparations and pre-summit discussions by foreign ministers, the leaders of the Arab states met last Wednesday on the Jordanian shore of the Dead Sea. Their speeches covered national, regional and international plans for several issues; none were related to development, unemployment or poverty;...
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A full royal coup in Morocco as the king ousts prime minister designate
Morocco’s King Mohamed VI has ousted Abdelilah Benkirane as prime minister designate and leader of the the Justice and Development Party (PJD), the largest political party in the kingdom. The monarch has named Saad Eddine Al-Othmani from the same party in his place, and charged him to form a...
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The West does not really support Turkish democracy, it undermines Islamic unity
In the past few days, the German, Dutch and Swedish authorities have cancelled public rallies for their Turkish citizens on the grounds that they constitute a security threat. In Germany and Holland, the situation was very clear as senior Turkish officials, including ministers, were denied entry or deported. Turkey’s...
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What 'just peace' deal does the PA want from Trump?
US President Donald Trump telephoned the Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday and discussed several issues, including his desire to reach a peace deal between the Palestinians and the Israelis. In return, Abbas hailed him and his commitment to the Palestinian cause. Revealing some of what was discussed...
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Has the Arab League ever actually done anything for the Arabs?
Recent reports said that the Arab League is suffering from a severe financial crisis which could force the organisation to move its headquarters from Cairo to Dubai, so that the government of the UAE can pick up the tab for its running costs. Diplomats have said that it has...
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Trump has not killed the two-state solution; it died long ago
The new US administration led by Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that ending the Israel-Palestine conflict through a two-state solution is no longer a strategic choice. One of Trump’s aides told reporters, “A two-state solution that doesn’t bring peace is not a goal that anybody wants to achieve.” The White...
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The new leader of Hamas in Gaza is Yahya Al-Sinwar
The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, announced on Monday that it has chosen Yahya Al-Sinwar as its new leader in the Gaza Strip. Al-Sinwar replaces the former Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, who achieved the largest number of votes in the Palestinian parliamentarian elections in 2006. Yahya Ibrahim Hassan Al-Sinwar...
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Is the PLO still the sole, legitimate representative of the Palestinians?
The main Palestinian secular movement, Fatah, which dominates the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) accused regional powers on Sunday evening of supporting its Islamic rival Hamas to carry out a coup against the umbrella body and the Palestinian Authority which it controls. The reason given is that such regional powers...
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The international community is paralysed in the face of Israel’s colonial settlements
The Israeli Knesset (parliament) has finally approved the settlement bill, which legalises the theft of private Palestinian land for illegal colony-settlement purposes. This means that around 55 illegal settlement outposts built over the past 25 years without the explicit consent of any Israeli government are now “legal”. Although the...
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The Paris peace conference was like a funeral without a corpse
The conference held in Paris on Sunday looking at the Palestine-Israel conflict concluded with the usual final statement calling for Palestinian and Israeli commitment to the two-state solution; among other things it encouraged “meaningful” direct negotiations and called on both sides to “refrain from unilateral steps”. The conference was...
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The reality of the electricity crisis in Gaza
Images show Gazans protesting against the lack of electricity in the Gaza Strip. Images by MEMO photographer on the ground, Mohammad Asad....
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Israeli politicians and media are allies in corruption
Recent revelations about corruption charges levelled against Benjamin Netanyahu, which included a conversation between the Israeli prime minister and media mogul Arnon Mozes, can be added to the evidence for the belief that senior Israeli politicians use their public positions to pursue their personal interests. For Netanyahu, it is...
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A show trial and a mockery of justice is the best that Palestinians can expect
The Israeli military court in Jaffa found Sergeant Elor Azaria, 19, guilty of manslaughter for shooting dead a motionless and wounded Palestinian in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron last year. Azaria will be sentenced in mid-January and is facing a maximum of 20 years in prison. Many Palestinians,...
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Egypt is opening the Rafah Crossing, but does this signal the easing of the siege?
The Egyptian authorities have recently opened the Rafah Crossing several times within a very short period. Rafah is the main gateway to the world for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, so is Egypt attempting to ease the ten-year-old Israeli-led and internationally backed siege? After a few years of opening...
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How do Palestinians and Israelis view Trump's victory?
Once it was known for certain that Donald Trump had won the presidential election in the US, both Palestinians and Israelis expressed their hopes and expectations about a Trump presidency. With each side expecting that he will help them to achieve their goals, the clear differences in what this...
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The West should come clean about its double standards in the Middle East
Luxembourg’s foreign minister accused the Turkish authorities on Monday of using methods in its crackdown on the failed coup plotters reminiscent of those used by the Nazis against the Jews during World War Two. Speaking to Germany’s Deutschlandfunk radio, Jean Asselborn said that people were fired, their names were...
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Protesters at UNRWA office in Gaza stopped from receiving drinking water
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) prevented protesters at its head office in Gaza from receiving drinking water, the Association of Engineers – Gaza Governorates said yesterday. More than 120 Palestinian engineers have staged a protest for the fifth day inside the...
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New Camp David with a Saudi touch
When Egypt signed the peace agreement known as Camp David with Israel in 1978, Arab countries were up in arms, accusing it of breaching the united Arab stance towards the occupation state – no to normalisation or peace talks. As a sign of their anger, they called for an urgent...
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Israel’s army is no longer a deterrent, even to Palestinian children
Following the three Israeli wars waged on the people of Gaza between 2008 and 2014, dozens of political, strategic and military analysts acknowledged what is a bitter pill for the Israeli army to swallow: it is no longer a deterrent to the Palestinian fighters in the beleaguered coastal territory,...
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Palestinian chemist develops gluten-free flour under Israeli fire
During the 2008/9 Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, when Israel and Egypt completely restricted the movement of people and goods into and out of the coastal enclave, Mohamed Al-Asqalani developed a gluten-free flour which is a godsend for patients in the territory suffering from celiac disease, as well...