Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Motasem A Dalloul
-
Will Israel be able to end Hamas and revive the Palestinian Authority?
In August, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz visited the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah and met with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas and his senior security and intelligence aides in order to allegedly discuss ways to ease the harsh life of Palestinians. Recently, Israeli Regional Cooperation Minister Issawi...
-
Will Israeli wall around Gaza stop Palestinian resistance?
Israel announced, last week, the completion of the highly technological security wall on its side of the occupied and besieged Gaza Strip. This sensor-equipped underground wall, Israel claims, is a counter-measure developed to prevent Palestinian resistance in Gaza from digging tunnels that they use to carry out resistance attacks...
-
The Turkish economy’s War of Independence
While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been telling his people that he is leading them towards growth, creating more jobs and increasing exports, we see the continuous freefall of the country’s currency; price hikes and rising inflation. The Turkish Lira has lost more than 40 per cent of its...
-
Mohammed Bin Zayed: peacemaker or warmonger?
Two weeks ago, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) handed over its most prestigious award to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates, ostensibly for his leadership in establishing peace between his country and the colonial-occupation state of Israel, as well as for...
-
UN complicity in Israeli violations against the Palestinians has to stop
In 1977, the UN General Assembly called for the annual observance of 29 November as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. In 2005, the UN started to organise an annual exhibition on Palestinian rights or a cultural event in cooperation with the Permanent Observer Mission of...
-
Why did Morocco’s Islamic party re-elect its former leader?
After ten years in power, the Justice and Development Party (PJD) in Morocco had a disastrous defeat in the parliamentary election held on 8 September. Led by Saadeddine El-Othmani, the party saw its 125 seats slashed to just 13 out of a total of 395. This dramatic defeat of...
-
It is absurd for Britain to proscribe Hamas
British Home Secretary Priti Patel announced on Friday that the government is planning to designate the whole Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, as a “terrorist” organisation and outlaw support for the group. According to Al Jazeera, any form of support for it in the country will be punishable by...
-
Will the Libyan elections lead to calm or chaos?
International leaders and diplomats met in Paris on Friday, discussed the situation in Libya, and decided that the oil-rich North African country should stick to the UN plan to hold presidential and parliamentary elections next month. “We stress the importance for all Libyan stakeholders to mobilise resolutely in favour...
-
‘The United States of the Turkic World’
The Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (known as the Turkic Council) held its 8th summit on Friday in the Sea of Marmara’s Democracy and Freedoms Island. The council announced several “breakthroughs”, including a change of name to the Organisation of Turkic States. Prior to the summit, Turkey’s President Recep...
-
What does it take for power grabs in the Arab world to be condemned?
Sudanese General Abdul Fattah Al-Burhan has become the de facto head of state following his dissolution of the 11-member Sovereignty Council of Sudan last month and the ouster of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who was appointed for the 39-month transitional period, scheduled to end in November next year. Al-Burhan’s...
-
Why does the Arab League condemn Turkey’s efforts in Libya and stay silent about Israel?
Earlier this week, a Libyan private jet landed in Israel’s Ben Gurion airport carrying close aides of Libyan warlord General Khalifa Haftar. The identities of those onboard were not disclosed, but an Israeli journalist revealed that the jet took off from the UAE and that its next destination after...
-
Israel’s envoy at the UN can’t handle the truth about its human rights violations
The UN General Assembly held a special session on Friday to present the annual report of the Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to all member states. The report widely and clearly condemned the many Israeli human rights violations against the Palestinian citizens of Israel and the Palestinians in the occupied...
-
The US’ military adventure in Afghanistan
On 31 August, the United Stated evacuated the last American soldier from Afghanistan and pulled the curtail on a two-decade war that was started under the claim of fighting terror, ending Al-Qaeda and Taliban and establishing a democratic civil society in the country. “The United States ended 20 years of...
-
The Gaza phoenix is rising, giving hope to Palestinian burns patients
Meeting 12-year-old schoolgirl Maram Al-Amawi and her mother Ezdihar, 31, was an emotional moment. I was with them to hear about their treatment for the severe burns that they received when an explosion and fire ripped apart a bakery in Al-Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip last year. Maram...
-
Oppression and racism: The main determinants of Jewish immigration
Data recently released by Israel’s immigration minister and the Jewish Agency show that Jewish immigration to Israel increased by 31 per cent in 2021. The data shows an increase of 41 per cent in immigration from the US, compared with the first nine months of 2020, as well as...
-
After killing Muslim women, the international community cannot teach us how to treat them
Early this week, the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, claimed that the Taliban did not maintain its promises regarding women’s and girls’ rights, following the liberation of their country from the American internationally-backed occupation which lasted 20 years. He urged the Taliban, the new rulers of Afghanistan, to fulfil their...
-
The curse of French colonisation of Algeria is chasing Macron
Again, Emmanuel Macron returns to chasing conservative right wing votes through diving deep into dark French history in Algeria. However, this time, his attempt proved his poor knowledge of history. Sitting with 18 grandsons of Algerian Herkis, who fought beside the French colonisers during Algeria’s War of Independence between 1954...
-
The US has given the green light to normalisation with Syria
Last Wednesday, Reuters reported a spokesperson of the US State Department claiming that it has no plans to “normalise or upgrade” diplomatic relations with the Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad. It was also claimed that Washington does not want to encourage others to do so. This was, said the spokesperson,...
-
The EU’s shameful complicity with Israeli aggression on Palestinians
Last week, the European Parliament approved an amendment to block €20 million ($23 million) in aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) if immediate changes promoting “coexistence and tolerance” with the Israeli occupation are not made to Palestinian school textbooks. According to the amendment,...
-
A badly-wounded ambulance driver is now an inspirational champion weightlifter; I salute him
The weightlifting club in the heart of the northern Gaza city of Jabalia is one of the most well-known and busiest sports centres in the besieged coastal enclave. Amazingly, it is run by a former ambulance driver who suffered severe injuries when his ambulance was hit by Israeli artillery...
-
If Biden is cutting aid to Egypt over human rights violations, why doesn’t he cut aid to Israel?
Following complaints from prominent rights groups, US State Department spokesman Ned Price announced last Tuesday that the Biden administration is expected to withhold $130 million in military aid to Egypt over human rights concerns. President Joe Biden is thus departing from the policy of his predecessor, Donald Trump, who...
-
Was Bennett’s visit to Egypt really ‘historic’?
The head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Directorate delivered an invitation from President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi last month for Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to visit his country. This was expected. Shortly after Bennett was sworn in as Prime Minister of the occupation state in June, Sisi had called him...
-
There are limits to the rapprochement between Turkey and Egypt
There was a meeting between senior Egyptian and Turkish officials in Ankara last week to discuss the possibility of repairing mutual relations. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu described the discussions to a local TV station as “positive”. According to Cavusoglu, Turkey is taking “positive steps” to improve relations. “Our ...
-
Why has Morocco’s Justice and Development Party lost so badly?
The provisional results of the parliamentary election in Morocco show a crushing defeat for the Justice and Development Party (PJD), which collapsed from 125 seats to just 12. This is the party’s worst result since the 1997 election, when it won eight seats. Its defeat in this week’s election...