Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Nasim Ahmed
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Historians reveal Israel’s use of poison against Palestinians
The details of Israel’s secret use of biological weapons and poison against Palestinians during the 1947/48 ethnic cleansing campaign has been revealed in a recent article by historians Benny Morris and Benjamin Kedar. The 84-year-old Kedar is professor emeritus at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the more well-known...
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British democracy undermined by ‘lawless’ Labour weaponising anti-Semitism
The first of three programmes produced by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit (I-Unit) on the turbulent five years of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the UK Labour party was aired yesterday. It began by asking: is UK Labour a “lawless party”? Revelations by the I-Unit – which is the same team...
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Elizabeth II: Britain's last colonial queen
At the time of her accession, there were more than 7.3 million subjects in the Middle East and North Africa region, while a further 55 million at least were under British influence....
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An anti-Semitism expert says that progressives ‘have the right to exclude Zionists’
A leading expert on anti-Semitism has said that university campus groups “have the right to exclude Zionists.” Writing in the Times of Israel, Kenneth Stern argued that, although it may be “hurtful” and counterproductive, the right of progressive groups to exclude advocates of the occupation state must be respected....
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Attack on anti-Zionist Jewish leader exposes scale of UK Labour’s anti-Palestine problem
The scale of Labour’s anti-Palestine problem under the leadership of Keir Starmer was laid bare yesterday following the election of Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi to the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC). Wimborne-Idrissi, who is a co-founder of Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL) – the main grouping of left-wing Jews in the...
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Palestine exposes the limits of free-speech and the morally bankrupt ‘cancel culture’
The firing of Palestinian American woman, Natalie Abulhawa, has sparked a debate over free-speech, “cancel-culture” and the ever-growing crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism. The 25-year-old athletic trainer was fired by a private girls school in Bryn Mawr over years-old social media posts criticising Israel. In March the Council on American-Islamic...
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‘The world is bigger than five,’ says Turkiye’s UN reform campaign
Turkiye brought its UN reform campaign to London last week with the fifth panel discussion in a series of public events across 12 countries. “The world is bigger than five” is the key message of the campaign launched by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan nearly a decade ago. It...
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Israel’s visa refusal to Palestinian Harvard Fellow sparks calls for academic boycott of Apartheid State
Israel has refused to grant a visa permit to one of Gaza’s highly acclaimed poet and former Harvard fellow, Mosab Abu Toha. Author of one of the shortlisted books for this year’s Palestine Book Awards (PBA), Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza, Toha now...
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In the name of combatting anti-Semitism, Labour ignored Islamophobia and established a ‘hierarchy of racism’
The long-delayed Forde Report examining the handling of anti-Semitism complaints within the Labour Party as well as allegations of bullying, racism and sexism, was finally released yesterday. The 138-page conclusion of the inquiry led by Martin Forde QC not only confirmed claims that anti-Semitism was used as a “factional...
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US ambiguity over Abu Akleh’s killing ensures Israel’s impunity remains unchallenged
A “forensic analysis” by the US Security Coordinator (USSC) has concluded that shots fired by an Israeli occupation solider “was likely responsible for the death of Shireen Abu Akleh”, the US State Department said yesterday in a statement on the killing of the Palestinian-American journalist by an Israeli sniper...
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Labour ‘witch-hunt’ on pro-Palestine MP, Apsana Begum, takes ugly turn
The UK Labour Party is under pressure to investigate allegation of a “vicious and misogynistic” campaign against Poplar and Limehouse MP, Apsana Begum. The 32-year-old faces the prospect of being de-selected in a “trigger ballot” procedure which will decide whether Begum can stand as a Labour candidate at the...
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Hamas and Fatah battle for Gaza following Hamas’s landslide election victory
What: Hamas and Fatah battle for Gaza When: June 14, 2007 Where: Gaza What happened? Hamas’s surprising landslide election victory in the 2006 Palestinian legislative election was met with anger and hostility, especially in Washington. The US reacted with a series of covert operations spearheaded by the US State Department that were initiated...
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Remembering the Naksa
In 1967, Israel launched a war against its neighbours and took control of the parts of Palestine which it had failed to capture during its 1948 “War of Independence”...
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Palestinian children face ‘exponential suffering’ under apartheid Israel
Forty years ago, Israel’s brutal assault against Palestinians prompted a landmark international resolution which called for the protection of children during war. On 19 August 1982, at its emergency special session on the question of Palestine, the UN General Assembly, “appalled at the great number of innocent Palestinian and...
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‘Israel is an apartheid state - legally, politically and morally’, landmark conference concludes
Ex-Al Jazeera Chief, Wadah Khanfar, has blasted Western mainstream media over its failure to report honestly about the brutal reality of Israel’s illegal occupation. Speaking at a landmark conference in London yesterday, alongside a panel of representatives from all the major human rights groups, Khanfar paid tribute to journalist,...
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Turkey’s balancing act as NATO seeks to expand
The potential NATO membership of Sweden and Finland got off to a bad start late last week with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying that he does not have a positive opinion of the two Nordic nations joining the military alliance. While they are both NATO partners, the two...
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Remembering Israel's 2021 onslaught on Gaza
On 6 May, 2021 Israel escalated its brutal crackdown on Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem, triggering a war with Hamas, during which the besieged Strip was bombarded for 11 days until a ceasefire came into effect on 21 May, 2021. What: Israel’s 2021 war on Gaza When: 6 May 2021 –...
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Defending UK’s counter-extremism strategy, David Cameron fuels anti-Muslim hostility
Former British Prime Minister, David Cameron, issued a robust defence yesterday of UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, known as “Prevent”. Writing in the Times, the 55-year old took-aim at mainstream Muslim organisations critical of the so-called de-radicalisation programme. In the article, Cameron endorsed a new report by the Policy Exchange think...
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UN reforms could make it harder for the US to veto criticism of Israel
The power of veto held by the five permanent members (P5) of the UN Security Council — the US, Russia, China, Britain and France — is one of the most contentious rules of the international organisation. Every now and then proposals are put forward to moderate the use of...
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Sorry, Keir Starmer, but only in a world of ‘alternative facts’ is Israel not guilty of apartheid
Centrist politicians and commentators generally scorn the right wing for the polarisation of society, the coarsening of political discourse and the tribalism tearing communities apart. At the root of many if not all of these divisions are “alternative facts” that challenge the orthodox view. The phenomenon went viral during...
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Remembering Israel’s siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem
On 2 April, 2002, Israel imposed a military siege on the Church of the Nativity in occupied Bethlehem after some 200 Palestinians took refuge inside the church ...
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UK politicians and media need to open their eyes to the Islamophobia they are fuelling
Ever since the New York Times released its eight-part podcast last month on the Trojan Horse Affair, there has been a reckoning with truth. A reckoning which has not only shaken the British establishment and the mainstream press, it has also exposed the manner and extent to which anti-Muslim...
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Boris Johnson’s ‘good’ versus ‘evil’ hyperbole dishonours the victims of the US invasion of Iraq
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at the weekend that he had “never seen such a stark division between good and evil,” as he charged Russian president Vladimir Putin of “trying to crush a blameless, innocent civilian population.” What on earth did he mean? Putin’s invasion and its effects are...
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Israel deciding who can teach at Palestinian universities is another nail on the apartheid regime
Rarely does a week pass by where we don’t see Israel tightening its grip on Palestine through its apartheid system of domination and control, or new revelations about the detrimental effect this is having on Palestinians. This week it was the news that the occupation state has introduced a set...