Items by Abdel Bari Atwan
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- January 25, 2014 Abdel Bari Atwan
The war on the Muslim Brotherhood divides the Gulf
Anyone following the Gulf media, particularly in Saudi Arabia, will notice a vicious campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic movements in general, and Imams whose influence has grown thanks to social media. National security agencies cannot control or block such media as they do with newspapers and internet sites. Dahi...
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- January 25, 2014 Abdel Bari Atwan
This is Not the Iraq We Know
Last summer, on an exceptionally sunny London day, I was walking to my office and suddenly I was jolted from my thoughts by a voice calling my name. I turned around and saw a tall handsome man with a thick moustache loudly saying, “Mr Abdel Bari, may I have...
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- January 24, 2014 Abdel Bari Atwan
A bitter choice between tyranny and colonialism
After forty years of absolute rule during which he spent billions of dollars to boost his image in the world, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi finds himself without friends. Despite dozens of lengthy television interviews and the distribution of millions of copies of his “Green Book” in every conceivable language,...
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- January 24, 2014 Abdel Bari Atwan
Obama, the Israel sycophant
Never in my life have I seen a president that fawns over the Israelis, begs for their approval, sings their praises and lauds their achievements and history like the American President, Barack Obama. Obama set a historic record in his country by becoming the first elected non-white president. However, we...
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- January 24, 2014 Abdel Bari Atwan
The fault lies not with Abbas' tyranny but with Palestinian compliance
When the Madrid Peace Conference convened at the invitation of President George Bush Snr in August 1991, the then Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Shamir, announced that he would negotiate with Palestinians for twenty years without making a single concession, no matter how small. Ironically, it was Shamir’s “noble” pupil,...
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- January 24, 2014 Abdel Bari Atwan
Al Mabhouh's assassination and the assassination of the Arab Spring
I believe that none of us will ever forget Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh. Al-Mabhouh, a member of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam brigades, was assassinated on January 19 2010 at the age of 50. The assassination took place at a hotel in Dubai where Al-Mabhouh was choked to death after having...
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- January 24, 2014 Abdel Bari Atwan
Will Assad surrender his chemical weapons?
US Secretary of State John Kerry is prepared to say anything in order to rally support for Barack Obama’s plans for a military attack against Syria, including outright lies. Did he not say that there were no Jihadi groups in Syria and then retract his statement and say that...
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- January 24, 2014 Abdel Bari Atwan
The Syrian opposition coalition is dying and America has sold the Arabs to Iran
The phone call between President Barack Obama and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani ended more than 30 years of no official communication between leaders of the two states. It was described as a historic step but in practice it means that the US has “sold” its Arab allies for...
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- January 24, 2014 Abdel Bari Atwan
Why Saudi Arabia rejected its seat in the UN Security Council
Saudi Arabia has turned into a country of political surprises and shocks almost overnight. First its Foreign Minister, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, refused to give his speech at the UN General Assembly last month due to its “double standards”; and now his ministry has declined membership of the UN Security...
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- January 24, 2014 Abdel Bari Atwan
Hamas is going through a suffocating crisis but it's not weak and could still shuffle its cards
No one, neither inside or outside the occupied territories, would argue over whether or not the Islamic Resistance movement, Hamas, was living through a severe political and economic crisis. However, they would argue over how to resolve the crisis, at least partially if not completely. Ismail Haniyeh, Gaza’s Prime Minister...
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- January 24, 2014 Abdel Bari Atwan
Yes… Arafat was poisoned and Israel killed him, but what can we do?
There are three countries in the world that possess the radioactive polonium used to assassinate the Palestinian president Yasser Arafat; the United States, Russia and Israel. The two superpowers had no direct benefit from committing this war crime. So, fingers are now pointed at Israel, the country that has...
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- January 24, 2014 Abdel Bari Atwan
Syria's children are freezing to death and Gazans are drowning as Arab billionaires turn a blind eye
In refugee camps across Jordan and Turkey Syrian children are freezing to death and their peers in the Gaza Strip are drowning while the Arab countries, most notably the wealthy ones, insist on turning a blind eye to their plight. The Gaza Strip has been suffering without electricity for several...
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- January 24, 2014 Abdel Bari Atwan
President Abbas and his addiction to secret negotiations
The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is addicted to negotiations and secret channels with the Israelis and therefore it was not surprising when it was revealed that secret meetings had been held in London between Basel Aqel, one of his top advisors, and Isaac Molcho, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s...