Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Daud Abdullah
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Segregated buses may be off the Israeli agenda, but there’s a long way to go for real equality
The name Rosa Parks is one that is forever enshrined in the annals of Afro-American history. She was the courageous woman who refused to give up her seat for a white man on an Alabama bus in December 1955. For her action she was arrested and charged with civil...
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Reconciliation is meaningless without participation
When former US President Jimmy Carter offered to mediate between Fatah and Hamas two weeks ago, few observers expressed much optimism. While one of the parties, Hamas, welcomed the initiative, the other, Fatah, chose to send mixed signals that gave no reason to be hopeful. My sources within Hamas’s political...
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Important lessons from the Birzeit University elections
The conduct of public opinion polls may not be as well-entrenched in the Middle East as it is in the west but there are no doubt other credible means to gauge the public mood of which, in Palestine, university elections are one. This week the pro-Hamas “Wafa” bloc of...
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Veolia had no choice but to call time on its Israeli contracts
The decision by Veolia to end its operations in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories sends a strong signal to similar multinationals that profiteering from Israel’s occupation industry is a risky business. It can only be a matter of time before they will also have to choose between small...
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Post-ICC accession, reconciliation must top the Palestinian agenda
Now that Palestine has formally become a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), its political forces can no longer afford to delay national reconciliation. It has been overdue for far too long. The same courage and political will that was used to pursue membership of the ICC must...
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Military options for MENA chaos will fail; it's time to root out the causes
In the same way that the “Seventh Cavalry” was the staple means for American settlers in the Old West to be rescued in the movies, calls for a multinational intervention force have become the standard blueprint for dealing with the threats of “terror” and insurgency. Such calls are currently...
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A perfect gift for Egypt's failing regime
The callous murder of 21 Copts in Libya over the weekend was a welcome gift to the military-led regime in Egypt. Like the senseless killings in Paris, it offered an opportunity for the government in Cairo to present itself as a deserving and credible partner in the great “war...
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Israeli war crime suspects may be able to run but they cannot hide
The resignation of William Schabas from his post as head of the UN commission to investigate possible war crimes during Israel’s 2014 onslaught on Gaza was always on the cards. From the time of his appointment in August last year, he has been subjected to a relentless campaign that...
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UNRWA and the next explosion of violence against Gaza
By international donor standards $720 million is small change. Yet, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has only managed to procure $135 million from UN member states to assist the victims whose homes were damaged or destroyed by Israel during...
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Mahmoud Abbas faces a creeping coup
The search for a successor to President Mahmoud Abbas is getting nastier every day. His bitter rival, Mohamed Dahlan, has emerged as the front runner and favoured candidate. Regional governments, Israel included, have been rehabilitating the elusive fugitive from Palestinian justice. Reports that Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman met...
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The OIC visit to Jerusalem was an act by an organisation in disarray
Desperate people often do desperate things. This is perhaps the only way to explain the visit to Jerusalem by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary General, Iyad Madani. Although it was not the first ever undertaken by a serving OIC official this was viewed as a regrettable setback. Following...
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Can the Cuban scenario be repeated in Palestine?
With the necessary political will, President Barack Obama’s 17 December announcement that “it’s time for a new approach” towards Cuba could be applied to Palestine. There is, indeed, a strong case to argue this point, given that the underlying issues in both cases are very similar. In Cuba, as with...
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Europe Court decision provides a rare opportunity to correct a discredited policy
The decision by the General Court of the European Union to annul the decision to place Hamas on the European list of terrorist organisations was long overdue. It should never have taken place in the first place because, as the Court itself attested, the decision was “based not on...
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Al-Qaradawi and the Egyptian military
It is now official. The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) has placed Dr Yusuf Al-Qaradawi on its “wanted” list. The decision to issue a “red alert” for the arrest of the chair of the International Union of Muslim Scholars was made at the behest of the Egyptian government. Dr...
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Israel's PR machine is failing in the West
For all its bravado, Israel is terrified of bad publicity. So it should be, for neither the legions of public relations companies nor well-paid lobbyists have been able to halt the tarnishing of its image in world public opinion. This is not because they lack the skills and resources...
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'Terrorist' list destroys integrity of UAE
The first thing that catches the eye about the newly-released United Arab Emirates list of 83 “terrorist organisations” is its broad sweep. It contains Islamic institutions from across Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. Although patently absurd, the list does possibly have the unintended effect of...
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Bomb attacks in Gaza are a sideshow which won't divert attention from Al-Aqsa
Just when the new Al-Aqsa intifada was gathering momentum the homes of senior Fatah officials in the Gaza Strip were bombed this week. Those responsible must be rubbing their hands with glee as the finger of blame was pointed immediately at the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas. Neither Fatah nor Hamas...
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The problem is not Netanyahu; it's the US and Israel's special relationship
Not for the first time the Obama administration and the Israeli government have been hanging out their dirty linen in public. On the face of it, the Americans are said to be livid with Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s illegal settlement expansion in Jerusalem. The problem, however, runs much deeper. While...
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Like ISIS in Iraq, settlers in Jerusalem must be stopped
Are there similarities between the so-called “Islamic State” in Iraq and Syria and the self-styled “Jewish State” in Palestine? Quite a few. For a start, both thrive on religious bigotry and pursue exclusivist, expansionist and repressive agendas. Everything taking place in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque today underlines how very...
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Egypt's rehabilitation suffers a major setback
Supporters of Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi had much to celebrate after his maiden appearance at the UN General Assembly last month. For them, it was a turning point that completed his transformation from military general to international statesman. The former army chief was so assured of his apparent...
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The deadly crossing is an international disgrace
Death in the Mediterranean is no longer the exception; it is the norm. More than 3,000 would-be immigrants have drowned trying to cross into Europe this year alone. Recent estimates suggest that the number of those who actually made it has risen to 130,000 in 2014, up from 60,000...
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Why is Abbas refusing to sign the Rome Statute?
This is the question that is etched on everyone’s mind. If there is only one issue that Palestinians agree upon today it is the need for President Mahmoud Abbas to sign the Rome Statute. That would clear the way to file charges in the International Criminal Court (ICC) against...
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The days of open-ended Palestinian concessions are over
Even after its collapse, the Cairo negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians were, perhaps, the most important in many years. For the first time ever, Palestine Liberation Organisation/Palestinian Authority negotiators were joined at the table by representatives of the armed resistance movements, notably Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Thanks to...
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Livni exposes Egyptian-Israeli collaboration... again
Tzipi Livni may no longer be Israel’s foreign minister but she still has a capacity to cause diplomatic tremors. Last weekend she did just this by declaring that there was an agreement between Israel and Egypt to strangle Hamas. Since there was no official affirmation or denial from Cairo,...
