Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Daud Abdullah
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Why Al-Sisi should not be appeased
Western appeasement of Egypt’s former army chief is as reckless as it can get. European leaders should know from their own history that appeasement only whets the appetite of despots, wherever they may be. In the case of Egypt’s Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi, he did not relent after he got...
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Contentious article could lead to yet another tragedy for the Palestinians
The Palestinians have learnt from experience to be wary of political initiatives “Made in London”. They have witnessed how projects from the Balfour Declaration to the Oslo Accords were incubated in Britain’s capital and have had devastating consequences. Hence their alarm was perfectly justified after the publication of an...
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Hamas and Fatah still have a mountain to climb
Even in the best of times it would take much more than good intentions and hope to make the unity arrangement between Fatah and Hamas work. Both parties have managed, thus far, to avoid the external meddling and pressures that have derailed previous agreements. Their ability to continue doing...
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Make or break time for President Abbas
On the eve of the swearing-in of his new government, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas seems headed for the biggest test of his political career. Not only has the Israeli government barred ministers from the Gaza Strip from travelling to the West Bank for the occasion, but it has also...
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The Crisis of Zionism
It has been often said that the conflict in Palestine cannot be resolved without a fundamental change of policy in Washington. There is some truth in this. No other country has given such unlimited and unquestioning support to the State of Israel as the US. Peter Beinart makes an...
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European fine of Turkey over Cyprus unlikely to make much difference
The decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to impose a compensation fine of €90m on Turkey for its 1974 “invasion and occupation” of Cyprus is unprecedented. Experts believe that it could pave the way for similar punitive measures against Russia for its involvement in Crimea. That...
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An investigation into the transformation of Jerusalem after 1967
Israel’s occupation of Jerusalem has for all intents and purposes strangled its Arab population. The restrictive policies enforced in; construction, planning, land appropriation, investment in infrastructure and services are all geared to force the flight of Palestinians and realize the Judaisation of the city. Consequently, every aspect of Palestinian...
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Europe's role in strengthening and protecting Universal Justice
The International Criminal Court (ICC) The last decade has seen some major welcome developments by the international community to promote universal justice and human rights. This is manifest, for instance, in the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague following the 1998 Rome Statute. The ICC was...
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America is torn between its own interests and Israeli demands
Like previous agreements, the Palestinian reconciliation deal has been described as “historic”. Officially, the damaging political split between Palestinians is over, but will this latest agreement be any better than the Cairo (2011) and Doha (2012) accords? The signatories, Fatah and Hamas, are committed in principle and in writing,...
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The EU and Middle East democracy
Is there any difference between the forthcoming presidential elections in Egypt and Syria? The Europe Union apparently believes that there is. While the EU has dismissed the Syrian process as a “parody of democracy”, the European High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton, conveyed an entirely different outlook on...
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Egypt's kangaroo court death sentences are truly grotesque
It was not just the numbers that shocked the world but the manner in which it was done, when Judge Saeed Yusuf Al-Jazzar took just two sittings to sentence 529 Egyptians to death. Those convicted were accused of participating in a demonstration in Al-Minya province in August 2013, which...
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Egyptian regime surrenders last semblance of independent thought
Since the July 2013 coup Egypt’s judiciary has undergone a complete transformation. Once renowned as a pillar of justice, it has become a rubber stamp used by the military junta to settle political scores with the Muslim Brotherhood. The decline reached its nadir this week when a Cairo court...
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Settlements give the game away; Israel wants all of the West Bank
Soon after the signing of the Wye River Agreement in 1998 Israel’s minister of infrastructure in the first Netanyahu government, the late, unlamented Ariel Sharon, urged settlers to “seize the hilltops”. What followed was an explosion of Israeli settlements across the occupied West Bank. Sixteen years on, as US...
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As the military feathers its own nest, democracy can wait
The charges against deposed President Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood co-defendants are a sad reminder of all that has gone wrong in Egypt since July last year. Those indicted include dead and imprisoned Palestinians who are, nevertheless, still accused of taking part in an operation to free Morsi...
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Israel's brinkmanship over Gaza
There is nothing imaginary about Israel’s threat to attack Gaza. It is real; both the Hamas-led administration and civilian population in the enclave have had to live with it increasingly since 2007. Although the sabre-rattling from Israeli leaders is indeed menacing, developments on the political front seem no less...
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More of the same as Israel bites the hand that feeds it
Has the Israeli government crossed a red line in its dealings with the US? It is a reasonable assumption after Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s recent derisory comments about Secretary of State John Kerry. The public insult was not an errant expression of ingratitude by a lone wolf, but part...
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Like lambs to the slaughter, the Palestinians are sleep-walking to disaster, again
If he succeeds with his current “peace” initiative, John Kerry would have killed three birds, not two, with one stone. With the stroke of a pen his “proposed framework” will not only dissolve the Palestinian refugee issue but also deactivate Israel’s so-called demographic bomb. And for good measure, Israel...
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As boycotts mount, Israel is running out of friends
Israel’s international isolation has finally become a reality. Within the past week this was cemented by the absence of senior Israeli politicians from Nelson Mandela’s funeral, followed in rapid succession by the decision of the American Studies Association to impose an academic boycott of Israeli universities and institutions. To...
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Palestine is still on its own long walk to freedom
There are certain events in the life of nations that define their history for generations. In South Africa, the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre and the 1976 Soweto Uprising are prime examples. In Palestine, Israel’s wilful killing of four Palestinian workers in December 1987 ignited the First Intifada (Uprising) and changed...
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Freedom and justice remain illusions in Kerry's new-old package
US Secretary of State John Kerry’s current visit to Palestine was foreshadowed by a familiar dark cloud; every such high-level American visit results in more pressure on the Palestinian Authority. This one will be no exception. Washington is desperate to placate Israeli anger over its deal with Iran. As...
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Israel moves from rejection to obstruction of peace
This week’s decision by the Israeli daily Maariv to publish a report which claimed that John Kerry supported the organisers of the Freedom Flotilla was significant in many respects. Above all, it confirmed the growing rift in US-Israel relations and exposed the shift in Israeli policy from one of...
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Why the Egyptian junta's PR blitz in the west is failing
Nothing is working for Egypt’s military junta. They have dug themselves into a deep hole and can’t get out. Minister of Interior Muhammad Ibrahim is frustrated by his inability to quell the unrelenting torrent of protests across the country. Threats of lethal force have failed to deter tens of...
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Israel enters dangerous uncharted territory in Jerusalem
As happened in 2000, the Palestine-Israel negotiations are about to end with another eruption of civil unrest because of Jerusalem. The main difference on this occasion is that the parties have not even begun to discuss the Holy City because Israel, with typical contempt and arrogance, has declared unilaterally...
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100 days of pure farce
It has become an almost established tradition for political analysts to review the first 100 days of any president or administration. This is the case with elected governments as well as those that are unelected. Egypt’s controversial and shadowy military junta is no exception. In its case, it is...
