Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Daud Abdullah
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It's time for Obama to put fine words into action
President Obama’s address at the UN General Assembly must have been a welcome relief to Egypt’s de facto rulers. Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy described it as “positive” and reflective of “an objective treatment of the situation in Egypt”. With an almost unrestrained euphoria the junta which toppled the country’s...
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Al-Sisi is no Gamal Abdel Nasser
One of the great myths-in-the-making doing the rounds in Egypt today is that General Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi is a latter day Gamal Abdul Nasser. This may be a fair comparison if Nasser’s legacy is seen only through the prism of his confrontation with the Muslim Brotherhood. Since Al-Sisi’s vendetta...
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Don't write-off the Muslim Brotherhood just yet
It is more than ironic that the success of the Muslim Brotherhood has been a cause of its misfortune. After winning five elections since 2011, its detractors in the military elite have cracked down on the movement. However, past experience suggests that it is likely to emerge from this...
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Israel chooses military rule over democracy
Israelis did not have to wait long to find another ‘national treasure’ in Egypt. For several weeks now their national media has been awash with commentaries on Egypt. Most showered General Abdul Fattah Al Sisi with praise for his ‘bravery.’ Not for the first time, an Egyptian military general...
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Palestinian concessions lead to nowhere but humiliation
Palestinians of all political persuasions welcomed the release of 26 prisoners last night. They are the first of 104 pre-Oslo life prisoners due to be released over the next nine months as long as Israel is satisfied with the progress of its negotiations with the PLO/PA. Incredibly, these 104...
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The Brotherhood's change of strategy could be the best yet
To many observers, the crisis in Egypt today bears a striking resemblance to that of 1954. The main actors are the same, as are the issues. Back then, there was also a vicious political struggle between a coup leader, Major-General Muhammad Naguib, and his comrade in the Revolution Command Council...
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Old habits die hard
Between 1945 and 2008 an estimated 363 coups were staged on the African continent. Of that number, only 88 led to the transfer of power to civilian rule. Throughout the period, military rule has more often than not hampered democratic progress, and by extension, economic development. Egypt has not...
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Palestinians are also victims of sectarian fallout from Syria
It was inevitable that Syria’s bloody civil war would engulf the 530,000 Palestinian refugees in the country. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) confirms that 70-80 per cent have been displaced, with more than 56,000 fleeing into Lebanon. Of the residents...
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Israel's dirty little secret: the 'internally displaced persons' it continues to deny basic rights
Inevitably, the 65th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba – Catastrophe – was overshadowed by calls to exercise refugees’ right of return. Although the vast majority of Palestinians live in forced exile and the focus tends to dwell on their plight, there is now an estimated 370,000 ‘internally displaced persons’...
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Israel's ethnic cleansing of the Naqab underscores meaning of 'Jewish State'
Israel’s ethnic cleansing polices in the Naqab (Negev) region have entered a new and dangerous phase. A ministerial council for legal codes this week cleared the way for a Knesset reading of the controversial Prawer plan to regulate the Bedouin communities in the region. If implemented, this scheme would...
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Turkey's refusal to be brow-beaten highlights political bankruptcy of Israeli blockade
Israel’s efforts to isolate the Gaza Strip politically are not working. Not even the recruitment of the US secretary of state has been enough to persuade Turkey’s Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to postpone his visit to the besieged enclave. International opposition to the visit has refocused attention on to...
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Kerry stumbles over preconditions
Despite the drums of war on the Korean Peninsula, US Secretary of State John Kerry has been busy shuttling back and forth to the Middle East. His latest visit, the third in three weeks, was to the occupied Palestinian West Bank and Israel. The stated purpose has been to...
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Hamas answers its critics
After months of delay the Islamic Resistance Movement in Palestine, Hamas, has completed its internal elections and returned Khaled Meshaal as head of the political bureau. More than 70 delegates took part in the meeting of the movement’s Shura (Consultative) Council in Cairo, which reaffirmed its confidence in the...
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The political price of US aid
The obviously orchestrated decision by the American and Israeli governments to release millions of dollars to the Palestinian Authority (PA) may be too little too late. If the purpose was to create some movement towards a peace agreement it’s not going to happen. While the money may grant a...
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It's business as usual for Israel's military elite
Israel’s interim Defence Minister Ehud Barak was back in Washington this week for consultations with senior American officials. His monthly pilgrimages to Capitol Hill now seem more frequent than the visits of even the most dedicated Congressmen and women. On the whole, they confirm the primacy of the Israeli...
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As if time stands still
It is as if time stands still. Monday, 25th February was the anniversary of the massacre of 29 Palestinian worshippers in Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque, gunned down by Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein as they stood in prayer; more than 120 others were wounded in the attack. Nineteen years later little...
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The OIC under Egypt's leadership
For the first time since its founding in 1969 the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has held a summit in Egypt. Already saddled with its own internal challenges, Egypt must now lead the 56-member organisation for the next three years. Contrary to its principles, OIC summits are seldom ever...
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A fitting award for the right man, at the right time
This year’s King Faisal International Award for Service to Islam has been presented to Sheikh Raed Salah. The award is hugely significant. At a time when the Israeli desecration of Islamic sanctuaries in Palestine has reached unprecedented levels, it has a special meaning both for the recipient and the...
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Egypt's revolution two years on
Two years on from its 25 January Revolution, Egypt has taken significant steps towards establishing a new order. Several institutional pillars have been installed, foremost among which are the election of the first civilian president and investiture of an upper house of parliament, two-thirds of whose members were elected....
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France's record in the Middle East rules out any constructive role in Mali
Western military interventions in the Muslim world are at best muddled and at worst fraudulent. In 2003, the US led an invasion of Iraq for reasons that changed like the weather. When it was not “to prevent human rights abuses”, it was “to destroy weapons of mass destruction” and...
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Samer Al-Issawi: indomitable in the face of death
At the end of 2012, there were 4,656 Palestinian political prisoners being held in Israeli prisons and detention centres. That figure includes 178 administrative detainees, 11 women and 177 children. In recent weeks, it is two hunger-strikers, Samer Al-Issawi and Ayman Esharawna, whose plight has grabbed global attention. The...
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Ethnic cleansing is the only way for Israel to have a "united" Jerusalem
When Benjamin Netanyahu launched his election campaign this week he taunted the world community and cocked a snook at international law with a defiant pledge to build more settlements in occupied Jerusalem. The move was universally condemned. Recognising that this was more than electoral demagogy, though, no one was...
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Dirty war against Egypt's democracy evokes memories of Palestine post-2006
The most common explanation for the political impasse in Egypt is that it stems from an ideological tussle between Islamists and liberals. That is, however, only one side of the story. The other side shows, more vividly, a struggle between a nation yearning for democracy and a minority whose...
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Egypt's revolutionary constitution
On Saturday, Egyptians will go the polls for the fifth time since the overthrow of the Mubarak dictatorship. The constitutional referendum marks another step in advancing the gains of their 25 January revolution. From the very first day after the former dictator’s departure a fierce political debate erupted about...
