Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Daud Abdullah
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Choose between isolation and acceptance
Cracks are appearing in the diplomatic wall that has long protected Israel from international censure. Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu was given a reality check this week when he met German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, in Berlin. Her message was plain and simple; choose between isolation as an apartheid outcast, or...
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Obama tells Palestinians to choose between crumbs from the table or freedom
On the 65th anniversary of the UN partition resolution which allotted to a minority of Jews most of the land of Palestine, the Palestinians have returned to the world body. Still without their oft-promised state, they seek only recognition as a non-state member, a status barely higher than that...
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The attack on Gaza is one political blunder too many by Netanyahu
On 12 October we referred to an alert by the Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, that his people will pay the price for Israel’s early elections. Even then, the daily attacks on the Gaza Strip had already started. They were viewed as an attempt to instigate an all-out confrontation with...
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No hope of change in the Middle East
Hope and change have been the defining slogans of Barack Obama’s political career. In his inimitable way he has now convinced the American electorate twice that he is capable of ushering in a new era in their country’s history. In the Middle East, however, and Palestine in particular, there...
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Abbas invites the wrath of Palestinian refugees
There is nothing like the anger of a Palestinian refugee told that his right to return is compromised. Mahmoud Abbas was reminded of this following his recent interview with Israel’s Channel Two TV. When asked if he wanted to live in Safad, the village in the Galilee where he...
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Gaza witnesses the beginning of the end of the siege
Until the eleventh hour it seemed that the visit would be derailed. On Monday, Israeli jets carried out three waves of attacks on Gaza, raising security concerns over whether the Emir of Qatar should actually go to the enclave. However, Sheikh Hammad bin Khalifa was not deterred. He was...
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The unreported tragedy of Palestine's olive harvest
The olive harvest has always been a time of heart-warming celebration in Palestine. It gives a sense of fulfilment to families and communities alike. In recent years, however, the occasion has been marked by bitter despoliation. Israeli settlers have waged a callous campaign against this economic lifeline of ordinary...
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Palestinians will pay the price for Israel's early election
In most countries, elections are purely internal affairs. In Israel, though, things are different; elections often have horrible consequences for the Palestinians living under the brutal Israeli occupation. The election in early 2013 will be no different. Reacting to Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement of an early election, veteran Palestinian negotiator Saeb...
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Civil war in Israel's political establishment
A vicious war of words has broken out in the top echelons of the Israeli political establishment. The troika which forms Israel’s ruling coalition is turning in on itself. All this comes in the wake of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s derisory speech at the UN, the build-up to the...
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Once more, Hamas distinguishes itself
Confirmation that Khalid Meshaal will not contest another term at the helm of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has prompted much speculation about his likely successor. The transitional process has evidently been hindered after the political bureau moved its base from Damascus. The picture is, though, becoming clearer. For...
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After 19 years, the PLO admits Oslo failure
For the first time in 19 years the Palestine Liberation Organisation/Palestinian Authority has raised publicly the possibility of revoking the Oslo accords with Israel. Several press reports have quoted senior PLO officials, Yasser Abed Rabbo and Nabil Shaath, among them as saying that the annulment of the agreement was...
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Let Netanyahu put his money where his mouth is
Efforts by Western politicians to help Benjamin Netanyahu climb down from his high horse are not working. He is outraged because they have refused to fix “red lines” for Iran. In the worst case scenario, the upshot of his threats will be a regional war. And it would be...
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It's spring time in Palestine
“The Palestine spring has begun and we are with what the people say and demand.” These were the words of President Mahmoud Abbas as he addressed an Arab League meeting on Wednesday. He conceded that the demands of protesters across the West Bank are legitimate, but can he deliver?...
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Welcome to the Wild West Bank
Forget for a while the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Iran. Ignore the attendance of President Muhammed Morsi, the first visit to Tehran by an Egyptian president in 33 years. Forget the fact that he used the occasion to denounce Iran’s regional protégé, Syria, for its brutal repression of...
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West Bank oil and gas discovery looks set to prolong already intractable conflict
When the United Nations General Assembly convenes for its annual meeting next month, the PLO/PA will make a request for “non-member state” status. Even if successful, the move would hardly be a game changer. In fact, things may get worse, not least because credible reports of the presence of...
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Obama's reactions to developments in Egypt and Israel speak volumes
Two exceptional developments took place in the Middle East this week; neither Egypt nor Israel had witnessed anything like them before. Never in the past sixty years has a civilian president challenged the authority of the Egyptian military. Similarly, in Israel, no prime minister had, since 1948, demanded and...
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Israel's sinister attacks on Abbas
There is something very sinister about Israel’s attacks on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. They bring back memories of the campaign that preceded the demise of the late Yasser Arafat. Egged on by George Bush, Arafat’s nemesis, Ariel Sharon, had decided that the PLO leader was no longer a partner...
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Morsi faces his first diplomatic tests
After exactly a month in office, President Mohamed Morsi’s honeymoon period has come to an abrupt end. Diplomatic snares are popping up in all directions. That his earliest foreign policy tests should come from neighbouring Israel was predictable. First, there was a video clip showing young Israelis standing on...
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Banning Islamist politicians is not the answer
Israel has learnt nothing from the Arab Spring. This week, its army commander, Avi Mizrahi, issued a military order classifying the Islamist Change and Reform bloc as an illegal and proscribed organisation. The order was based on the Defence (Emergency) Regulations which were first promulgated in mandatory Palestine by...
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Israel ignites the tinderbox of religious conflict
Has the struggle for occupied Jerusalem finally revealed its religious character? The recent claim by Israel’s Attorney General, Yehuda Weinstein, that Al-Asqa Mosque is part of Israeli territory has drawn unprecedented condemnation from across the Islamic world. His assertion that Islam’s third holiest mosque should be subject to Israeli...
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Palestinians and the Egyptian elections
For the moment everything is on hold in Palestine. In the West Bank, as well as the Gaza Strip, there is a tense wait to see how things unfold in Egypt. Reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas are at a virtual standstill. Negotiations between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and...
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Egypt plunges towards the unknown
The ruling by Egypt’s Constitutional Court that dissolves the country’s parliament and allows the presidential candidacy of Ahmad Shafiq, the former Mubarak prime minister, has cast serious doubts over a peaceful transition to democracy. The ruling came in the wake of several similar controversial decisions, all of which suggested that...
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Whatever the election result in Egypt, it heralds a new dawn
Now that the votes have been cast, Egyptians are holding their breath. They are not alone; the entire Arab nation and others in the region are also fixated with the outcome of the presidential election. None dare to ignore the potential consequences after the region’s largest country has regained...
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Why the BBC must change
Love it or hate it, the BBC is perhaps the most powerful media institution in the world. Not even the Murdoch empire in its heyday matched the scale and impact of the BBC’s operations. Yet, in the last week, it has suffered two embarrassing setbacks in the aftermath of...
