Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Mohsen M. Saleh
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Targeting UNRWA: Whose gain?!
As of writing this article, 17 countries in addition to the European Union (EU) have suspended their funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). These countries cover 78.4% of UNRWA’s annual funding, according to the latest announced budget of...
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Al-Aqsa Flood: Dealing with the aftermath
Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, launched by Al-Qassam Brigades on 7 October, dealt an unprecedented, historic blow to Israel since its founding 75 years ago. It was a stunning strategic military and security attack, storming a significant area of the 1948 occupied territories and inflicting the highest toll of killed, wounded...
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The strategic implications of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood
Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, launched by Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades from Gaza Strip (GS), has been an attack on Israeli settlements and military bases in the Gaza envelope. It is a strategic unprecedented hit to Israel since its founding, 75 years ago. We are witnessing the largest Palestinian and Arab attack inside...
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What might this year have in store for the Palestinians?
The summaries of the Palestinian Strategic Report for 2020-2021, launched recently by Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations, do not provide much optimism for 2022. This is despite the fact that the internal Palestinian situation over the past two years witnessed the greatest breakthrough in ten years. However, there was...
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A Palestinian Authority Without a Future
Unfortunately, we have entered 2022 with a Palestinian Authority (PA) devoid of any political horizon, or any horizon for ending the Israeli occupation, institutional work or economic development. We have a PA with a leadership that has no vision or volition, or in short, a PA without a future. The...
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Basic Facts on the Palestine Issue
This booklet seeks to present an intensified and concise database, on which an Islamic understanding of the Palestine issue is built. It gathers all the information, facts, fundamentals and concepts that the author believes are indispensable to those who deal with the Palestine issue. It is a concise book...
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The constants and the variables in US foreign policy in the Middle East
If we go beyond the general readings of US foreign policy focused on higher national interests and the requirements of national security — which are constant principles in the foreign policy of almost every country in the world — and seek out instead more specific features of the policy...
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Elections as a prelude to reforming Palestinian politics
There is some satisfaction in Palestinian circles with the developments in the dialogue between Fatah and Hamas that seems to have come a long way. An agreement was reached to hold elections in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip within six months on the basis of full proportional...
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The key to decoding the Lebanese impasse
The impasse in Lebanon appears to be linked in essence to the crisis of the system and regime, rather than to elections or the formation of a government. Indeed, this system has produced a set of intertwined problems, which confuse scholars in how to approach them. However, the key...
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Fatah is at a historic crossroads with major decisions to make
After leading the Palestinian national project and its official institutions for more than fifty years, the Fatah movement finds itself at a historic crossroads. It has major decisions to make about its future. When it was launched, Fatah was dynamic and had extensive mobilisation capabilities, as well as the willingness...
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Palestinian Legislative Council elections will be a leap of faith
In a worn-out Palestinian political and institutional environment, and in the absence of reference points and institutions governing national action, as well as there being no guarantees of freedom and integrity while the political programmes and priorities are in conflict, holding elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) is...
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The Oslo Accords: the five-star Israeli occupation
The Oslo Accords, which were concluded between the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Israel in 1993, will surely go down in history as the worst agreement between the representatives of a people under occupation and an occupying power. The main Palestinian negotiator thought that Oslo would be a prelude to...
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The Palestinian detainees in Saudi Arabia
Eighty-one-year-old Dr Muhammad Saleh Al- Khodari had hardly recovered from the sensitive surgery he underwent before Saudi authorities detained him at his home in Jeddah. What is even more strange is that Al-Khodari is well known to the Saudi authorities, for he has been living there for more than...
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How serious is the decision to halt agreements with Israel?
The decision of the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) to stop implementing the agreements signed with the Israeli side, has made its way to the front pages. President Abbas announced the decision on 25 July 2019, and said that a committee would...
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The Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and the right to work
The latest campaign against “foreign labour” by the Lebanese Ministry of Labour provoked wide-spread protests amongst Palestinian refugees, who felt that they are its targets. This was so despite their political and legal status as refugees who did not enter Lebanon in search of work, but were the victims...
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The repercussions of the deal of the century on Lebanon
It seems that Lebanon is one of the intended countries targeted by the “deal of the century”, for the “deal” does not only seek to end the Palestine issue, but also to rearrange the regional environment surrounding Palestine, occupied by Israel, so as to serve US-Israeli interests. These include...
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Israel at 71: Reading its strategic positioning
Israel has marked the 71st anniversary of its creation in Palestine with an overwhelming feeling of pride and power; it believes that it has reached the peak of its strategic status. However, there remain challenges and risks which may increase in the future to hit the bases of its...
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The crisis of the Palestinian political elite
A political elite is usually defined by those who have the real authority in the state. Its circle may be broadened to include influential people, those who influence decision-making, and those who have religious, economic, military, ethnic and tribal authority and dominance. However, what makes the Palestinian political elite...
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The Israeli Elections: Reading the Significance and Repercussions
According to the final results of the Israeli elections, it seems that Netanyahu will win a fifth term as prime minister, and will stand beside the founding leader of Israel David Ben-Gurion as to the length of the term they served as prime ministers. For Netanyahu has finished his 13...
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Why does the PA leadership shoot itself in the foot and ignore public opinion?
Why does the Palestinian Authority leadership — which is also the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Fatah, by the way — insist on shooting itself in the foot when dealing with internal Palestinian affairs, and ignore public opinion in the process? Decisions are made and policies...
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Mission Impossible: The PA’s new government under Shtayyeh
I don’t know why Dr. Mohammad Shtayyeh put himself in this awkward position by agreeing to form the new Palestinian Authority (PA) government. Shtayyeh is one of the brightest, most efficient and experienced leaders in the Fatah movement, which dominates the PA. He holds a PhD in Development Studies...
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The 1948 Palestinians: The battle of steadfastness, identity and national role
The village of Al-Araqeeb has perhaps summarised the story of the Israeli insistence on uprooting the Palestinian people, and that of the Palestinian insistence on entrenchment in the land and steadfastness against the occupation. One hundred and forty times, the Israelis have destroyed the village located in the Negev...
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Will the Palestinian elections ever be held?
It doesn’t seem that the elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) will be held in May or any time soon thereafter, as called for by the Constitutional Court of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah. This is the case even though they were approved and welcomed by Fatah,...
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A reading in the Lebanese vision of dealing with Palestinian refugees
The document published by the Lebanese Palestinian Dialogue Committee (LPDC), which is attached to the office of the Lebanese Presidency of the Council of Ministers, is considered one of the most important documents in which the Lebanese of almost all political affiliations made a common approach on how to...