Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Ibrahim Hewitt
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Israel's fifth columnists silence Sheikh Raed Salah
Thousands of words have been written about the scandalous arrest of Sheikh Raed Salah by the British government in what is being seen as an attempt to silence him at the insistence of the pro-Israel Lobby. Supporters of the Sheikh from all sides of the political and religious divide...
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Breaking the siege of Gaza the approved way
The ongoing Israeli siege of Gaza has prompted much media focus on the flotilla and “flytilla” attempts to break the blockade over the past week or so. The Israelis demonstrated their considerable political influence around the world in persuading the Greek government not to let the ships of Freedom...
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Haven't the post-Oslo years taught Mahmoud Abbas anything?
The Jewish Chronicle’s Martin Bright has revealed details of “a secret meeting between Israeli President Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority” alleged to have taken place in London earlier this year. Alarmingly, given the history of the end-result of such discussions between Israelis and...
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Israel doesn't respond to violence, it foments violence
Yet more tragic loss of life, this time in Eilat and Gaza, and yet again Israel “responds” with “full force”; the bombs dropped on overcrowded Gaza City, and the resultant deaths, are testimony to that. However, this is nothing new for the Palestinians. The violence being unleashed on them...
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Is Israel now the unofficial 51st State of the United States of America?
President Barack Obama has done us all a favour with his speech to the United Nations; rarely, if ever, has a US president made it so obvious what many of us started to believe years ago, namely that Israel is now the unofficial 51st State of the USA. So now...
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What is the UN there for?
Article 1, paragraph 1 of the Charter of the United Nations says that the purpose of the organisation is “to maintain international peace and security”. On that level, the UN has to be an abject failure, although that’s very unfair of me; the UN is only as good as...
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Syria, Assad and the right-wing connection
Since the very beginning of the Arab uprisings earlier this year, the leaders of dictatorial governments at the centre of the storms across the region have raised the spectre of “Islamists” in the struggle to stay in power. “We’re the best you’re going to get,” is the message. Initially,...
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Is Israel sowing the seeds of its own downfall?
As Republicans seeking the party’s nomination for the next US presidential election fall over themselves to prove how Israel-friendly they are to “Republican Jewish leaders”, the country closest to their heart – no, it’s not the USA – has demonstrated once again its contempt for due process and international...
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Naher Al-Bared creeps back to normality
They can take away our land; they can take away our rights; they can even take away our right to live; but we are Palestinians, and with God’s help, we will survive. The above statement encapsulates the spirit of Palestine and its people. The speaker was an elderly man sitting...
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The new WMD is Israel: a weapon of mass deception
We are living in momentous times, with political changes sweeping across the Middle East and Western countries pushing democratic values as the panacea for all human ills. This is deceptive, as actions often contradict the hype. At the centre of this stands the state of Israel, which alone among nations...
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Simon Wiesenthal Centre's respect for dead Gentiles appears to be limited
It is interesting to note that a recent robust defence of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre’s planned “Museum of Tolerance” in Jerusalem uses an attack on the credibility of Sheikh Raed Salah as part of the argument. Sheikh Raed Salah, wrote the Centre’s Director of Public Relations in a letter...
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Is Egypt about to become another Algeria?
Democracy, to paraphrase writer and comedian Alexei Sayle, allows you to march up and down the street and elect new dictators every few years. Here in the West, we see this played out regularly as our “elected dictators” ignore mass demonstrations and insist that we can remove them through...
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Israel must take the blame for the repercussions of its policies
Another week and another group of innocent people are killed in a terrorist attack. Five Israeli tourists are killed by a suicide bomber in a Bulgarian holiday resort; Israel promises a harsh response, and past evidence suggests that it will carry out its threats. The world sympathises with the...
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Why did King Abdullah of Jordan agree to attend a major UK Jewish fundraising dinner?
It should come as no surprise that King Abdullah of Jordan has cancelled a proposed visit to Britain during which he was to attend the annual fundraising dinner of the Board of Deputies of British Jews. After all, the Board is staunchly pro-Israel and last week signed a letter...
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Just where does Israel's legitimacy stem from anyway?
All of the major pro-Israel Lobbyists, including Barack Obama just a few days ago, have used the word “delegitimisation” to condemn critics of the State of Israel and its policies. Earlier this month, the British Labour Party leader Ed Miliband affirmed his status as a Zionist in a speech...
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Justice must prevail if European and American claims to civilisation have any meaning at all
In the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, the Israelis have the most compliant of “partners for peace” ready and willing to make huge concessions and yet illegal settlements continue to grow; human rights violations continue apace; and 65 years of occupation and oppression look set to become endless. This tells...
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As Israel returns to centre stage, democracy and justice exit stage left
The spectacle of a senior American diplomat emphasising how much she is going to work for Israel was surprising only in its openness. When Samantha Power told a Senate Committee that she is there to combat the “unacceptable bias” against Israel at the UN and that she “will stand...
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Despite Egypt and Syria, Palestine is still the real issue
The world has been transfixed by events in Egypt and Syria, with the West’s moral conscience missing over the former but resurfacing on the latter thanks to the use of chemical weapons. It’s OK to blow people to kingdom come using conventional explosives – we’ll even sell you the...
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As negotiations get nowhere, the seeds of change must be sown in the West
Negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians are, we are told, getting nowhere. It’s taken some people 20+ years to understand that simple fact, but there you go. Ever since Oslo gave Israel the green light to go ahead and build even more illegal settlements on Palestinian land, that which...
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Israel doesn't do retaliation, just more of the same
Once again we hear that Israel has bombed the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip “in retaliation” for something that they’ve done against Israelis. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his country will “respond”. Many people would agree that a person in his position has a duty to protect his...
