Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Jamal Kanj
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Trump’s hypocrisy: Peacemaker in Ukraine, genocide enabler in Gaza
Earlier this month I wrote that Benjamin Netanyahu’s resumption of the war of genocide in Gaza was never a matter of “if”, but “when.” The early morning massacre of over 1,000 killed and wounded civilians on 18 and 19 March was described as an Israeli “tactic to force” the...
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Syria: Dangling between the past, present and the future
Following the collapse of the Assad regime, I ended my article in December with the following paragraph: “The new government must represent all Syrians, regardless of religion or ethnicity, ensuring justice and equality for all, while upholding Syria’s historic role at the forefront of resistance against Israel and its...
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Israel’s ethnic cleansing in the West Bank continues as the PA slips into irrelevance
The ongoing Israeli military assault on Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank is part of a larger ethnic cleansing of the occupied territory, a systematic effort to forcibly displace Palestinians from their homes and erase their historical and national identity. As the world watches in silence, the relentless...
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Why the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire negotiations is failing
The three-phase ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, while offering a fleeting glimmer of hope for ending the occupation state’s genocidal assault on Gaza, was never likely to succeed. Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to break the ceasefire terms by blocking food and medical aid from entering...
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Trump’s hyperbolic rhetoric is not out of the box thinking, it’s out of touch with reality
We saw the King of Jordan twitching his eyes nervously as Donald Trump unveiled his outrageous plan to take over Gaza. Yet, when asked to comment, King Abdullah remained conspicuously equivocal or evasive. His failure to speak out was emblematic of an Arab despot installed by colonial and post-colonial...
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Does Trump see Gaza as a business opportunity or a dispossession project?
A friend texted to ask if I had watched the joint press conference held by Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. “Fortunately, I did not watch it live,” I wrote back. It took me nearly 24 hours to be in the right state of mind to endure watching two narcissists...
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The people of Gaza deserve justice, not ethnic cleansing
Nearly eight years ago, Donald Trump and his Zionist son-in-law Jared Kushner unveiled the so-called “Deal of the Century”. This was described aptly by Palestinians as the “Steal of the Century”. The so-called peace proposal sought to normalise illegal colonies for Jews only in the West Bank, and deny...
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Palestine Through the Lens: A Visual Chronicle of a Vibrant Society (1898-1946)
This is a review of an exceptional photo book, Images of Palestine (1898-1946). The book is a collection of photographs that spans nearly five decades, captured in the period leading up to the Palestine Nakba. Together, these black-and-white images chronicle a vibrant and diverse Palestinian society, highlighting its connection...
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Contrasting reality: Treatment of Israeli and Palestinian prisoners
The release of three Israeli women held captive in Gaza on Sunday attracted significant global media attention. However, there was comparatively limited coverage of the freed Palestinian women, who had been kidnapped and detained by Israel without charge. This disparity reflects the normalisation of the dehumanisation of Palestinians, perpetuating...
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Israel’s attacks on hospitals are war crimes; the world must respond
The recent Israeli attack on Kamal Adwan Hospital, the only partially-operating hospital in northern Gaza, was the latest phase of Israel’s egregious disregard for international humanitarian law and the sanctity of medical facilities. This audacious act highlighted the alarming impunity with which Israel conducts its genocidal war in Gaza,...
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Is the Palestinian Authority protecting the ‘Homeland’ or Zionist Bantustans?
Israel has invaded Jenin refugee camp numerous times since the 1993 Oslo Accords. The city of Jenin and the nearby camp are in what is considered as Area A of the Accords. This area is made up of approximately 18 per cent of the West Bank, or 18 per...
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Netanyahu’s diabolical undeclared war objectives in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that Israel’s war on Gaza will continue until achieving what he terms “total victory”. Instead of examining Netanyahu’s vague and open-ended objectives critically, much of the Western media and many governments frame the onslaught as “self-defence”, and some even normalise the genocide...
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Israel engineered chaos and looting in Gaza
Last March, I wrote Gaza: Genocide by Starvation, analyzing Israel’s strategy to divert attention from the starvation caused by its blockade by shifting the narrative to food distribution and internal security. In support of this strategy, the Biden administration implemented a flawed plan, squandering more than $320 million of...
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The ‘General's Plan’ in Gaza: A genocide by starvation
George Orwell’s dystopian foresight could easily find new expressions in the ongoing Israeli wars of genocide in Gaza and Lebanon. Much like “war is peace”, the Biden administration and the European Union have contributed to creating phrases such as “aggression is self-defence,” “murder is collateral damage”, “safe areas are...
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Biden's bias toward Israel transcends his humanity
What did the White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby say after the 1 April Israeli murder of seven aid workers in Gaza, six of them foreigners? “We were outraged to learn of an IDF strike that killed a number of civilian humanitarian workers yesterday from the World...
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Rafah is Netanyahu’s last fig leaf
Rafah is not a military base, nor does it have any geopolitical significance. It is, however, Netanyahu’s last chance for political survival and exoneration from criminal charges. Rafah’s only symbolic importance is being a potential gateway to forcibly exile Palestinians from Gaza. Thus, Netanyahu’s vision of “total victory” entails...
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Gaza’s floating pier and Biden’s fake empathy are cynical PR exercises
The Gaza Strip is teetering on the brink of famine. At least twenty-seven children, including new-born babies, have perished due to the severe shortage of essential nourishment, particularly baby milk. Additionally, hundreds of adults and elderly individuals have been killed as a result of Israeli attacks while waiting for...
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Gaza faces genocide by starvation
Imagine for a moment that you are at home, with your wife and children. It’s dinner time before you put your three children to sleep. The room is cold, the gas cylinder is empty, there’s no food, no electricity and no drinking water. There is no dinner at this...
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Rafah between Netanyahu’s metaphysical power and the West’s disconnect with reality
Allow me to begin this piece by sharing the story of a child from Gaza. Unlike your child, sister, or niece, Hind Rajab didn’t live to see her sixth birthday. Children her age typically have grand plans, eagerly anticipating starting school and perhaps grappling with the challenge of completing...
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Defunding is the final phase of the Israeli genocide
International leaders who lined up to pledge their support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the largest open-air prison break on 7 October paved the way for Israel’s ensuing genocide against the Palestinians. Now, the suspension of funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian...
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The ICJ and the dichotomy between the genocide victims and the perpetrators
The interim findings of the International Court of Justice agrees with South Africa while rejecting the Israeli motion, on the World Court’s jurisdiction to investigate charges against Israeli actions that fall “within the provisions of the Convention.” The significance of the provisional Court’s ruling is putting on notice...
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Tales of hypocrisy: Israeli genocide and the International Criminal Court
The weekend before Christmas, Israel announced the loss of 17 of its army soldiers during a 24-hour period. Avenging its loss on the battlefield, Israeli jets levelled residential neighbourhoods in three refugee camps (Maghaze, Bureij and Nuseirat), killing 250 civilians and injuring dozens more. In the last 90 days, the...
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Gaza: What did Zionists learn from Jewish persecution?
Last week we witnessed what the Bible calls “you reap what you sow” when the Israeli army killed three fleeing Israeli prisoners. Israel sowed a culture of hate where the life of Palestinians, or non-Jews, was expendable. The Israeli soldiers in the neighbourhood of Shuja’iyya, Gaza, followed standard army...
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From Chongqing to Gaza’s mass assassination factory
Israel resumed its genocidal war on Gaza following the brief pause last week, which was insufficient to address the plight of the thousands of missing Palestinians, most of them women and children, trapped beneath the rubble. Personally, I’ve been trying since 27 October to reach a former colleague in...