Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Jamal Kanj
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21st century robotic wars
On the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a new “sanitised” kind of war is reshaping the future of America’s military industrial complex. The use of unmanned drones – robotic war – is carried out through a string of military sites stretching from the Creech Air Force Base in the Nevada...
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Who gains from the latest anti-Islam film?
ZIONISTS and right-wing Christian evangelists appear to be exploiting America’s freedom of speech to fuel sedition and hate between the people of two great religions. In response, right-wing religious elements are manipulating Muslims’ righteous indignation by turning lawful protests into uncontrollable violence. In the US, it is argued that inflammatory...
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Another (made for Israel) global disaster derailed
LAST August I predicted that as the US election drew closer, and as the President’s re-election became certain, a credible scenario would be for Israel to strike Iran, pre-empting Barack Obama’s new term in the White House. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s performance at the United Nations (UN) General...
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America is a partner in Israel's wars
On 15 November, 1988, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) National Council, a body representing all Palestinians, declared an independent Palestinian state. The gesture did not change life for Palestinians under occupation or in exile, but that wasn’t the intention. The pronouncement was sugar coating major, unreciprocated political concessions, for the...
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Reconciliation and repression are incongruent
Israel’s war on Gaza has not stopped since Palestinians exercised their democratic free will and voted for Hamas in the 2006 election. The relentless warfare has alternated between overt bloody and covert muted, but let’s clarify some distortions. Contrary to most Western media reports, the current escalation was sparked by...
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A supreme Morsi mess
EGYPTIAN democracy is alive and well. That is about the only positive observation on the current pro-Morsi and counter-demonstrations in major cities across the country. President Mohamed Morsi’s pronouncement on November 22 granting himself supreme powers instigated the current crisis. His far-reaching decrees came on the heels of a Gaza...
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Israeli settlements, unsettling realities...
A DAY after the UN vote to upgrade Palestine’s status at the UN, the right-wing Israeli government responded by adding 3,500 illegal Jewish-only homes in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel was blatantly defying more than two- thirds of the international community, which recognised Palestine as a state...
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New Israeli Herods and Christians
I’m writing from Finland this week, where the omnipresence of snow and festive Christmas lights heralds another celebration of the birth of Jesus. In parallel, the descendants of the first Christians in Palestine – the “Living Stones” – are marking another year of abominable Israeli occupation. Indulged with indifference to the...
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Obama and the Israel Lobby
The Israel Lobby is flexing its muscles against Barack Obama’s expected nominee to be the next Secretary of Defence. Frontrunner Chuck Hagel is co-chairman of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board Committee. Hagel was a Republican Senator representing Nebraska from 1996 until his retirement in 2008 and was one of...
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Megalomaniac versus monomaniacs in Syria
SYRIAN President Bashar Al Assad has a penchant for blaming outside conspirators for the troubles in Syria. While plausible, he is mistaken in linking public demands for political reform with presumed plots against his country. His pompous speech three weeks ago on a political resolution for the carnage in Syria was...
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There are no short cuts in democracy
Egypt is an experimental democracy in progress, but when the evolution of this process turns bloody it begs the question: is it worth it? An Egyptian tourist guide who has lost his job, or a businessman affected by ongoing street violence, would probably respond with a resounding no. This should be...
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The definition of insanity
WESTERN media is obsessed with presenting a positive spin on everything related to Israel, while trivialising good and accentuating negative news on Palestine. It’s admirably free in many aspects, but when it comes to discussing Israel the Western media loses its spark. Disingenuous news spin and Israeli pampering are doing...
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"The invention of the Jewish people"
The Invention of the Jewish People was a book written by Shlomo Sand, an Israeli professor of history at the University of Tel Aviv. The author wasn’t probing a belief system, but Zionist fabrications of a spurious common lineage for people of the Jewish faith. Sand argues the implausibility of Jews...
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Palestine Spring in the making?
A third Palestinian uprising is simmering slowly, fuelled by the denigrating policies of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. With the chances for a political resolution steadily diminishing, and lacking other options, the conditions are ripe for a new Palestinian Intifada. While the Palestinian leadership has repeatedly committed to a peaceful settlement, Israeli governments...
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EU-funded Israeli theft
A leaked report commissioned by the European Union (EU) has concluded that Israeli settlement construction “remains the single biggest threat” to peace in the Middle East. The confidential, 15-page report outlines 10 recommendations for the 27 EU states to consider regarding Israel’s wanton activities in occupied Palestine. It describes proposals by the...
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Israeli appetite for US welfare funds
FAILING to agree on ways to reduce the deficit, the US president was forced earlier this month to enact the Budget Control Act (BCA) into law. The debt ceiling compromise was originally agreed to between Congress and the president in summer 2011. Known as sequestration, it forces across the board spending...
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Obama visit and Israeli penchant for conflict...
President Barack Obama’s visit to the Middle East has coincided with the 10th anniversary of the killing of American peace activist Rachel Corrie. She was murdered by an American-made and financed Israeli bulldozer on March 16, 2003. It is unlikely the President or any in his entourage will remember the young...
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The proxy war destroying Syria
Writing about Syria is emotionally draining and intellectually overwhelming. Evident by the level of destruction and killing, the mutual hatred between President Bashar Al Assad’s regime and the armed opposition surpasses their love of country. More than 70,000 have been killed and, not counting internally displaced Syrians, there are more than...
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US aid: an opiate for Palestinians
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed a $3.9 billion national budget for the 2013 fiscal year just one day before the March 31 deadline. The budget was approved without the required constitutional review and endorsement of the Palestine National Council. The state’s projected revenue for this year is $2.6bn, leaving...
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Counting the cost of war
On October 10, 2002 I was driving the family during a short vacation at Yosemite National Park. Indifferent to the family’s holiday disposition, I scanned the radio for the best AM reception in the middle of the sparsely populated California valley trying to follow the US House of Representatives’...
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Lebanon: Even coffee is political
LEBANON commemorated the 38th anniversary of its Civil War last week. In the days leading up to April 13, 1975 the country was virtually divided across sectarian lines. The military presence of the Palestine Liberation Organization and its perceived alliance with the Lebanese left and Muslims against the right wing,...
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It's all about appeasing...
US Secretary of State John Kerry has succeeded in tailoring yet another peace initiative to appease Israel. But it took Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu no time to effectively reject the offer, telling Kerry and company it was not occupation – it was all “about a Jewish state”. American diplomacy...
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Iran: How to rig an election
The election landscape in Iran is becoming increasingly clear. According to state-run Press TV, a whopping 686 candidates registered to run in the presidential poll. However, only eight men remain on the ballot for the first round on June 14 after candidates were vetted by the Guardian Council, which...
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The plucky professor and the last bigoted democracy
Israeli president Shimon Peres is hosting in Jerusalem this week a presidential conference called “Facing Tomorrow”. Its theme is the “human factor and its role in shaping our tomorrow”. In addition to establishing an image as a world leader, Peres envisioned in 2008 a venue to assemble top international scientific...
