Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Khalil Al-Anani
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Using political prisoners as bargaining chips
A few days ago, the Saudi Arabian authorities released Loujain Al-Hathloul, an activist who had spent about 1,000 days in prison merely for defending the right of women to drive a car. She was kept in prison even though the authorities gave women the right to drive while she...
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Sudan’s Hemedti and normalisation
The Deputy Chairman of the Sovereignty Council in Sudan, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (also known as Hemedti), announced on TV two days ago that the country will establish relations with Israel to take advantage of its advanced technology. It is interesting that Hemedti does not consider this to be normalisation,...
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Sisi’s fragile dictatorship
General Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi is trying to build an individual dictatorship to rival those of the 20th century. He seems certain that it will cement his name in history as one of the “greatest leaders” of Egypt in modern times. However, he has overlooked the fact that absolute dictatorships have...
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Egypt’s opposition and the constitutional amendments
The constitutional amendments currently being discussed by the Egyptian parliament represent a major step towards establishing authoritarianism in Egypt. It will pave the way for one person, the current President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to remain in power for 20 years (2014-2034). It is also considered a reversal of one...
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Al-Sisi has started another coup in Egypt, this time against the constitution
The amendments to the Egyptian Constitution approved by parliament last week were a disastrous measure that will destroy what is left of political life in the country. They will be put to a referendum in a little over two months. We are clearly facing a second coup with these changes...
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Trump and Bin Salman, with Israel in between
Saudi Arabia’s newspapers and television channels did not comment on the remarks made recently by US President Donald Trump, in which he praised the Kingdom’s role in protecting Israel’s security. No official Saudi statement was issued to deny or condemn Trump’s words. On the contrary, there looks to have...
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When Netanyahu defends Bin Salman…
Benjamin Netanyahu has made no secret of his concern over the fate of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman in the wake of the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October. According to the Washington Post, the Israeli Prime Minister intervened with the...
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The true Saudi story
The Saudi story regarding the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, in which it claims that he died during a fistfight with a Saudi detective, does not change anything. The man died in his country’s consulate, at the hands of an “assassination squad” sent specifically for this purpose – everything...
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The Gulf, Iran and Trump’s tweets
US President Donald Trump tweets threats against Iran and the Gulf capitals dance with joy at his scowling and anger. The man then tones down his language and manner and calls for dialogue with Tehran, and the same capitals become angry and enraged with the man they believed was...
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The Gulf can learn a lot from the Korean handshake
The world was surprised on Friday morning by a historical scene that was no less powerful than the destruction of the Berlin Wall more than a quarter of a century ago after the collapse of the Soviet Union. We witnessed North Korean President Kim Jong-un cross over into South...
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The Arab failure on the Jerusalem issue
Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel did not come as a surprise, except to those who either lack political logic or are complicit and thus content with what has happened. There was no use for the hesitant statements that warned Trump against making such a...
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The 50 scholars permitted to issue fatwas in Egypt
There have been news reports that Al-Azhar University and Dar Al-Ifta Al-Misriyyah have prepared a list of about 50 scholars and clerics permitted to issue fatwas on Egyptian satellite channels. In another version of the story, the head of Egypt’s Supreme Council for...
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Will Saudi Arabia become the sick man of the Middle East?
In 1839, Sultan Abdulmejid I of the Ottoman Empire carried out legal, administrative and social reforms, later known as the Ottoman Tanzimat, in an effort to modernise the empire and keep pace with the European countries. The Sultan’s reforms were a continuation of those made by his father, Mahmud...
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The shifts in the Gulf crisis
The Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad, told a press conference with US President Donald Trump on Thursday that his country’s mediation had succeeded in stopping any military action in the Gulf crisis, which has been ongoing since 5 June. His comments revealed the true intentions of the boycotting...
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Collateral damage resulting from the Gulf crisis
The Gulf is no longer a single nation after the recent crisis between the states and their communities. This crisis has done away with the ties of brotherhood, history and blood, after transitioning from a political to a social crisis, going even deeper and wider in its targets and...
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Trump's gambling in the Gulf
You don’t need to be very intelligent or make any great effort to understand Donald Trump’s position on the current Gulf crisis, which is likely to last for months, if not years. The US president views it like a businessman who has always tried and is still trying to...
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Daesh’s violence in Egypt
Daesh has claimed responsibility for killing 29 Egyptian Copts on Friday while they were on their way to Dier Anba Samwail (Monastery of St. Samuel), west of Minya in Upper Egypt. This is the third time Daesh targets Copts and kills them based on their religious identity. This was...
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The end of the Arab nation state
We cannot begin to understand the disintegration and fragmentation plaguing the Arab region without looking at the failures of the nation states that were established on the ruins of the Ottoman Empire following its destruction a hundred years or so ago. Furthermore, we cannot begin to analyse the emergence...
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The era of assassinations in Egypt
The assassination of Adel Ragai, commander of the Egyptian army’s Ninth Armoured Division, in front of his house last week, has opened the door to a number of questions regarding the issue of political assassinations in the country, the circumstances and the parties involved, as the number of such...
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The beginnings of a collapsing regime in Egypt
General Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s regime has used up all its chances for remaining in power and it is about to collapse at any moment. This is not wishful thinking, but is rather a reading into the deteriorating situation of this regime which has so far failed in all tasks...
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The rise of the Arab right wing
The assassination of Jordanian writer and left-wing activist Nahed Hattar at the hands of an individual who was grieving the death of a loved one and unable to avenge their death is not separate from the context of the tense and polarised environment prevalent in the Arab world. It...
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This initiative for change in Egypt is a non-starter
"The initiative includes general aims and slogans that are clearly romanticised, such as fighting poverty, ignorance and disease, and having justice, education and health..."...
