Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Mohammad Makram Balawi
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Who really sets the Israeli government’s agenda?
At least 30 Palestinians, including three children, have been killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank this month alone. A number of the killings were recorded on video, and at least one was killed for no reason at all, other being a Palestinian. Unusually, the Israeli army...
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As ‘civil war’ warnings ring in his ears, Netanyahu insists that the main issue is Iran
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) sent its President Betsy Korn, CEO Howard Kohr and Israel Director Cameron Brown to the occupation state on 17 January. AIPAC advocates pro-Israel policies and lobbies the legislative and executive branches of the United States government. According to the group’s website, it...
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Bibi and his associate, Itamar Ben-Gvir
No sooner than former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid left the podium, Benjamin Netanyahu (Bibi) and his ministers started “ruining” Israel, contrary to Lapid’s warning. Netanyahu, who bragged that he would soon make peace with Saudi Arabia, found himself losing the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to his National...
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Turning Israel into a Jewish theocracy
Benjamin Netanyahu, the longest serving prime minister of Israel, built his entire career on confronting Iran. His argument is, Iran is building a nuclear weapon and its intent on using it against Israel and wiping out the Jewish people and he is the only person who can stop the...
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Netanyahu redefines Israel
The results of the last round of Israeli elections must have represented a big blow to US hopes and efforts as they placed their bets on the former caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid. However, the results have shown that they bet on the losing horse. In essence, though, there...
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Arab normalisation with Israel is part of a passing phase
The Imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, Sheikh Ṣaliḥ Ibn ʻAbd Allāh Ibn Ḥumayd, prayed to the Almighty during the Friday prayer last week, to “bring annihilation upon the plundering and occupying Jews ” and to protect the Muslims from their evil. The supplications of the former speaker...
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The Jerusalem Declaration revisited
With Israel in its eighth decade, many worries and fears haunt its people. The curse of the eighth decade has become an obsession for the Israeli political elite, which is no surprise in a state based on religious mythology; it is bound to continue in the same vein. The...
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What does the ‘Jerusalem Declaration’ actually mean?
A linguistic analysis of the “Jerusalem Declaration” signed by US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on 14 July exposes the nature of the document. It is clear that Lapid is being marketed as a long-term prime minister in advance of the next General Election in...
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Does the Middle East really need another NATO?
US President Joe Biden’s upcoming visit to the Middle East has generated a lot of discussion in the region, not least because he has said that he will initiate a security coalition between Israel and some Arab countries, to confront any destabilising threats. This has been dubbed the “Middle...
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The US burden is to integrate Israel with the Arab world
I was one of those who concluded very early on that there is little difference between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. I still believe this to be true. Although Biden talked a lot during his election campaign about the nuclear deal with Iran, the relationship with China, the issue...
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Denying Palestine while protecting Israel from itself
Many acts regarding Palestine are an enigma. Everything is convoluted, and you do not know who is killing who and for what reason; a “mad house” where nothing makes much sense. Others believe it is part of the nature of the Middle East, where everyone is used to killing...
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Why does the world allow Israel to continue its oppression of Palestinians?
Thirty-one-year-old Ghofran Warasnah was shot dead by the Israeli occupation forces located at the entrance of Al-Arroub Palestinian refugee camp near Hebron. Ghofran was a Palestinian journalist who was heading to work. According to reports paramedics were barred from reaching her for 20 minutes and the ambulance carrying her...
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Is it time to play politics with Hamas?
The phone call between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh comes amid clashes in Jerusalem. It also occurred in the context of multiple international contacts with the movement, seeking to contain escalation in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially at Al-Aqsa Mosque, following Israeli attempts to...
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Shireen vs the US & Israel
There are two kinds of Americans: those to whom America rushes for help and others whom America turns its back on and turns a blind eye to their tragedy. By America, I mean the US administration and mainstream media, which shapes public perception. Let us take the case of...
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The curse of the eighth decade and the end of Israel
I had written an article about the belief among a large section of the Palestinians that the second half of the eight decade of the State of Israel would be the beginning of the end, but it became clear to me that the Israelis also hold, in one way...
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Who enjoys freedom of worship in Israel?
Images of at least one Israeli drone dropping tear gas on Muslim worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan marked a new phase in the occupation’s aggression against Palestinian land and people. After about a century of experience of dealing with Zionist infiltrators and occupiers, Palestinians...
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Are Russia-Israel relations facing a temporary challenge or definite deterioration?
Israel sees an existential threat in everything, because it is a state like no other; it cannot close its eyes at night and sleep soundly when the rest of the world is stormy. It was created after decades of a game between superpowers, and it maintains this balancing act...
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Palestine, the tragedy of endless procrastination
The Americans and Europeans are not serious in addressing Israeli crimes committed against the Palestinians, an expert on international law told me yesterday, adding that they are selectively in their use of international organisations including the International Criminal Court (ICC) to punish their enemies, as we have seen in...
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A voice from Gaza
Yesterday evening, I had the opportunity to have the Ramadan break-fast iftar meal with a university professor from Gaza. He was my neighbour’s old university classmate and was transiting through Istanbul on his way from Makkah. The guest had his young son with him, who kept silent and smiled...
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Israel's phobia about Ramadan
For Muslims, the holy month of Ramadan is associated with peace, serenity, tranquillity, happiness, family and charity. In many Muslim countries, public authorities and private sector employers reduce working hours to allow their employees to worship and pray in a more relaxed atmosphere. Friends, neighbours and relatives often organise...
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Ukraine provides an opportunity for peace in Europe and beyond
According to Reuters, France summoned the Russian ambassador last week over a cartoon on Twitter that “mocked Europe”. The cartoon which angered the French government depicted Europe as a body on a table with characters representing the US and EU jabbing needles into it. It was the French, remember,...
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The new Palestinian year: A mixture of myths and hope
For many Palestinians, 2022 is a very special year as it marks the beginning of the “downfall” of the Israeli occupation. This belief is widely spread by some Muslim religious scholars, Palestinian and non-Palestinian, especially the well-known Sheikh Bassaam Jarrār. Jarrār delivers his speeches at a local mosque in...
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Iran and Saudi Arabia: Rapprochement under American eyes
Since 1979, when Iranian students stormed the US Embassy in Tehran and held American diplomats captive, the US strategy towards Iran has been aggressive. The US led the whole world to isolate Iran, turning it into a pariah state even among its neighbours and fellow Muslim countries. The US...
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A Turkish Policy Shift towards the Taliban?
Although many leaders of the ruling Turkish party (AKP) are never tired of reiterating that their party is not an Islamic party but a conservative one, many out of their good will or otherwise, tend to brand it as such which, frequently, makes their policies seem ambiguous or contradictory....