Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Motasem A Dalloul
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How do Palestinians and Israelis view Trump's victory?
Once it was known for certain that Donald Trump had won the presidential election in the US, both Palestinians and Israelis expressed their hopes and expectations about a Trump presidency. With each side expecting that he will help them to achieve their goals, the clear differences in what this...
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The West should come clean about its double standards in the Middle East
Luxembourg’s foreign minister accused the Turkish authorities on Monday of using methods in its crackdown on the failed coup plotters reminiscent of those used by the Nazis against the Jews during World War Two. Speaking to Germany’s Deutschlandfunk radio, Jean Asselborn said that people were fired, their names were...
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Protesters at UNRWA office in Gaza stopped from receiving drinking water
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) prevented protesters at its head office in Gaza from receiving drinking water, the Association of Engineers – Gaza Governorates said yesterday. More than 120 Palestinian engineers have staged a protest for the fifth day inside the...
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New Camp David with a Saudi touch
When Egypt signed the peace agreement known as Camp David with Israel in 1978, Arab countries were up in arms, accusing it of breaching the united Arab stance towards the occupation state – no to normalisation or peace talks. As a sign of their anger, they called for an urgent...
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Israel’s army is no longer a deterrent, even to Palestinian children
Following the three Israeli wars waged on the people of Gaza between 2008 and 2014, dozens of political, strategic and military analysts acknowledged what is a bitter pill for the Israeli army to swallow: it is no longer a deterrent to the Palestinian fighters in the beleaguered coastal territory,...
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Palestinian chemist develops gluten-free flour under Israeli fire
During the 2008/9 Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, when Israel and Egypt completely restricted the movement of people and goods into and out of the coastal enclave, Mohamed Al-Asqalani developed a gluten-free flour which is a godsend for patients in the territory suffering from celiac disease, as well...
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One year on from the Israeli offensive, Gaza's children are unable to forget
During the 51-day Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, which took place between 7 July and 26 August last year, a group of Palestinian children fled to the beach to escape from the harsh and extensive bombing of houses, hospitals, healthcare centres and playgrounds; they went there to play...
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As long as Gaza is under siege peace cannot prevail
Nearly a year after the start of the 51-day Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, which caused “unprecedented destruction”, the coastal enclave is still in ruins because of the strict eight-year Israeli siege and the official international silence towards Israeli violations. The Israeli offensive started in July and ended in...
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He lost two kids, then another, and another
Lying in a hospital bed with a plastic tube in his nose and another connected to his right hand, surrounded by more than five of his close relatives and friends, with no ability to speak, Tariq was able to rise a little and open his eyes in order to...
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Letter from Gaza: The story of my grief
Israeli warplanes do not leave the skies of the Gaza Strip even at the time of truce. Almost every day unmanned or jet warplanes fly overhead. From time to time these planes target farmland, factories, workshops and houses. People in the Gaza Strip have become acquainted with the sounds of...
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The tragedy of Rafah Crossing
Despite the occasional arrival of humanitarian aid to the residents of the Gaza Strip from several different countries, including the Gulf States, through the Rafah Crossing, Egypt still maintains the strict closure of Gaza’s sole connection to the outside world. The Miles of Smiles 28 aid convoy, consisting of delegations...
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The Egyptians will not forget...
The military coup in Egypt had a number of results, the most difficult of which for a nascent democracy is the return of the military to the political scene. It created events which the people of Egypt will not forget in a hurry: The Egyptians will not forget the...
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A stable Egypt is not in Israel's interests
Media reports in Israel suggest that the government there would be very happy to see the back of Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi. One Israeli commentator on Arab issues told Israel Army Radio this week that it doesn’t take a genius to see that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “looking...
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New ban of Muslim Brotherhood is hardly a game-changer
After the second hearing session into the case, an Egyptian administrative court in Cairo has issued a decision to ban the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s biggest and most organised social and political group, with branches all over the world. The decision includes a ban on any entity affiliated...
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Politicians should admit Israel's real intentions, which are nothing to do with peace
In recent days, Israel has been embarrassed by remarks made by senior officials, which appear to contradict the commonly-pushed government stand on the conflict with the Palestinians. One official went so far as to call on the government to stop misleading the Palestinians, and the rest of the world,...
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Should the Islamists be punished for being the most organised?
In 2006, the US, Israel, Arab countries and the Palestinian Authority (PA), dominated by the secular Fatah movement, decided to end the Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation. They planned to drag Hamas into the PA which is itself a creation of the notorious Oslo Accords. The argument then was...
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Despite the tunnel, Israel is far from being an innocent victim
Israel announced on Sunday that it has discovered a tunnel under its border with the Gaza Strip. The end of the tunnel is about 300m inside occupied Palestine. Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon immediately announced that the government had stopped delivery of all construction material to Gaza, claiming that...