Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Muhammad Hussein
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Out of Gaza: New Palestinian Poetry
When an Israeli air strike killed the prominent Palestinian writer and scholar Refaat Alareer in Gaza back in December, it signalled not only the random and wanton destruction of an area in Gaza City, but also the deliberate targeting of the man known as a leader of a new...
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Israel aims to control the social media sphere by any means necessary, even through abduction
In this modern digitised age, unregulated freedom of speech is a rarity, as much as it is a fashion for conservatives and political commentators to advocate for it. So when Pavel Durov, the CEO of the Telegram app, was arrested by French authorities in August, a flurry of theories...
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As the world gears up for another pandemic, Gaza’s healthcare system is in ruins
Since the apparent end of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2022 – or in some regions the year after – rumours of the next worldwide pandemic have spread on- and offline. Conspiracy theorists have claimed that a new global health emergency would be declared by the end of 2023 and...
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The UK’s far-right riots are the violent spasms of a dying British society
Long gone are those days of play and relaxation by a bustling beach in a British seaside town, where you would set up a windbreaker with family and friends, take a dip in the cool waters of the summer shoreline, stroll by the pier, enjoy the numerous vibrant cafes...
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Is Trump really playing ‘5D chess’ against Israel?
Ever since UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer took office last month, his government has surprised many in its steps regarding commitments towards Israel and Palestine. In clear contrast to his reluctance to say anything during the election campaign, Starmer came out almost immediately following his victory in support of...
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What does Erdogan the tactician have in mind for reconciliation with Syria?
Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long been known as a seasoned tactician who, like few leaders on the world stage, is able to confuse his observers, critics and supporters alike on a frequent basis. One year opposed to interest rates, the next in support of them; one year...
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From Labour leader to independent, Jeremy Corbyn vows to work in the UK and Europe for a ceasefire in Gaza
Rises and falls are all part and parcel of the life of many a political figure, often in numerous occurrences and often at the hands of forces too big to be beaten. Jeremy Corbyn is no exception to that rule. Having served as leader of the UK’s Labour Party...
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If international law does not comply with Israel, then the West will build a new world order
International law has never been one of Israel’s strong points. Ever since its violent inception in 1948 when it neglected the United Nations’ resolution to share historic Palestine, and through the decades when it broke numerous ceasefires, destroyed Palestinian villages, violated virtually every human rights standard with regard to...
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Combatting academic censorship of the Palestinian narrative in the UK
Tonight MEMO hosted an event on Academic Censorship in the UK, in which a panel of experts discussed efforts to subdue the Palestinian narrative within academia, as well as to assess the methods and mechanisms used toward that suppression. Held at London’s iconic P21 Gallery, the event’s panel consisted of...
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Visiting AlUla: Inside Saudi Arabia’s mission to revive a dead past
Driving along the long road northward from the holy city of Madinah, the shifting of the scenery surrounding me was fascinating. It went from the distinctive black rocky hills and mountains of the Hijaz to the flourishing greenery – brought on by the increased rains in the region in...
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The US continues to use sanctions against developing nations for having the ‘wrong’ kind of relations
When Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visited Pakistan last month, the two neighbours essentially opened the door to swift reconciliation months after they both conducted light strikes on each other’s territories and suffered a diplomatic fallout. Aside from presenting an opportunity for Islamabad to further express its condemnation of Israel’s ongoing...
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The Gulf states will not move against Yemen’s Houthis without decisive Western intervention
There are few active armed movements that are as aggressive and assertive – reckless, even– as Yemen’s Houthis. Since the start of Israel’s ongoing offensive and genocide of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis have launched attacks on cargo vessels linked to the occupation state passing through...
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Dune 2: a tale of Palestinian resistance against Israel’s occupation
Stories have always conveyed messages to the human subconscious. From the bedtime stories children are taught, to the movies we watch and the novels we read, the art of the story is possibly the most effective tool a propagandist can use. Speeches and the spoken word may impact the...
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Will mercenary Gulf armies signal a new Western colonial security order?
Much has been written over the past decade on the prevalence of mercenary forces – so-called private military companies (PMCs) – in combat zones, ranging across Libya, Syria, Ukraine, Yemen and even Sudan. Much has also been written on the various efforts by Gulf Arab states to create a...
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The West must decide what to support: Israel’s genocide in Gaza or Ukraine’s war against Russia
Walking the streets of Lviv in western Ukraine in December, trying to avoid the deadly black ice which is the bane of winters there, the last thing I expected to hear was the question “What do you think about Israel and Palestine?” I turned my face to Yulia, a...
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A US military withdrawal from Syria could overturn the chessboard, but not for the better
Many have hailed this decade as one of American withdrawal from the world stage, whether for strategic reasons or due to simple ineptness by civilisational decline. As the world witnessed the United States’ military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, though, it became ever more evident that such a...
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Palestine Book Awards 2023 winners announced during night of solidarity with Gaza
The event, held virtually in order to allow the participation of authors in the Occupied West Bank who are unable to travel as a result of the Israeli Occupation authorities’ restrictions, was joined by Palestinian poet from Gaza, Mosab Abu Toha, a survivor of the ongoing atrocities and genocide and...
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Has the Axis of Resistance finally found the ‘road to Jerusalem’?
Much attention has surrounded the ‘Axis of Resistance’ over the years, with many anticipating the actions of that loose coalition of movements, militias, and states united in their claimed opposition to the West and its allies in the Middle East. The Axis’s slogans have been grand, its parades and...
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Profile: Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, founder of Hamas
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin grew up as a refugee in Gaza after he was driven out of Al-Jaura, a Palestinian village depopulated in 1948 by Zionist forces, along with his family. In 1987, Yassin co-founded Hamas as an armed resistance movement against the then 20-year-old Israeli occupation. ...
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Gaza is the dystopia that conspiracy theorists fear, so why do they still support Israel?
Since the start of Israel’s renewed bombardment of the Gaza Strip and the invasion to eradicate Palestinian Resistance group, Hamas, along with the entire Gazan population, it served to further shed light on which individuals, sectors of society and political affiliations persist in support for the occupation. There emerged a...
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Arab democrats: 'A new wave of the Arab Spring is coming, and the world must support it'
It is a rare sight for opposition parties and figures in any region to be united in their goals or even views, and such a thing only occurs when there is a force sufficiently hated by all to justify their unity. In terms of the democratic opposition throughout the...
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Amid Israel’s genocide in Gaza, are we witnessing the fall of Zionism?
Around 50 years before the creation of the state of Israel, British explorer and diplomat Richard F. Burton wrote in his book The Jew, the Gypsy, and El-Islam about the concept of a Jewish state in the holy land, which was being proposed by the emerging Zionist movement at...
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Out of Time: The Collected Stories of Samira Azzam
It takes a certain level of skill to encapsulate the plight of an oppressed people, the nostalgia of distant and forgotten days, and the inexplicable heartbreak of generational trauma in short stories – there is simply barely enough space to attain that sort of depth – but those in...
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The Arab World’s democratic transition has kicked off in Sarajevo
It is ironic that a conference on democracy in the Arab world could not be held in the capital of any Arab country, and was instead held in the capital of a politically-unstable Balkan state that itself remains vulnerable to separatist and ethnic intrigues. According to the Arab Council, its...