February 11, 2020
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Omar Ahmed With the constant, basic framing of the nine-year conflict in Syria as being one between the “Assad regime” and “rebels” coupled with viewing it from an understandable humanitarian perspective,...
Syrian filmmaker and journalist Waad Al-Kateab accepted the award with her 4-year-old daughter Sama for whom the film was made
February 1, 2020
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Omar Ahmed The opening month of 2020 launched with a significant strategic blow to Iran and its regional allies, with the assassination of Major General Qassem Soleimani, head of the Islamic...
January 24, 2020
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Omar Ahmed We may never know the full extent of US casualties from Iran’s retaliatory missile attack on 8 January against two Iraqi air bases hosting US troops but for now...
January 15, 2020
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Omar Ahmed The unlawful killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and the Iraqi deputy commander of the Hashd Al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation Forces – PMF), Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis earlier this month, was...
January 13, 2020
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Omar Ahmed 'Kids in Palestine are fearless' and SkatePal is helping them find a way to harness this strength
January 7, 2020
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Omar Ahmed As far as modern American military blunders go, the assassination of Iran’s top general, Qassem Soleimani, along with the deputy commander of the Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), Abu...
January 3, 2020
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Omar Ahmed The US carried out an air strike that killed Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in the Iraqi capital Baghdad
Lauded as the Middle East’s biggest music event, the so-called MDL Beast Festival ran from 19-21 December in the Saudi capital Riyadh promising to offer a “multi-sensory, multi-stage experience,...
December 23, 2019
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Omar Ahmed When it comes to commercially-controlled media coverage of the conflict in Syria, there has always been scepticism expressed by those who refused to wholly buy into the propaganda against...
December 14, 2019
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Omar Ahmed In spite of having no substantial physical political presence in Yemen, and no formal armed forces on the ground, the media is insistent on running with the same, tired...
December 2, 2019
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Omar Ahmed Although launched by the UN, the idea of the Syrian Constitutional Committee was originally put forward by Russia which, along with Turkey and Iran, is part of the Astana...
November 27, 2019
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Omar Ahmed The Arab-British Chamber of Commerce was the venue for yesterday’s workshop organised by the Academic Forum Muhammad Ali Luqman and supported by Independent Diplomat focussing on civil society, women’s...
November 23, 2019
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Omar Ahmed Speakers at MEMO’s latest conference ‘The Palestine Question in Europe’ discuss Hamas, anti-Semitism and how Israel has become an example of how the West should live
November 22, 2019
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Omar Ahmed The recent protests in Iran and neighbouring Iraq are based on legitimate grievances. However, as has also happened in Iraq, there have been elements in Iran carrying out arson...
November 8, 2019
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Omar Ahmed This week saw the signing of the much-delayed Riyadh Agreement between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government of exiled President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and the UAE-supported Southern Transitional Council (STC). The...
November 5, 2019
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Omar Ahmed The crocodile tears have stopped now that the world has yet again forgotten about the Kurds following the deals between Russia, Turkey, Iran, Syria and, to some extent, US...
Published in:
Article,
Asia & Americas,
Europe & Russia,
Iran,
Israel,
Middle East,
Opinion,
Saudi Arabia,
Syria,
Turkey,
US November 4, 2019
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Omar Ahmed After another successful MEMO-hosted Palestine Book Awards ceremony, in which literature on subjects related to Palestine was honoured. I wanted to shed light on MEMO’s willingness to be a...
The winners of this year’s Palestine Book Awards (PBA) were announced on November 1st in London, in recognition of authors and their contribution to the literature on the subject of Palestine.
Middle East Monitor will be hosting the 8th annual Palestine Book Awards in London on Friday evening to honour and celebrate the best newly published books relating to any...
October 30, 2019
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Omar Ahmed Exactly two years ago, Saudi Arabia’s firebrand State Minister for Gulf Affairs, Thamer Al-Sabhan, called for “toppling Hezbollah”, promising “astonishing” developments in “the coming days”, whilst maintaining that the...
October 28, 2019
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Omar Ahmed The tiny Gulf nation of the United Arab Emirates has long been known to punch above its weight internationally. With a native population of about one million and in...
October 21, 2019
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Omar Ahmed There is an old saying that “the Kurds have no friends but the mountains”. Poetic, poignant and tragic; but not quite true. Despite the mainstream Western media lamenting the...
October 16, 2019
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Omar Ahmed The way that history has a tendency to repeat itself is intriguing. In Alfred Lilienthal’s The Other Side of the Coin, published in 1965, he said that the “Soviet...
October 10, 2019
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Omar Ahmed Having failed to dislodge Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad after eight years of conflict and with the twin political processes of the UN and the Astana initiatives moving a step...
October 8, 2019
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Omar Ahmed The 14th century Arab historian Ibn Khaldun is famed for his treatise Al-Muqqadimah and is regarded as “the father of social science”; he wrote about the rise and fall...
September 27, 2019
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Omar Ahmed War, wrote the 19th century Prussian General and military strategist Carl von Clausewitz, is an “act of force to compel our enemy to do our will.” This is an...
September 20, 2019
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Omar Ahmed On 14 September, state-owned Saudi Aramco’s oil processing facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais in the Eastern Province were the target of a sophisticated drone and cruise missile attack. The...
September 17, 2019
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Omar Ahmed It has been argued that the Zaydi sect of Shia Islam is closer to mainstream Sunni Islam than it is to the Twelver Shias who form the majority in...
September 12, 2019
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Omar Ahmed Omar Ahmed interviews Salah Al-Noud of Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council
The US’ attacks on civilians in Yemen have taken centre stage on Twitter as social media users highlight America’s actions using the hashtag #USAEnemyOfPeace. America has been supporting the...
![Free Syrian Army members seen on the back of a truck, patroling an area after Turkish Armed Forces and FSA members cleared Kafr Rum village in the northeastern Sharan district from Daesh, as part of "Operation Olive Branch" in Afrin, Syria on March 10, 2018 [Huseyin Nasir / Anadolu Agency]](https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/20180310_2_29161466_31532242.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
With the constant, basic framing of the nine-year conflict in Syria as being one between the “Assad regime” and “rebels” coupled with viewing it from an understandable humanitarian perspective,...
Syrian filmmaker and journalist Waad Al-Kateab accepted the award with her 4-year-old daughter Sama for whom the film was made![Iranian members of the Basij militia take part in an anti-US rally to protest the killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani by a US airstrike in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, at Palestine Square in the capital Tehran, Iran on January 4, 2020 [Fatemeh Bahrami / Anadolu Agency]](https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/20200104_2_40163753_50920469.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
The opening month of 2020 launched with a significant strategic blow to Iran and its regional allies, with the assassination of Major General Qassem Soleimani, head of the Islamic...![Iraqi sites published photos that they said were leaked from inside the Al-Asad base, in Anbar Province, after the Iranian missile strike, in retaliation for the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad [Arabi21]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Image2_12020107545.png?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
We may never know the full extent of US casualties from Iran’s retaliatory missile attack on 8 January against two Iraqi air bases hosting US troops but for now...![US President Donald Trump delivers remarks during the 'Evangelicals for Trump' Coalition event at the King Jesus Church in Miami, Florida, United States on 3 January, 2019 [Stringer/Anadolu Agency]](https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/20200104_2_40153386_50901556.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
The unlawful killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and the Iraqi deputy commander of the Hashd Al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation Forces – PMF), Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis earlier this month, was...
'Kids in Palestine are fearless' and SkatePal is helping them find a way to harness this strength![A demonstrator carries an image of Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by a US airstrike in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, during an anti-US rally to protest the killing at Palestine Square in the capital Tehran, Iran on January 4, 2020 [Fatemeh Bahrami / Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/20200104_2_40163753_50920486.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
As far as modern American military blunders go, the assassination of Iran’s top general, Qassem Soleimani, along with the deputy commander of the Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), Abu...![Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei And Qasem Soleimani on 27 March 2015 [Wikipedia]](https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Ayatollah_Sayyed_Ali_Khamenei_And_Qasem_Soleimani-e1578045856505.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
The US carried out an air strike that killed Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in the Iraqi capital Baghdad
Lauded as the Middle East’s biggest music event, the so-called MDL Beast Festival ran from 19-21 December in the Saudi capital Riyadh promising to offer a “multi-sensory, multi-stage experience,...![Civil defence crews and locals conduct search and rescue operations around wreckage of buildings after airstrikes carried out by Assad Regime over Saraqib district in the de-escalation zone of Idlib, Syria on 21 December 2019 [Hüseyin Fazıl / Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/20191221_2_39954354_50552264.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
When it comes to commercially-controlled media coverage of the conflict in Syria, there has always been scepticism expressed by those who refused to wholly buy into the propaganda against...![Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, President of Yemen [z_sattam/Twitter]](https://i2.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/2018_2-2-Abd-Rabbuh-Mansur-HadiC6yzxdVWsAEYWzY.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
In spite of having no substantial physical political presence in Yemen, and no formal armed forces on the ground, the media is insistent on running with the same, tired...![Kurdish official Îlham Ehmed [Wikipedia]](https://i2.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Îlham-Ehmed.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
Although launched by the UN, the idea of the Syrian Constitutional Committee was originally put forward by Russia which, along with Turkey and Iran, is part of the Astana...![South Yemen civil society event in London, on 26 November 2019 [Twitter]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/EKTKL9NWoAAAe9X-e1574868993906.jpeg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
The Arab-British Chamber of Commerce was the venue for yesterday’s workshop organised by the Academic Forum Muhammad Ali Luqman and supported by Independent Diplomat focussing on civil society, women’s...
Speakers at MEMO’s latest conference ‘The Palestine Question in Europe’ discuss Hamas, anti-Semitism and how Israel has become an example of how the West should live![A damaged branch bank is seen after petrol price hike protests in Karaj district's Pardis town in Tehran, Iran on 20 November 2019. [Fatemeh Bahrami - Anadolu Agency]](https://i2.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/20191120_2_39424773_49625810.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
The recent protests in Iran and neighbouring Iraq are based on legitimate grievances. However, as has also happened in Iraq, there have been elements in Iran carrying out arson...
This week saw the signing of the much-delayed Riyadh Agreement between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government of exiled President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and the UAE-supported Southern Transitional Council (STC). The...![US troops gathered at the scene of a suicide attack in Syria [AFP/Getty Images]](https://i2.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/GettyImages-1083223072-e1571641462706.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
The crocodile tears have stopped now that the world has yet again forgotten about the Kurds following the deals between Russia, Turkey, Iran, Syria and, to some extent, US...![Audience member at MEMO's ‘Crisis in Saudi Arabia: War, Succession and the Future’ conference on 18 November 2017 [Middle East Monitor]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/IMG_3136.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
After another successful MEMO-hosted Palestine Book Awards ceremony, in which literature on subjects related to Palestine was honoured. I wanted to shed light on MEMO’s willingness to be a...![Awards seen at the 8th annual Palestinian Book Awards in London, UK, on 1 November 2019 [Middle East Monitor]](https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/SRV_3061.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
The winners of this year’s Palestine Book Awards (PBA) were announced on November 1st in London, in recognition of authors and their contribution to the literature on the subject of Palestine.![Palestine Book Awards [Middle East Monitor]](https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/20161121_Palestine-book-awards-1.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
Middle East Monitor will be hosting the 8th annual Palestine Book Awards in London on Friday evening to honour and celebrate the best newly published books relating to any...![Lebanese demonstrators gather at Martyrs' Square for an anti-government protest against dire economic conditions and new tax regulations on communication on October 18, 2019 in Beirut, Lebanon [Mahmut Geldi / Anadolu Agency]](https://i2.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/20191018_2_38822070_48603474.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
Exactly two years ago, Saudi Arabia’s firebrand State Minister for Gulf Affairs, Thamer Al-Sabhan, called for “toppling Hezbollah”, promising “astonishing” developments in “the coming days”, whilst maintaining that the...![Mohammed Bin Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu-Dhabi [En.kremlin.ru]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2013_9_12-Mohamed-bin-Zayed-Al-NahyanecA9nXADugjW5xqtf4lwAD925Aa9ol6S.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
The tiny Gulf nation of the United Arab Emirates has long been known to punch above its weight internationally. With a native population of about one million and in...
There is an old saying that “the Kurds have no friends but the mountains”. Poetic, poignant and tragic; but not quite true. Despite the mainstream Western media lamenting the...![Syrian National Army members patrol within Turkey's Operation Peace Spring in northern Syria, in on 15 October 2019 [Omer Alven /Anadolu Agency]](https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2019_10-15-Operation-Peace-Spring-in-northern-Syria20191015_2_38760494_48509466.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
The way that history has a tendency to repeat itself is intriguing. In Alfred Lilienthal’s The Other Side of the Coin, published in 1965, he said that the “Soviet...![Iraqi demonstrators try to enter Green Zone as they gather for a demonstration against Iraqi government in Baghdad, Iraq on October 01, 2019 [Murtadha Sudani / Anadolu Agency]](https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/20191001_2_38504750_48077590.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
Having failed to dislodge Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad after eight years of conflict and with the twin political processes of the UN and the Astana initiatives moving a step...![Saudi forces inside Saudi Arabia's Najran province [Twitter]](https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Najran-Fort-Saudi-ArabiaD4Qqwx2W0AAKht-.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
The 14th century Arab historian Ibn Khaldun is famed for his treatise Al-Muqqadimah and is regarded as “the father of social science”; he wrote about the rise and fall...![Palestinian youths were injured after Israeli forces fired tear gas on protesters during the Great March of Return in Gaza on Friday 13 September, 2019 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]](https://i2.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/2-1.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
War, wrote the 19th century Prussian General and military strategist Carl von Clausewitz, is an “act of force to compel our enemy to do our will.” This is an...![Saudi Aramco employees [Notizie Economiche/Twitter]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2017_10-25-Saudi-AramcoDM-pv9yX0AAA_qo.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
On 14 September, state-owned Saudi Aramco’s oil processing facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais in the Eastern Province were the target of a sophisticated drone and cruise missile attack. The...
It has been argued that the Zaydi sect of Shia Islam is closer to mainstream Sunni Islam than it is to the Twelver Shias who form the majority in...![Salah Al-Noud of Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council [Youtube]](https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Salah-Al-NoudSalah-alnoud.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
Omar Ahmed interviews Salah Al-Noud of Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council![Yemeni people search for those who are caught under the rubble of destroyed buildings after Saudi airstrikes hit Yemen on 14 March 2017 [Mohamed Al-Siraji/Twitter]](https://i2.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/2017_3_27-People-walk-on-the-rubble-of-a-house-destroyed-by-a-Saudi-led-air-strike.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
The US’ attacks on civilians in Yemen have taken centre stage on Twitter as social media users highlight America’s actions using the hashtag #USAEnemyOfPeace. America has been supporting the...