Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Oraib Al-Rantawi
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After Turkey, Iran and Israel, is it Ethiopia's turn to penetrate the Arab world?
Border skirmishes between Sudan and Ethiopia are nothing new; they date back decades and are frequent. The causes are both countries’ failure to “demarcate” their borders, tribal and demographic interventions, and the seasonal displacement of residents in those areas due to alternate seasons of heavy rain and drought. Both...
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If the US doesn’t respond to Iran’s challenge, its reputation is on the line
Fully-loaded Iranian oil tankers roam the oceans of the world and pass through strategic straits and waterways heading for two main destinations: Venezuela and China. In doing so, they are disregarding the sanctions imposed on Iran by the US and, along with the other targeted countries, are taking part...
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The ‘Palestinian emirates’ will shatter any notion of unity
In the aftermath of the Palestinian Authority’s decision to “split” from the agreements reached with Israel, a large number of Israeli political analysts have presented their thoughts. What are the chances of it actually happening? What are the implications and potential repercussions for the future of the PA itself?...
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America and Iran are indicating that they don’t want further escalation
This article may seem like a total prediction, or perhaps an attempt to read some significant meanings into small events. It is, however, worth taking the risk of analysing what’s going on between the US and Iran, and making room for speculation and expectation. Almost simultaneously, Iran started to withdraw...
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Nothing seems able to end Lebanon’s social divisions and struggles
Nothing seems able to bring an end to Lebanon’s social divisions; neither financial nor economic collapse, not the coronavirus pandemic, and not even the enemy lurking at the border. In this, the Lebanese are just like the Palestinians. Moreover, their currency has lost nearly two-thirds of its value, causing...
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Turkey: Straightforward resignation of a minister or a fight over power?
To the public, the resignation of Suleyman Soylu appears to be related to his shortcomings in the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, but to those digging deeper, the resignation of the interior minister – a prominent figure in the Justice and Development Party – tops a long chapter of...
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What was the Entebbe meeting between Netanyahu and Al-Burhan all about?
What was going on in the minds of Sudanese leader General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when they went under the cover of darkness to Entebbe in Uganda? What drove them to respond to the overt and covert mediators and brokers, including those who organised...
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Will the ‘deal of the century’ be implemented?
The expressions of joy, cries of victory and the show put on by Benjamin Netanyahu at the publicity ceremony for the deal of the century do not actually reflect the man’s real positions towards the deal itself, even though it gave Israel what it did not deserve, and what...
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Iran’s path to normalising relations with the Arabs
Away from the “clanking of weapons” and the noise of threats and intimidation, the time has come for the Iranian leadership to reconsider its regional policies, and as a consequence and a priority, it must conduct a broader and deeper review of its internal policies as well. This is especially...
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Hezbollah’s Nasrallah explains the meaning of ‘fair punishment’
Since the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, Tehran has revealed that 22 attempts in the form of messages, contacts and offers have been made by Washington to contain the Iranian response. The US wants some sort of guarantee that Iran will not carry out major revenge operations that require Washington...
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Truth and justice from The Hague
When the Senior Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, announced the intention to open an investigation into possible war crimes in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the Trump administration did not hesitate to be critical. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was clearly against the ICC and its...
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There is no religious immunity for politicians and party leaders
The uprisings in Iraq and Lebanon raise a number issues, among them the problem of the relationship between men of religion and men of politics. Even though this is not the first time that this issue has been put on the regional agenda, in the case of Lebanon and...
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Tehran's options for dealing with the protests on its streets
By publicly endorsing the decision of President Hassan Rouhani’s government to ration petrol and raise the price at the pumps, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has blocked any possibility that the government could back down, as we have seen in other countries, Arab and Western, which have witnessed widespread...
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After legitimising the settlements, the Jordan Valley will be next
Washington has offered a precious new “gift” to the religious and nationalist far-right forces in Israel: the settlements are subject to Israeli law and do not contradict international law. No Israeli politician has any excuse for postponing or delaying annexation after receiving this explicit green light from the White...
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Israel’s war on Islamic Jihad
Israel launched two attacks simultaneously on the Palestinian Islamic Jihad yesterday, one targeting Bahaa Abu Al-Ata — a senior commander of its military wing, Al-Quds Brigades — in Gaza, and the other targeting the movement’s Damascus-based political bureau member Akram Al-Ajouri. Abu Al-Ata and his wife were killed in...
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Why are Israel and Iran interested in the Iraqi and Lebanese uprisings?
It is not only Iran that is paying close attention to the uprisings of the Iraqi and Lebanese people; Israel is also monitoring the situation closely, especially in Lebanon. It has also been involved in the Iraqi crisis recently and dealing direct blows to the Popular Mobilisation Forces and...
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Baghdadi is dead, but what about Daesh?
Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi has been killed. This time there is no doubt about the authenticity of the news of his death. The man had been pronounced dead and then alive again at least seven times before this apparently confirmed report. According to US President Donald Trump, the self-appointed caliph...
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What does Kushner have up his sleeve now?
The US President’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Special Envoy Jason Greenblatt are due to begin another tour of the Middle East. This time, it is notable that the Trump administration’s spoiled brat will be accompanied by the US Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook, and his deputy, Avi Berkowitz....
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Can Egypt, Russia bring about Palestinian reconciliation?
The Egyptian security delegation’s back-and-forth rounds between Hamas in the besieged Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the occupied West Bank suggest that some progress is being made towards Palestinian reconciliation. Leaks talk about understandings being formulated on a variety of issues, including enabling government ministers to work...
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‘No war, no peace’ policy adopted until next US elections
The leader of the Iranian Islamic Revolution does not want a war with America. At the same time, however, he does not want to negotiate. We can sum up the supreme Iranian leadership’s policy towards the “Great Satan” as the policy of “No war, no peace”. The most pressing questions...
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Applying Iran’s nuclear lesson to the Palestinian case
Iran’s experience with the international community provides a rare opportunity to understand the network of international relations and identify determinants and balances of the global system. Washington unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear agreement, amid condemnation by all major signatories to the agreement who viewed US behaviour as a threat...
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Washington wants to ban the Muslim Brotherhood, but why? And why now?
According to various rumours, the Trump administration in Washington is heading towards a declaration that the Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist organisation. If and when it is put on the US terrorist list, there will be a number of implications for the movement. Although the decision has not yet...
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Is there anything Palestinians can do? (Part 2)
Read part 1 here The Palestinian National Movement, represented by the PLO, adopted the Phased Plan almost half a century ago, 45 years to be exact. Neither the refugees returned nor were the Palestinian people able to exercise their right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent state with...
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Is there anything Palestinians can do? (Part 1)
Do the Palestinians have any “cards” they could play that would allow them to turn the table on the American-Israeli project, falsely named the “deal of the century”? What are these cards and what are the advantages and consequences of playing them? This question is present in every interview with...