Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Yassir Zaatreh
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Is this about Gaza and Hamas or the Palestinian cause and nation?
Is the current conflict about Gaza and Hamas or is it about the Palestinian cause and nation? This is an extremely important question, because some people are too hasty and connect the on-going Israeli aggression against Hamas only, or the Gaza Strip, as if the enclave is not part...
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The Palestinian cause is priority, not Hamas or Fatah
If we are to think with the same logic as Fatah, the Palestinian Authority or Hamas, then maybe we would be happy to celebrate the announcement of the new unity government. The president and minister of defence (who remain unchanged) are reportedly going to announce the rest of the...
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There were two sides to these demonstrations
Was the opposition demonstration in Cairo huge on Sunday? Yes, it was; but so was the crowd supporting the president, although scanning the media you would be hard-pressed to know this. As such, it is worth looking at the conflict in Egypt from the other side, so to speak. Imagine,...
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Setting out to defame a political opponent
When a journalist sets out to defame a political opponent, whoever it may be, finding the reasoning behind it will not be difficult, whatever the motive may be, whatever interests are involved and whichever group foots the bill. Those prone to jumping from one ideological box to another, or...
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What's next for Egypt after dispersing the protesters?
What must be said first is that cornering the protests against the military coup in two arenas only, Raba’a and Al Nahda, was a failed attempt at limiting them to a tight space. Everyone knows that the protests of legitimacy supporters over the last month and a half were...
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Asma Al-Beltagi: the child who is an icon of Rabaa Al-Adawiyyah
Asmaa Mohammed Al-Beltagi was a child in the legal sense of the word. At just 17 years old, she was mature for her age in terms of outlook and actions; she was the only girl in her family. This child was shot and killed by Egyptian security forces on...
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Chasing away the Tunisian revolution
Al-Nahda Party is struggling to make sure that what happened to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt does not happen in Tunisia. More importantly, the party is working towards sparing the Tunisians the fate of the Egyptian revolution. It would seem as though the situation of the revolution in Tunisia...
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Security of the Zionist entity comes first...but is there a second?
The negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians that are being held under American patronage are ironic, and their purpose seems to be buying time and spreading the delusion that a settlement can be reached to prevent the third Intifada, which indeed is on the horizon in retaliation against the...
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Assad's flawed analysis and coded message to the West
Bashar Al-Assad has given an “exclusive interview” to Britain’s Sunday Telegraph, the first with the Western media since the beginning of the revolution in Syria. Ironically, this was shortly before more than 40 under-cover security men were killed on Friday and while the Arab League awaited a response from...
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Will Islamists really fail in government?
The new mantra against Islamist politicians is that they can succeed in opposition but fail in government; experience of holding the reins of power will, it is alleged, reveal the paucity of their skill in governance. The main question that comes to mind when we hear Islamists’ opponents singing this...
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Pressures on Hamas and the Exit from Syria
Before clashes broke out in Syria, the head of the Hamas Movement’s Political Bureau, Khaled Meshaal, contacted the Syrian leadership and offered clear and frank advice regarding the need for political reform. He warned the regime that the wave of demand for reform sweeping the region would not stop...
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Islamists and Palestine after the Arab Spring
There is no doubt about Islamists’ commitment to the Palestinian cause, regardless of their ideological classifications, or whether they are in government or opposition. Nevertheless, a number of statements attributed to them in recent months – some accurately – cast doubt on that commitment, even given that some were distorted and...
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New victory for Sheikh Raed Salah, the Sentinel of Al-Aqsa
Sheikh Raed Salah’s legal victory against the British government’s decision to deport him from the UK represents one more example of the battles he has been fighting for years against the Israelis and their supporters inside and outside historic Palestine. The Upper Immigration Tribunal’s decision emphasises the independence of the...
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Between money keeper and policy maker
Once again Muhammad Rashid has returned to the forefront of the political scene, first through programmes on satellite television under the title “political memory”, and second through the Palestinian Authority’s request for Interpol to arrest the man on charges of corruption. That request has been ignored, perhaps because the...
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A non-member state: what's next?
President Mahmoud Abbas has warned that if all attempts to return to the negotiating table fail then the Palestinian Authority will approach the UN General Assembly seeking recognition as a non-member state. He cited Switzerland and the Vatican State as examples of such states. Of course, if Palestine is recognised...
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Why is the PA reluctant to investigate Arafat's death?
Out of nowhere, a sister of the late President Yasser Arafat has insisted that no exhumation of his remains should take place. We have never heard of this honourable lady before because she has never commented until now on any aspect the late President’s death and alleged assassination. It does...
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The time is ripe for Palestinian reconciliation, again
After the victory of the Palestinian resistance in Gaza against the Israeli offensive and the relative success at the United Nations, there is a positive atmosphere with regards to reconciliation; the time, surely, is ripe for it. However, when we ask questions about it, it looks as if we’re...
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Does reconciliation really need "temporary borders" which will threaten the Palestinian cause?
Benjamin Netanyahu’s election coalition partner has said that it is “impossible” to solve the conflict with the Palestinians. “It is possible to manage it – and it is important to manage it – and to negotiate in order to reach a long-term transitional agreement,” claimed Avigdor Lieberman, who was...
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Why the Israelis prefer Omar Suleiman
Since it was first mooted about eight years ago that the son of Hosni Mubarak was being groomed to take his place as president of Egypt, the Director of the country’s General Intelligence Services, Omar Suleiman has faced fierce competition for the top job. Meanwhile, the neo-con Zionist lobby...
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Obama the tourist seeks Israel Lobby approval
It has become a tradition amongst American presidents to begin their period of office by visiting Israel, especially over the past three decades during which time the Israel Lobby has clearly taken control of American politics. Democratic or Republican, it would be exceptional to see any American president ever...
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So why did Netanyahu apologise to Turkey now?
Under normal circumstances, when one country apologises to another it usually passes without comment. When the country doing the apologising is Israel people sit up and take notice. Israel is not accustomed to apologising to anyone; in fact, it is more often on the receiving end of apologies, deserved or...
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Freedom of expression has limits in a responsible society
The media has played a vital role in the Arab Spring, from social networks to TV stations. It would be foolish to think otherwise, but if the media was not available the old regimes would have found it much easier to suppress the wishes of the people. Commentators have spoken...
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Salam Fayyad: the rise and fall... and rise again?
Yasser Arafat’s attempt to support the Aqsa Intifada in order to rebel against the terms of the Oslo Accords backfired. Far from ending the Palestinian Authority’s role as a lackey of the Israeli occupation, it strengthened it, not least because Salam Fayyad was parachuted in from the halls of...
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Iran in Syria mirrors the Soviet Union in Afghanistan
Only a few months after the fighting in Syria began in earnest I wrote about the Afghan model there. Unfortunately, this has been confirmed over time. After more than two years of the Syrian revolution we can only hope that the fighting does not last as long as it...