Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Yvonne Ridley
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The men in charge of Saudi Arabia really don’t care a jot about Muslim women
If ever there was a time for the government of Saudi Arabia to stand up and defend its female citizens it is now, with Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman’s “reforms” in full swing; to great international acclaim, women can now drive cars on the public roads in the Kingdom...
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The Corbyn anti-Semitism row reveals how desperate Israel and its lobbyists are
The socialist leader of a British political party embroiled in an anti-Semitism row has apologised for appearing on platforms with people who drew Nazi-style comparisons with Israel’s actions. His remarks, though, have backfired among some Jewish and other pro-Palestinian groups. They have accused the Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn of “crumbling”...
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Scotland's ‘Braveheart’ pension fund divests from Israeli bank
A landmark decision by a major Scottish pension fund to divest from Israel’s Bank Hapoalim could trigger a massive financial withdrawal by other funds in Scotland. The Falkirk Pension Fund is unhappy at the bank’s activities in occupied Palestine and its approach to human rights. The fund, which manages £2.3...
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Tariq Ramadan’s detention exposes the flaws in French liberté, égalité and fraternité
The authorities in France are coming under international pressure over their treatment of Muslim academic and philosopher Tariq Ramadan who is being held in custody pending investigations into a series of allegations pertaining to sexual misconduct. Scores of internationally respected public figures have joined the growing calls for justice...
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With a British minister dodging Israeli bullets, will his new boss stand up for international law?
Now that Jeremy Hunt has replaced Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary in Whitehall, Palestinians are hopeful that there might be some cause for optimism, but if Britain’s top diplomat wants to be taken seriously as a fair-minded politician who cares about human rights, he could start by asking some...
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Who killed Razan Al-Najjar?
A new petition circulating on social media serves as a reminder that the Israeli sniper who shot Palestinian paramedic Razan Al-Najjar on 1 June could be a British citizen with dual nationality. This is a real possibility as there are many British Jews, both men and women, serving in...
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Support for the Palestinians gathers pace in Trump's America
Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the UN Human Rights Commission was an attempt to shield Israel from accountability, but it may have backfired among voters in his own backyard. Support for the Palestinians is gathering pace in Trump’s America. If you dance to Tel Aviv’s tune —...
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The pro-Israel lobby exploits anti-Semitism, with more than a little help from Trump
There is a rise in anti-Semitism across the West. Shamefully, it is being exploited with great cynicism by the pro-Israel lobby to target Palestinian support groups and individuals instead of the far-right groups which really do push a real agenda of hatred against the Jews. In Donald Trump’s America, for...
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Israel's red card and own goal
Rotem Kamer, the vice president of the Israeli Football Association, has accused Palestinians of waging “football terror” after Argentina called off a friendly match in Jerusalem. Argentina’s move came after global protests fuelled by the killing and wounding of thousands of Palestinians taking part in the Gaza Strip’s Great...
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Rohingya rape victims are braced for a Ramadan baby boom
Eid babies are normally seen as a great blessing across the Muslim world and a perfect end to pregnancies after Ramadan. We shouldn’t, though, expect any celebrations over the impending baby boom in the makeshift maternity camps along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border where the results of mass rape are about...
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Pakistani intelligence blocked a prisoner swap to release Dr Aafia Siddiqui
There were strong rumours sweeping across Pakistan recently that Dr Aafia Siddiqui, a cause célèbre across the Muslim world, had died in the Texas jail where she is serving an 86-year prison sentence having been convicted in a US court of seven counts of the attempted murder of US...
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Mo Salah, fatwas and fallen heroes
Egyptian-born footballer Mohamed Salah hopes to help Liverpool FC to lift the cup next Saturday in the final of Europe’s prestigious UEFA Champions League, arguably the world’s top club competition. As sporting occasions go — FIFA World Cup aside — games don’t get any bigger or more significant than...
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Heroic Palestinians are anything but victims
Israel’s refusal to acknowledge the Palestinians as anything other than the victims of Hamas manipulation and “incitement” is insulting and offensive to the people of Gaza on many levels. It also suggests that Tel Aviv treats the rest of us as useful idiots ready to accept the twisted narrative...
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Britain’s Friends of Israel MPs get a lesson in hate
The number of British MPs from both the Labour and Conservative parties who appear to be concerned about the education of Palestinian children should be heart-warming. However, the focus of their concern is not about the Israeli snipers who appear to use the children as target practice, nor Tel...
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The Netanyahoo Nuclear Odyssey
With all the skill and showmanship of a fairground hustler about to introduce us to the bearded lady, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu whipped up his audience to heightened expectations on TV on Monday . The headlines had us all on the edge of our seats as he revealed...
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Faking it for Assad
Dozens of conflicting columns about the chemical weapons attack on Douma have been churned out by a whole range of individuals, from untrained bloggers and Assad apologists to highly respected journalists who are admired universally for their independence and critical views. Their on-the-ground, I-was-there, observations have been penned to...
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The Palestinian struggle is being attacked by a digital occupation
Young Palestinians turn to the internet as one of the few places where they can roam freely in a virtual reality world. However, even that is now under attack as they and their supporters face mass surveillance and by “digital occupation” forces working for the likes of Facebook and...
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Palestine's own Sharpeville massacre by its own Apartheid oppressors
Be in absolutely no doubt about the significance of the start of the peaceful Great Return March which began in Gaza on Friday and led to 17 Palestinians being killed and hundreds more wounded by the Israeli army and its snipers. That Israel felt the need to resort to...
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A general’s death on this Iraq War anniversary reminds us that justice is never far away
Fifteen years ago this month, the invasion of Iraq began despite months of global protests as US President George W Bush and his willing accomplice, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, beat the drums of war. “Operation Iraqi Freedom” not only threw the oil-rich country into two decades of chaos,...
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Assad's rape victims break their silence
The torture victim stood in front of her tormentor wondering what treatment would be meted out this time in the notorious Branch 215, also known as Raid Brigade run by military intelligence in Damascus. Would it be a merciless beating or would it be another sex assault on her...
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With Assad on the brink, the Conscience Convoy highlights the plight of women in his jails
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan launched a blistering attack on world leaders from East to West on Wednesday as he met an international delegation of women in a demonstration of solidarity for the Conscience Convoy heading through his country towards the Syrian border. From Bashar Al-Assad — “a war...
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Apocalyptic Gaza throws the Beast from the East into perspective
The headline news in Britain for the past few days has been about the “Beast from the East” and the Siberian blast which has turned the UK snow white, and threatens to do so for the next few days. As if in a competition to see who is enduring...
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An open letter to Syria's First Lady
Dear Asma, I was shown an old photograph the other day of a couple of children messing around in a paddling pool in the back garden of a pebble-dashed suburban home in Britain. It was a hot summer’s day in the 1980s and the childhood innocence radiating joy and happiness...
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Women around the world mobilise for Syria
As the world looks on while a Srebrenica-style massacre unfolds in eastern Ghouta, news of another dark side to the brutality of the Syrian regime is also beginning to emerge; the imprisonment and torture of women. The stories of rape and inhuman treatment in Syria’s prisons have now prompted...
