Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Yvonne Ridley
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Apartheid Israel is self-harming with Western support
As the year draws to a close one of the most highly respected voices in the international community says that he has genuine fears for the welfare of Israelis who have become “dehumanised” by their treatment of the Palestinian people. Drawing parallels with those who self-harm, Archbishop Desmond Tutu...
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Coca-Cola's investment in Gaza
Coca-Cola is building a factory in Gaza, but before you applaud such an investment in an area where the economy is shattered and unemployment ranks among the highest in the world, let’s examine the deal more closely. Who will actually benefit from this? It’s a rhetorical question really, because...
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Israel is strangling Christmas but does the West care?
I wonder how many Christian politicians in the West, from Washington to Westminster, Paris to Berlin, took time out in the past few days to watch their children or grandchildren perform in the school nativity play. While the more sentimental wiped away their tears as they watched the children’s...
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When the fight against racism produces a conflict of interest
I was told years ago by a pro-Palestinian activist that the trouble with the people from the West Bank and Gaza was the colour of their skin. Squirming in revulsion at what I thought was going to be some racist outpouring against those with olive-coloured skins, he added quickly:...
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Racism laid bare in Israel
If is a big word in Middle East politics and is often used with the benefit of hindsight or wishful thinking. My “if” focuses on the departure of Israeli ministers Yair Lapid and Tzipi Livni from the Israeli cabinet; both refused to support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Jewish State...
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The tide is turning in Egypt
There is a legend about a Viking leader and 11th century King of England who thought he was so invincible that he could even control the sea. The deluded King Canute had his throne taken to a beach and as he sat down he commanded the tide to turn...
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Shock and horror at killings, but not when victims are Palestinians
I wonder how many people have heard of Mohammed Siyam? While the Western media went into overdrive over the tragedy of the synagogue killings in Jerusalem, little Mohammed lay gasping, fighting for his life on an operating table in Turkey. As two crazed men, armed with knives, unleashed a brutal,...
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Israel's lies exposed by surgical strike against Mads Gilbert
Israel and its supporters are always keen to assert two points to the international community when defending the reputation of the Zionist state. First, they like to boast that it is the only democracy in the Middle East. Second, since the unilateral withdrawal of troops and settlers from the...
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No princely words about Christian exodus from Bethlehem
Prince Charles has stepped into the volatile arena of Middle Eastern politics by calling the plight of Christians in Iraq and Syria an “indescribable tragedy.” The prince said that faith leaders and governments must honour people’s rights to practise their faith as he referred to the dire situation for...
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Unsung heroes
It’s that time of year when British citizens get a chance to come together to mourn the country’s human losses and remember those who sacrificed their lives in time of war. Some of those remembered were volunteers but the majority were probably conscripts. For me the colour of the poppy...
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Belhaj to get his day in British court over torture allegations
“Torture is wrong and can never be justified.” So said Baroness Eliza Manningham-Buller, the former head of Britain’s internal security service. I was writing a dissertation at the same time on the ethics and effectiveness of torture in modern warfare and seized on her comments as she conveyed in less...
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When silence means monkey business in high office
British Prime Minister David Cameron, his opposition number Ed Miliband and Middle East Peace Envoy Tony Blair are among those who have roundly condemned the head-chopping, limb-cutting activities of the self-styled Islamic State. No sane observer of the Middle East would disagree with them. However, the same trio also emulate...
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Scotland is a safe haven for Jews and home of the kosher kilt
A few years ago Scotland was referred to as “enemy territory” by a visiting Israeli Ambassador because of the hostile reception he and other representatives of the Zionist state were guaranteed to receive whenever they stepped north of the border. Hence, while Tel Aviv watched keenly the progress of...
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Home Secretary Theresa May should resign over attacks on British values
Theresa May likes talking tough and it’s an open secret that she harbours ambitions to be the Conservative Party’s next leader. The British home secretary devoted a large part of her speech at the party’s Birmingham conference this week targeting the Muslim community and talking up the threat of...
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EXCLUSIVE: Shaikh Hassan Abboud's final interview
“ISIS has been trained by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard,” claims late Syrian rebel leader. Just hours before an explosion wiped out the entire leadership of one of the most powerful rebel groups in Syria, the head of Ahrar Al-Sham Brigade spent four hours talking to Yvonne Ridley about his vision for...
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Israel's own goal in PR war
As public support for Israel falls away I note that the Zionist PR machine is now trying a new tactic to win back friends and influence ordinary people in Britain. “What would you do if your cities came under attack,” is the question fired at increasingly weary news presenters who...
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Blair makes money not peace
How can a man bearing the title ‘Middle East Peace Envoy’ agree to advise the blood-drenched Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, who seized power in a military coup last year after presiding over the slaughter of 2,500 protesters and the incarceration of more than 20,000 others? The shocking announcement comes...
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Laddish Ed Husain wears veil of misogyny
While many of us were still reeling in shock over the brutal murder of veiled Essex PhD student Nahid Almanea, the reaction of one man sitting in judgment thousands of miles away was to send out a tweet suggesting it was time for a “rethink” over the issue of...