Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Ahmed Al-Burai
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Palestinian Jerusalemites shouldn’t be left alone to face the Israeli bulldozers
According to a local information centre, in the past decade alone, Israel has demolished 200 housing units in occupied East Jerusalem leaving 440 Palestinians homeless. In the cruellest and most vicious way, the occupation forces obliged the owners of these houses to demolish their own properties or be charged for…
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A cold war is brewing in Jerusalem between Turkey and an Israel-Saudi alliance
Back in 2017, two Israeli advisors to the Jerusalem Municipality, David Koren and Ben Avrahami, shared their concerns about Turkey’s increasingly visible role in the Holy City. These two figures oversee all of the municipality’s interactions with Muslims and Christians in Jerusalem. They are fully aware of the fine details…
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Black Americans and Palestinians ‘can’t breathe’ because of injustice
Over the past week, two brutal events added more sadness to the morbid climate of the coronavirus pandemic. In Minneapolis, a black American citizen was killed by a police officer, and then an unarmed 32-year-old Palestinian man with special needs was shot and killed by an Israeli police officer near…
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Turkey’s strategy against the Saudi-UAE bloc is conciliatory — so far
The antagonism of Saudi Arabia and the UAE against Turkey has been incremental and provocative. Nevertheless, Turkey is maintaining its de-escalation strategy with a conciliatory approach. For how long, though? Can Turkey remain tolerant? What cards can it play against the reckless calculations of some of the Gulf monarchies? These…
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Media bias is politicising the coronavirus pandemic coverage
Slanted news coverage has a major impact on public perceptions of the topic in question. Media bias doesn’t exclusively mean content bias, though; the presentation style of the report could also create prejudice. This includes the placement of the story and its size. For example, a front-page story receives more…
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Lessons to be learnt from the battle of Idlib
The crisis in Idlib has undoubtedly been the most serious test for the resilience of Turkey-Russia relations. The military calculus and political dynamics of both sides are highly complicated and multidimensional. Turkey can’t abandon Idlib province to the far from tender mercies of the Assad regime for two reasons: the…
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As the refugee crisis in Syria worsens, history will record the failures of great democracies
Following the killing of Turkish soldiers in Syria’s Idlib province and the dramatic rise in atrocities, Turkey has allowed more than 100,000 migrants and refugees across its border with Greece. The Greek government has taken a number of tough measures to keep the refugees out as they amass at the…
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Does the Palestinian Authority really oppose Trump’s deal?
Reacting to Donald Trump’s “deal of the century”, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that “Jerusalem is not for sale”. On Saturday, the Arab League completely rejected Trump’s plan during an emergency meeting in Cairo, saying it would not lead to a just peace. During the meeting, Abbas reiterated vehemently that…
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Are Turkey, Russia possible peace brokers for the Palestine-Israel conflict?
The Palestinians have realised that American President Donald Trump is seeking to solely bolster Israel and to utterly isolate the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO). When the Trump administration closed the Palestinian mission in Washington in 2018, Palestinian leaders described the decision as “a declaration of war”…
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How should we interpret Hamas’ attendance at the funeral of Iran’s general?
The Iranian assassinated military commander, Qasem Soleimani, was carried to his final resting place on the shoulders of huge crowds packing the streets of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Speakers hailed the general as an Iranian national hero and the “martyr of Jerusalem”. It was Ismail Haniyeh, the former Palestinian prime…
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Will Egypt fight Turkey in Libya?
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced recently that Turkish troops have begun moving into Libya after Turkey’s parliament approved the deployment last week. The move comes after Ankara and Tripoli struck a deal which enables the Government of National Accord (GNA) in the Libyan capital to request vehicles and weapons to…
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Saudi Arabia should ‘look in the mirror’ before criticising Turkey’s operation in Syria
When Turkey’s third cross-border operation in Northern Syria started on 9 October, condemnation of the Turkish “invasion” came from around the world, as well as calls for it to be stopped. The next day, five member states in the European Council — France, Germany, Belgium, Britain and Poland — asked…