In a recent interview with Arab news website Panet, Israeli President Shimon Peres indulged in a discussion about alleged cooperation, while using language which intensified the consistent fragmentation of Palestinian identity, manipulated Palestinian resistance and sought to portray the benefits of negotiating over an elusive peace with PA President...

Egypt is playing the role of Israel in the battle against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, a former military Israeli official said on Thursday. According to Israel Radio, former Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Arenz suggested on Thursday that the Egyptian court ruling to designate Hamas a “terrorist organisation” relieves...

In a collective statement this week, three members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) announced their intention to withdraw their ambassadors from Qatar. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) made this surprising move after a meeting in Riyadh. The decision seems to carry more symbolic significance...

When John Kerry, the US secretary of state, attempted to restart the stalled Israel-Palestine peace process, he set a deadline of April 2014 for an agreement. That deadline is fast approaching, and an agreement remains out of reach. The pressure is on. In an interview with Bloomberg this week,...

Israel has acknowledged that its strategic interests will be harmed if an end is not put to the escalating crisis in Ukraine. It has suggested that Iran will be the greatest winner in this case. Although the Israeli authorities are remaining silent and have not voiced their position on...

Reports in the Jerusalem Post about Mahmoud Abbas’s latest discourse portrays his capitulation to Israeli demands, even as the PA President reiterates his remote threat to resort to international organisations for recognition of a Palestinian state. The perfunctory statements are countered by Abbas’s own open mockery of the Palestinian...

Sports exemplify joy, pride and community. For a people without a recognised country, the Palestinian national football team is a source of huge pride. Any harm done to the players damages the dream that the national team will one day have a home to call its own. For two...

After the coup-led government in Egypt failed to bring about anything beneficial or useful to the poor struggling Egyptian people in order to relieve them from their stress and suffering, it recently resorted to creating delusions and selling them to the people through the army generals on their television...

Everyone makes mistakes, and some may think that the Muslim Brotherhood made a mistake when it first met with ex-intelligence chief Omar Suleiman at the beginning of the January 25 Revolution, and that its mistakes were compounded from the time that Mubarak left office until the moment that the...

Israel has repeatedly declared its intention to continue working with UNICEF to devote efforts to solve the issue of the mistreatment of Palestinian children. The treatment of Palestinian children under detention as it is practiced today contradicts Israel’s intention and contributes to the continuation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. By...

In 2011, as mass protests swept the Middle East, Yemen unseated its dictator of 33 years, Ali Abdullah Saleh. Since then, the country has dropped off the western news agenda, displaced by the chaos in Egypt and violence in Syria. But Yemen’s transition to democracy has been nothing if...

Given the state of absurdity and farce experienced by Egypt at the moment, we should expect the unexpected; absolutely everything goes, no matter how illogical. We shouldn’t even laugh or poke fun at what is happening in our beloved Egypt, which has now become Al-Sisi’s Egypt, an Egypt full...

The curriculum taught to students in schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has been criticised by Hamas through a statement issued by the Education Ministry, which declared the human rights textbooks provided by UNRWA to be detached...

The killing of Palestinian civilians by Israeli forces is the subject of a damning new report by Amnesty International, which documents “a callous disregard for human life” and “mounting bloodshed and human rights abuses” in the occupied territories. The new report, ‘Trigger-happy: Israel’s use of excessive force in the...

This week, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and nearly every minister in her new coalition landed in Israel for two days of joint cabinet consultations. These annual meetings highlight the strong bond between Israel and Germany, seven decades after the Holocaust, when Nazi Germany killed six million Jews. “We...

The European Union’s financial aid to Palestinians has been a source of discussion in light of the fabricated peace negotiations which have been deemed a failure. Discourse concerning “the maintenance of the occupation”, humanitarian concerns and the absence of an established Palestinian state have contributed to an analysis which,...

America and Saudi Arabia have been allies since the kingdom was formed in 1932. The relationship is mutually beneficial, giving Riyadh the protection of a powerful western military, and ensuring secure oil supplies for Washington. Despite periods of increased tension over the years, this alliance has remained more or...

Little attention has been paid to the increasing phenomena of peaceful demonstrations which have been held by apparently “non-aligned” Palestinian youth in the West Bank. These remarkably resembling the peaceful demonstrations that scattered across the Arab world though remain in lesser degree. Similar to the recent Arab uprisings, these...

Only a few months after rejoining the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) and a few days after being allowed to participate in JUSCANZ, an advisory group affiliated with the UN providing consultation on human rights to UN bodies including the HRC, Israel has been awarded for its constant contempt...

In light of the policy of repression, tyranny and terrorism practiced by the brutal coup-led government in Egypt, and at a time when Egyptians do not feel that they or their families are safe from oppression, torture and murder, the brutal coup-led government insists on holding presidential elections. Propaganda...

The Israeli parliament was supposed to discuss a proposal to withdraw Jordanian custodianship and sovereignty over Al-Aqsa Mosque last Tuesday; Jordan’s role would be replaced by an Israeli administration. Although the debate was cancelled at the last moment following protests from the government in Amman, the issue remains serious....

If revolutions are fuelled by beauty, then the counter-revolution thrives on ugliness, and therefore, it is not strange that the coup-led government in Egypt is generously spending money on increasing the level of moral and intellectual ugliness. It is through revolutions that the human existence shines and mankind derives...

The right of return for Palestinian refugees remains conditioned by symbolism, external dictates and signs of agreement from the Palestinian Authority. As Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas recently declared an alleged flexibility in order to aid Israel maintain its settler-colonial structure, Israel Radio reported that the US allegedly offered its...

A senior legal official at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has warned that “the challenge of the International Criminal Court”, should the Palestinians join, “is potentially a very significant one”. Speaking yesterday at the annual meeting of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, MFA deputy...

At any given time the five so-called “permanent members” of the United Nations Security Council have the right to veto any substantive draft resolution, regardless of the level of international support there is for the draft. At one time or another, each of the five permanent members has exercised...

What has been done by the Bashar Al-Assad government in the besieged city of Homs confirms that its policy is to stretch out the crisis for as long as is possible while it manipulates the world community.   Following its pledge to evacuate the inhabitants in the town and...

Once again, “concern” has graced the rhetoric of official United Nations statements about Palestinians. Following a visit to Gaza, the UN Special Coordinator, Robert Serry, elaborated upon the ramifications of the Israeli-enforced blockade, expressing “concern” about hardships and lifestyle deterioration. However, the rhetoric conformed to the incessant inconsistencies, attempting,...

A senior Israeli education official has described the country’s scientists as “an army…facing attempts to boycott us”. Speaking at a discussion on Israel’s participation in the EU’s Horizon 2020 research programme, chair of the Council for Higher Education’s planning and budget committee Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg called the scientists “ambassadors...

Ever since Mohamed Morsi, the democratically elected president of Egypt, was ousted in July 2013, the European Union – along with other western powers – has been uncertain of how best to respond. This week, the body of 28 states took steps to clarify its position, with the Foreign...

Israel has once again exhibited its dramatic propaganda, this time during a ceremony organised by former MK Michael Ben Ari, which honoured a Zionist student for complaining about her civics teacher’s anti-Zionist sentiment. Adam Verete was suspended from teaching briefly after Sapir Sabah alleged that he was utilising the...

I could not believe my eyes when I saw camels and horses running on the Nile Corniche heading to Tahrir Square. I was a witness to the battle which lasted until the next morning against attempts to break up the protest in Tahrir Square. I witnessed the shooting by...

Following recent decisions by major European investment funds to cut ties with Israeli entities, the announcement last week by Dutch pension fund ABP that it was not excluding Israeli banks was greeted with some relief by Israel and its lobby groups. In explaining this decision, ABP claimed that the...

I believe that the past few months of his political life suggest that Mahmoud Abbas will not make it to the end of this year as president of the Palestinian Authority, PLO chairman and leader of Fatah. The man is almost 80 years old and a heavy smoker; he...

If we were to ask anyone, from an ordinary observer to a well-read media analyst, who breaks ceasefires more frequently, Palestinians or Israelis, they would almost certainly say the Palestinians. This is because the international media makes sure that we all know when a rocket is launched from Gaza...

Social media activists have reported the arrest of Majdi Al-Attar, one of the actors starring in the film Al-Maydan (The Square). On Tuesday evening, Al-Attar wrote on his Facebook personal page the following: “The State Security agents are downstairs, in my house now. They are pulling the door down...

On January 31 2014, the Popular Struggle Committees participants united as part of the “Melh Al-Ard” (salt of the Earth) campaign with the objective of revitalising the abandoned village of Ein Hiljeh in the Jordan Valley. On January 31 2014, the Popular Struggle Committees participants united as part of...

In January the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, told the BBC that sanctions on Iran should be lifted, a sentiment welcomed by Oman but opposed by Saudi Arabia. Whilst the Kingdom has pushed for a closer alliance within the Gulf Cooperation Council, Oman and Dubai’s position...

“Journalists are never supposed to become the story,” wrote Al-Jazeera correspondent Peter Greste, in a letter smuggled out of Cairo’s Tora Prison. Yet that is just what has happened to the award-winning Australian journalist, who was arrested along with two Egyptian colleagues, Mohamed Famy and Baher Mohamed, on 29...

Egypt is undergoing the biggest forgery and fabrication process in its modern history at the hands of Al-Sisi and his gang, who have violated Egypt and stolen the people’s dreams of freedom, dignity and social justice. We had hoped to achieve these goals through the January 25th Revolution and...

Most of us use the term “liquidation solutions” with reference to the successive attempted settlement agreements of the Palestine issue throughout its modern history. They are usually signed by the occupation and a Palestinian party that is willing to make concessions under the patronage of international parties; who can...

I wonder if the United Nations has always been a toothless dog. The organisation is very good at coming up with conventions and getting countries to sign and ratify them but not quite so good at getting them to comply with them. The situation reminds me of the late...

A recent op-ed published in the Israel National News claims that the foundations for a democratic Palestinian state can be traced back to the 2003 Bush “Roadmap for Peace”. Apart from misrepresenting colonisation as a “Jewish-Arab conflict”, the article provides a simplistic hypothesis regarding a possible omission of “democracy”...

Seven years ago Iraq’s writers would gather in Al-Mutannabi Street, the literary district in Baghdad, sip coffee and consider the latest publications. Named after the classical 10th-century poet, the street was home to an abundant array of bookshops, market stalls, publishers, printers and cafes. But in March 2007 a...

The Mahmoud Abbas government appears to no longer have any interest in siding with opposition groups in Syria. This is possibly because Abbas believes that his earlier policies towards the Syrian crisis have caused significant drawbacks to himself and to Palestinians in general. The support would mean Abbas risks...

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu keeps undermining Israel’s self-imposed legitimacy by requesting recognition of the Jewish state from the Palestinian leadership, narratives remain involved in dominating and compromising discourse. While Netanyahu reiterated the importance of the international community’s assistance in persuading Palestinians to grant the acknowledgement, the Palestinian...

I never expected the call for January 25, 2011 protests to eventually turn into a revolution that demanded the overthrow of the Egyptian regime and succeeded in ousting the former president Hosni Mubarak. What I expected was only a small protest consisting of tens or perhaps hundreds of protesters,...

The prosecution of the legitimately-elected President of Egypt, Dr Mohamed Morsi, on the farcical charges of storming prisons and the escape of several prisoners is basically the prosecution of the January 25th Revolution itself. The revolution gained its real momentum and strength on this particular day, when millions of...

Only a few days after Tawfik Tirawi ambiguously called upon Palestinians, including the Palestinian leadership, to embrace resistance, PA President Mahmoud Abbas has once again revealed his allegiance to Israel and imperialism by compromising upon border security, should the hypothetical Palestinian state become a reality. In a televised interview...

Israel’s Finance Minister Yair Lapid has issued a stark warning of the consequences should the U.S.-led peace process end in failure. Reports of Lapid’s comments on the threat posed by a boycott of Israel came hours before news of further divestment targeting Israeli companies by the Norwegian government. Speaking...

This week, the African Union’s (AU) Peace and Security Council held a summit in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. The 54 member states focused on the situation in South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Egypt. Representatives of Egypt will be in attendance – but only to give...