Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Anjuman Rahman
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‘Gaza encampments symbolise a rising tide of global support for Palestinian liberation’
University campuses around the world have become hotspots for escalating student protests, demanding academic institutions divest from companies supplying arms to Israel. Launched on US college campuses, these protests have now spread to universities across the UK, Europe, Lebanon and Jordan. Students assert that their actions are a stand against…
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Palestinian women’s unique struggle against occupation: MEMO in Conversation with Amani Mustafa
“Every time there’s a crisis, you will find women carrying the whole family on their shoulders. They are constantly building and rebuilding to change lives and nurture a new generation full of hope,” says Amani Mustafa, the Country Director for Women for Women International (WfWI) in Palestine. As…
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‘Israel’s lies that are being exposed because of this genocide is the most powerful thing to watch’
On 6 May, as Israel launched a ground offensive on Rafah in southern Gaza, tents sprang up across the lawn of the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford, where hundreds of students gathered daily, demanding the university sever financial ties with the Occupying State. By 23 May, the…
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Blockout 2024: Celebrities silent on Gaza must remain blocked indefinitely
Celebrity influence extends far beyond entertainment, with many leveraging their platforms to raise awareness about important global issues. However, one issue that has highlighted the divide between outspoken celebrities and those who remain in comfortable silence is Israel’s ongoing war crimes of genocide in Gaza. The Blockout 2024 movement was…
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‘Palestine is closer to liberation now than ever before’
At the prestigious Cornell University, a strikingly picturesque Ivy League campus surrounded by expansive greenery, the resounding chants for the freedom of Palestine can be heard loud and clear. Meet Momodou Taal, a second-year PhD student at Cornell from the United Kingdom, who has been temporarily suspended after leading a…
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‘In Gaza, dying is a blessing, being wounded is a death sentence’
Without hesitation, Dr Yasser Khan, a Canadian ophthalmologist and eye surgeon, left for a medical mission to Gaza the second the opportunity arose. “After scrolling endlessly online witnessing the horror, it was an instinctive thing to do. I said yes right away,” says Dr Khan. It was an impulsive decision…
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‘The world wants Gaza to burn, why else are they all just sitting and watching us die?’
Ahmed Suhail Al-Hattab had eagerly awaited for the month of Ramadan, anticipating the warmth of family and friends gathering for the cherished tradition of iftar – the break fast meal – at his home in Tel Al-Hawa, nestled in the southern reaches of Gaza City. For as long as he…
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Gaza’s children are being starved to death: MEMO in Conversation with Alexandra Saieh
As Israel’s war on Gaza enters its seventh month, conditions in the besieged Strip have worsened. Palestinian children now face hunger and severe malnutrition as Israel deliberately prevents humanitarian access to Gaza, which means aid organisations are unable to reach those most in need. Tel Aviv’s attacks on hospitals,…
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‘Women in Gaza are being raped and this is not being investigated or reported’
In some ways, the horror of Gaza is exemplified by its staggering statistics. According to the Ministry of Health, the death toll since 7 October surpasses 32,000, half of whom are babies and children. The United Nations reports that 1.9 million civilians in Gaza have been forcibly displaced. Seventy-five per…
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Saving Gazans under fire: MEMO in Conversation with Dr Amgad Elsherif
Ground and air assaults by the Israeli forces against hospitals in Gaza, causing damage deemed “beyond words” by the World Health Organisation (WHO), have placed immense pressure on doctors who are working under constant threat with limited resources. As a result, the second-largest hospital in Gaza is now…
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‘Attacks on UNRWA are about squeezing the Palestinians’: MEMO in Conversation with Chris Gunness
In the heart of the Gaza Strip, home to over 2 million Palestinians struggling to survive under a 17-year blockade, UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, has been a lifeline. With more than half the population comprising children, the enclave is currently grappling with a…
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Thank you Motaz Azaiza, for waking up a world that has long been asleep
On the 109th day of Israel’s genocidal war against Gaza, Palestinian photojournalist, Motaz Azaiza, who has been documenting the harrowing impact since the outset, finally unclasped his press vest, allowing himself a moment to breathe. With eyes lowered, a trembling breath and a hesitant smile, the exhalation seemed restrained –…
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Family of missing doctor in Gaza: ‘Till now, Dr Saleh’s phone rings, but no answer. We have no clue of his whereabouts.’
Karma’s return to Gaza in July, for a month, was meant to be a joyous surprise for her father after four long years. Little did she know that this visit would turn into a farewell to familiar landscapes, cherished memories and beloved people of her past. “Honestly, I can’t describe…
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“Nobody wants to be living in camps, it’s a place you are forced to settle in when you have no options but to do so,” says One Young World Ambassador
In the vast expanse of the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, where dreams seem to wither in the face of adversity, Deng Dak Malual’s story exemplifies resilience, education and the transformative potential within refugee communities. Originally from South Sudan, Deng Dak has spent nearly 17 years in Kakuma, navigating the…
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Meet the Jewish Doctor navigating the interplay of health and politics in Palestine and Israel for a brighter tomorrow
“Health, as we all know it, is political but the word politics is never used,” according to Dr Norbert Goldfield, the Jewish founder of the non-profit organisation, Healing Across the Divides (HATD), based in Northampton, US. In Palestine, this interplay between health and politics has led to catastrophic consequences. First…
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Zara sparks outrage with disrespectful collection amid tragedy in Gaza
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Middle East Monitor (@middleeastmonitor) Fashion retailer Zara is once again facing boycott calls after it released its most recent advertising campaign which many have said “mocks” Palestinians being ethnically cleansed in Gaza. The photoshoot for its 2024 Atelier range featured mannequins…
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‘Direct stories from Palestinian journalists are essential. This is their war to tell’
During what has been described as “the deadliest month for journalists”, Israel is deliberately targeting reporters in Gaza. Amidst its genocidal offensive on the enclave, where the death toll has surged past 13,000 Palestinians, Israel is systematically eliminating media professionals. This systematic violation, according to the spokesperson of the Palestinian…
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Israel has yet to tell a single truth not only since 7 October, but since the 1948 Nakba
It has been more than a month since Israel launched its forceful ethnic cleansing campaign in Gaza in response to the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation initiated by the Palestinian resistance. Since then, the occupying state has been repeating its fabrications and misinformation, not only to rationalise its actions in Gaza but…
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Gaza doctor at Indonesian Hospital: ‘Come and see, you won’t find tunnels and bombs, you will only find our people dying.’
The war in Gaza has had a devastating impact on the region’s healthcare system. The ongoing Israeli attacks on hospitals, in addition to homes, shelters and schools, have been a hallmark of the war. At least 16 out of the 35 hospitals in Gaza are no longer operational, and 51…
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‘If we can hear the bombs, we are alive’: MEMO in Conversation with Eman Basher
“Day 11: an idea kept coming & going. What if I killed my kids and saved them from going through this horror? From running for their lives in the middle of the night. From being homeless. From losing a brother. Or a mother. I have to save them…
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Gaza Special: ‘A catastrophe is unfolding in Gaza’ MEMO in Conversation with Aseel Safi
The situation is dire in the Gaza Strip as the sole power plant grinds to a halt due to fuel shortages after Israel cut off energy supplies. Now, 99 per cent of civilians are without electricity. Water, a basic necessity for survival, is also becoming scarce. This leaves…
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Global response to Operation Al-Aqsa Flood
At the break of dawn on Saturday, the Gaza-based resistance initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, commencing with a barrage of rockets and infiltrating towns surrounding the besieged enclave. It said the surprise attack was in response to the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Occupied East Jerusalem and increased Israeli settler violence.…
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Israel weaponisation of water against Palestine is not just a strategic move, it is a crime against humanity
The universal human right to water, ensuring “sufficient safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses” is a principle upheld by international conventions. However, in the Occupied West Bank, this right is systematically violated through Israel’s targeted assaults on civilian water infrastructure. Just last week, Israeli…
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Students file complaint after US uni ‘bans Arabs’ from meeting on trip to Israel
In November, a seemingly innocuous Instagram post inviting “all students” to a university-sponsored trip to Israel caught the attention of Palestinian students at the University of Illinois, Chicago (UIC). However, members of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) were quick to realise that the journey might not be as inclusive…