Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Anjuman Rahman
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‘Arabs couldn’t believe there is a Jewish Israeli criticising Israel in Arabic’, comedienne Noam Shuster says
Comedy relies on whimsical shocks and risks for audiences to achieve moments of exhilarating relief from everyday challenges and existential dread. And the stage doesn’t get any more intriguing than having a socially conscious daughter of an Iranian-born Israeli Jew and the son of Holocaust survivors from Romania cracking jokes…
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Military checkpoints must be watched, insists Israeli activist
Day after day, Palestinians wait for long hours at chaotic Israeli military checkpoints intended to break their morale, destroy their dignity and inject fear into them. It’s a heartbreaking sight. The checkpoints are scattered across the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem. They are a potent symbol of the occupation, but…
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The people of Beita will use every means to keep their land free,’ says Palestinian activist
Beita is the only village around southern Nablus that does not have an illegal Israeli settlement built on its land. The Palestinians are determined to keep it that way. “The people of Beita completely reject the presence or even the idea of settlements,” activist and photographer Baraa Hussein told me.…
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Israel isn’t fooling anyone by speaking up for Uyghur Muslims; its self-interest is obvious
Last month, Israel called out China over human-rights abuses against more than one million ethnic Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. This was reportedly after US pressure to do so. Ironically, Israel’s sudden interest in human rights followed its 11 day military offensive against Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza Strip. Israeli bombs…
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Israel’s siege and violence are damaging Palestinian children’s minds
Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip are being psychologically tortured. Growing up with periods of prolonged fear and abuse has devastating physical and mental consequences, and young people are suffering as a result. Israel’s latest military offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza inflicted lasting trauma on children, with noticeable behavioural…
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Coca-Cola faces backlash for banning Palestine on customised bottles
Beverage giant Coca-Cola is being criticised for a new tool that fails to let customers personalise their own bottles of coke with ‘Palestine’ and ‘Black Lives Matter’ while allowing offensive phrases like ‘White pride’, ‘fascism,’ and ‘Nazis rule’. Troubled customers took to Twitter to share their findings after discovering that…
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‘The track doesn’t know gender, the car doesn’t know gender, so gender is irrelevant’
Female racing drivers are rare, but they do exist. This is disappointing, said Toni Breidinger, who has broken through in the male-dominated sport. “My first reaction to being the first Arab-American female driver to race in the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) series was honestly disappointing,” she…
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‘They cry all night and can’t sleep,’ says Palestinian mother waiting to reunite with her traumatised daughters
When she arrived in Canada 2019, Palestinian refugee Jihan Qunoo had no choice but to leave her three daughters behind in Gaza. Her application for permanent residency to include her three little girls, then aged ten, six and one, had still not been approved. She had to watch helplessly as…
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Louis Vuitton, Fendi slammed for exploiting traditional Palestinian keffiyeh
One of the world’s leading fashion brands, Louis Vuitton, has come under fire for the sale of a luxury designer scarf heavily influenced by the traditional Palestinian keffiyeh, a symbol of Palestinian nationalism. People took to social media to accuse the designer of cultural appropriation and slammed it for failing…
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It’s hard to imagine what it’s like to lose your home, but Palestinians know, says rights official
A stench hangs over Sheikh Jarrah today as its residents continue to be harassed by the occupation authorities. Palestinians in the tiny neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem are being beaten brutally and arrested by armed, combat-ready Israeli soldiers, some on horseback. Rubber-coated steel bullets have also been fired. The smell…
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Meet the Palestinian building preschools to help children to survive and thrive
The fundamental right to education is enshrined in international law. For decades, though, the education sector in Palestine has had to contend with the oppressive and violent imposition of Israel’s illegal occupation. It has undoubtedly had a negative effect. Schools have been damaged and demolished, and equipment has been confiscated.…
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Celebrities in solidarity with Sheikh Jarrah
Social media users from around the world are sharing videos of Israeli soldiers and settlers attacking Palestinian families facing forcible evictions in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, in which their families have lived for generations. While many have criticised the silence of celebrities and influencers on the crisis against Palestinians, the…
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Israel and its illegal settlers demonstrate the reality and brutality of the occupation
Violence has become a permanent feature of Ramadan for the people of occupied Palestine. The first day of the fasting month this year began with the Israeli army breaking locks and cutting the wires to the loudspeakers at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem to silence the evening calls to prayer. In…
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Cookery lessons highlight the difficulties facing refugees in the UK
No one is born a migrant. Such status depends on many factors, including the way people are treated by society, and the opportunities and possibilities they have for the future. Human rights activist and Syrian refugee Majeda Khoury made this clear to me when we spoke this week. “When I…
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How one particular charity is improving the lives of Gaza amputees
Tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip have been wounded during Israel’s military offensives and incursions. Many of them have been left with life-changing injuries. For the two million Palestinians living in Gaza under an Israeli-led and Egyptian-backed siege, life is already difficult enough. With limited access…
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Guantanamo’s cruelty is medieval. It’s a horror story. And it’s true.
Mohamedou Ould Slahi, 50, has never been convicted of any crime or even charged with any offence. Nevertheless, he spent 14 years of captivity in America’s notorious Guantanamo Bay prison, where he was beaten, sexually humiliated, waterboarded, subject to mock executions, and electrocuted repeatedly. “They tried to force me to…
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The Wandering Palestinian
“I had a politically active life and enjoyed a large circle of friends who, like me, came from other parts of the Arab world to be in Beirut, the centre of revolutionary and progressive politics of the time. But love is blind, and I thought my life could become even…
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‘As proud modest Muslim Saudi women, we want to champion being strong inside and out’
Female participation in sports has long been a controversial issue in Saudi where women cannot exercise with men and there are no public sports facilities for women as authorities viewed sport for females as immodest. Saudi Arabia didn’t send any women to the Olympics until 2012. However, over the last…
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‘Palestinians thinking of liberation, should not only learn from South Africa’s past, but also its present’
Israel’s repression of its own Palestinian citizens, as well as Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, and even African refugees, has become ever more brutal, despite decades of global solidarity efforts for justice in Palestine. Many of the solidarity achievements — including the successful Boycott Divestment and…
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It’s a mistake to believe that Biden will be a friend of Palestine
Palestinians are eager to turn a new page after four years of the Trump administration in Washington, which undermined the whole Palestinian cause. Trump let Israel’s right-wing government do as it pleased, and gave its illegal activities a veneer of acceptability. Joe Biden’s election win was thus welcomed, not least…
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Israel will be responsible for more Palestinian deaths if it withholds the Covid-19 vaccine
Israel is refusing to provide Palestinians with Covid-19 vaccine in the occupied territories where it controls every aspect of their lives. This is in addition to helping to destroy the Palestinian health sector, especially in the Gaza Strip, with bombs and blockades. At least one vaccine dose is being provided…
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Americans suffer from Trump as much as the Palestinians, says activist Issa Amro
While US President Donald Trump was busy inciting a mob to attack the Capitol Building in Washington DC, Palestinian activist Issa Amro was convicted on three counts of protesting peacefully against illegal Jewish settlements and human rights violations in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. He was found guilty of protesting without…
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‘I refused to join the Israeli army, it justifies violence and inequality’
19-year-old Hallel Rabin spent 56 days in jail after refusing to complete military service she believes it allows ‘criminals, thieves and swindlers to roam free and run the state’ To outsiders, the decision not to serve in one of the most brutal and immoral armies in the world may appear…
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Everything and nothing has changed for Palestine this year
Landmark developments seem to have changed everything and nothing for Palestine this year. The flurry of normalisation deals is one of them and arguably the most significant. In advance of the US presidential election and the possibility of these being his final months in office, Donald Trump made it his…