Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Adnan Abu Amer
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Conflicting expectations in Palestine amid registration of dozens of electoral lists
The Central Elections Commission has completed the first phase of preparations for holding the legislative elections, by formally registering the 36 competing electoral lists that will compete for the 132 seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). The last few days have been loaded with surprises, as the competing electoral…
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Hamas is building international links to guarantee acceptance of the election results
Hamas has revealed that it has met with the ambassadors of Russia, Turkey, Iran, and South Africa in Qatar — Nur Muhammad Khulov, Mustafa Goksu, Hamid Reza Dehghani, and Faisal Musa respectively —to discuss Palestinian developments and the upcoming elections, as well as the challenges and risks they pose. The…
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The glass ceiling has been broken by the election of two women to the Hamas leadership
The results of the recent elections within Hamas in the Gaza Strip are significant because, for the first time since it was founded in 1987, two women have joined the movement’s political bureau. This development has captured the attention of the Palestinian, Arab and international community, as it dispels the…
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Sinwar’s re-election as Hamas leader in Gaza raises concerns, and not just in Israel
Hamas surprised us all by announcing the results of its leadership election in the Gaza Strip, which was won by the current leader in the territory, Yahya Sinwar. He beat his strong rival Nizar Awadallah, who collected 147 votes against Sinwar’s 167 of the 320 members of the Gaza Shura…
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Palestinians are warning that Israel intends to grant citizenship to Jerusalemites
In recent weeks, Israel has circulated reports that tens of thousands of Palestinians residing in occupied Jerusalem may obtain Israeli citizenship, even though there are 330,000 of them in the eastern part of the city. The Israeli Interior Ministry has published guidelines to apply for citizenship under clause 4a of…
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Ten implications behind the Egyptian minister’s visit to Israel
The visit of Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla to Israel carried many political and economic implications. The visit resulted in the signing of an agreement between the occupation and Cairo to link the Leviathan gas field with the Egyptian liquefied natural gas facilities via an underwater pipeline,…
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Jewish National Fund expands settlement influence towards West Bank
A heated debate between Palestinian and Israeli circles surfaced during the past few days after the Jewish National Fund (JNF) announced new plans to expand its settlement projects in the West Bank. The JNF declared a fundamental change in its colonial policy, while the Palestinian Authority (PA) confirmed that it…
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Israel concerned about Jewish officials in Biden administration
Immediately after US President Joe Biden’s inauguration, Israel started “scrutinising” his ministers and political envoys. It began by categorising each as close or hostile to the Zionist entity, expressing concerns over the Jewish members of the US administration, given their opposing stances to the Israeli right-wing camp. It became clear…
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Jerusalem was targeted by Israel and the Trump administration
With the a new US president in the White House, it is clear that Joe Biden’s predecessor targeted occupied Jerusalem by giving Israel the green light to weaken the Palestinian presence in the holy city and place further restrictions on the indigenous population. Palestinian have had their backs to the…
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Will Hamas hold or postpone its internal elections?
An important development has occurred recently in the Palestinian arena and it is related to the increasing talk of holding internal elections, which may take place in the coming weeks, coinciding with the legislative and presidential elections in May and July, and talk about the difficulty of holding two elections…
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Israeli interpretation on the 10th anniversary of the Arab Spring
The Israeli political, security and research decision-making circles have recently shown great interest in the tenth anniversary of the outbreak of the Arab revolutions, warning against the waves of the revolution being revived. This is despite the revolutions seemingly having ended by their ten-year anniversaries. While recent Israeli reports marking…
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Despite the presidential decrees, will the Palestinian elections actually be held?
A positive development has occurred in the form of President Mahmoud Abbas’s decrees to hold legislative, presidential and National Council elections in May, July and August this year. They come after Hamas backed down from its insistence on holding the elections simultaneously and agreed to them being held consecutively. Hamas…
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Early elections increase indicators of an existential threat to Israel
With the start of the fourth early elections in Israel, the political scene is witnessing unprecedented rifts and disputes. This could result in the surfacing of an unexpected electoral turnout due to the divisions within the Israeli right and left wings, and the internal differences between party members affiliated with…
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Israel adds Yemen to its active combat fronts
The Israelis have significantly increased talk about the emergence of a new threat front represented by Yemen, which did not exist before, whether in terms of the Houthis targeting Israeli naval ships in the Red Sea or launching missiles at Israel itself in retaliation for the Israeli strikes against Iran. Recent days…
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Israel is keeping its eye on Gulf reconciliation efforts
At the time when the Gulf reconciliation was announced, a number of Israeli positions emerged. Security, military, and political parties close to the decision-making circles in Tel Aviv diverged in their assessment on the reconciliation ranging between different approaches and interpretations. Some Israelis believe the Gulf reconciliation could create a…
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Israeli ‘sex tourism’ is the fruit of normalisation with the UAE
It is hard to believe the testimonies of Israeli tourists returning from the UAE, in which they describe Dubai as the Las Vegas of the Middle East. This is specifically in terms of the spread of prostitution and the sex trade that does not befit an Arab Muslim country. Reports…
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Israel’s plan to dismantle Turkish influence in Jerusalem for the benefit of Gulf states
In light of the ongoing wave of normalisation agreements between Arab states and the occupation, Israel is trying to lure Gulf countries, especially the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, with a potential role in supervising the holy sites in occupied Jerusalem. Thus, competing with Jordan and the Palestinians…
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Israeli normalisation prompts Sudan to revoke citizenship of Palestinians
In a surprise move, the ruling military regime in Sudan announced its intention ten days ago to revoke the Sudanese citizenship of more than 3,500 people, of whom the majority are Palestinians. The former head of the Hamas Political Bureau, Khaled Meshaal, and the speaker of the Tunisian parliament, Rached…
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Israel, between the cold of Egyptian peace and the warmth of Emirati normalisation
The scandal caused by the photo of Egyptian singer and actor Mohamed Ramadan with Israeli artists is continuously being referred to with reference to the decline in normalisation with the Egyptians, despite the passage of 40 years since the signing of the Camp David Accords. Although only a few weeks…
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Morocco’s normalisation with Israel is nothing new
The normalisation agreement between Israel and Morocco — as announced by the US — is nothing really new, but has simply exposed decades of relations between the two countries. These include secret axes, related to Morocco’s internal affairs or its relations with neighbouring countries, serving Israel first and foremost with…
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Settlers mourn their Trump honeymoon as the Biden administration looms
As the countdown begins for US President-elect Joe Biden to enter the White House, predictions are rife about the future of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, especially the possibility of curbing settlement projects, as happened during the Obama presidency. There are also predictions that the Israeli settlers will…
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The countdown starts for Israel’s fourth early elections
Israel is witnessing urgent developments following the approval to dissolve the Knesset, as well as the start of preparations for the fourth round of early elections within two years, in an unprecedented event in Israel’s history. This would be an occasion to discuss the reasons for the disintegration of the…
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Israeli intelligence agencies are preparing to confront Hamas in a technology war
As tension escalates on numerous fronts, Israeli intelligence agencies continue to develop their capabilities, and now have databases and integrated artificial intelligence, allowing them to analyse massive amounts of information. According to senior officers, agents are now able to identify militants heading for Israeli targets, which was almost impossible in…
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Israel faces the most dangerous existential threat since its establishment
Israeli concern over what they describe as the most serious internal crisis that the state has witnessed since its establishment is growing due to the state of division, polarisation and partisan tensions. They have also expressed concern about the effects of these issues including fragmentation of the internal front, the…