Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Daud Abdullah
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Following the genocide of Yazidis in 2014, ‘never again’ must mean never, ever again
On 6 February, 104 members of the Yazidi community killed by Daesh were reburied in a ceremony in Kocho in the northern Iraqi region of Sinjar. The Yazidis live in different countries but came together last Friday to show their respect and mourn their loss. Historically, the Yazidis have...
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Qatar beats Egypt to lead negotiations with Iran
The Gulf reconciliation between Qatar and the blockading Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Bahrain) was a positive step for the Gulf states. It will help them to emerge from the ordeal that they created, by increasing their hostility towards Iran and exaggerating their dependence on the US...
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Clearly, not every child is worth fighting for: racism, conscience and the NSPCC
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is Britain’s largest children’s NGO. It is under pressure to renounce its relationship with J C Bamford Excavators Ltd (JCB), a manufacturer of building machinery, from which it has received millions of pounds in donations. JCB equipment is...
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‘Israel’ is a short story
A few years ago, I read about an American dentist who asked one of his patients about his hobbies. “Reading,” the patient replied. “What do you read these days?” “About the State of Israel.” “So you like reading short stories?” the dentist asked. I recalled this when I read...
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The 7 dangers of the new wave of normalisation with Israel
The Palestinian issue is suffering from an unprecedented decline in the levels of official Arab interaction while normalisation is currently the latest episode of this decline, as Arab countries are racing to build ties with the occupation state, some in exchange for political gains, and others without any gains...
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There is a human rights dilemma in the US-Saudi relationship
International human rights law and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia do not sit together easily. A head of state acting as the “custodian” of the two holy mosques in Makkah and Madinah has not stopped the Saudi authorities from acting against universal human rights, even against Muslims. It is...
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The elders can still smell their homeland; they can still smell Palestine
Palestinian refugees remain one of the largest and longest-suffering groups of displaced people in the world. The refugee issue originated in the 1948 declaration of independence by the state of Israel in occupied Palestine; it is still at the heart of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Millions of Palestinians are still...
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The Abraham Accords pose the most serious threat to Al-Aqsa Mosque
With the increasing number of Israeli incursions at Al-Aqsa Mosque by settlers and soldiers, we need to know how the so-called “Abraham Accords” pose a threat to Jerusalem in general and the mosque in particular. The accords were signed by the UAE and Bahrain to formalise the normalisation of...
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It is of strategic importance for global trade that the Red Sea region is stable
The Red Sea area has always attracted attention due it strategic position and role as one of the world’s major sea lanes. The region of which it is at the centre continues to be the setting for international conflicts and challenges, however, as recent developments indicate. Although landlocked, Ethiopia...
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Where does Iraq fall in the new US administration’s policy?
The international community is still awaiting the perceptions and visions of the US president-elect’s administration regarding the crises and files that have greatly complicated the term of the outgoing President Donald Trump. Everyone is waiting because Trump put them on a hot plate and reheated it when he failed...
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Education in Iraq: Failing future generations
Decisions made by the Iraqi government to close all internally displaced people (IDP) camps by the end of November 2020 have been disastrous. Decisions implemented without enough notice and without providing alternative safe accommodation have created fear and uncertainty among IDP families. Thousands of IDP, mostly women and children,...
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Morocco-Israel normalisation is a slap in the face of the African Union
The normalisation deal between Morocco and Israel announced yesterday is a slap in the face of the African Union. It comes at a time when there has been disagreement between member states about the re-admittance of Morocco into the AU fold. The bone of contention is the Western Sahara...
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Palestinians can now see their stolen property in the database we’ve made public
If US President Donald Trump’s foreign policy worked heavily against multilateralism and the basic principles of a rules-based world order, when it came to Israel-Palestine, the focus was even more vicious. Rather than just pushing pro-Israel positions, Trump fully endorsed an extremist pro-annexation narrative, presenting a plan that perpetuated Israel’s denial...
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The spectre of a ‘soft state’ beckons Tunisia
As the tenth anniversary of the Tunisian revolution of January 2011 approaches, efforts to disrupt vital state facilities and the interests of citizens are escalating. Self-styled “coordination groups” are behind such efforts. They push a discourse that goes as far as to call for the disruption of the sources...
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This Sao Paulo building is like a Palestinian refugee camp
On 29 August 1969, TWA Flight 840 took off from Los Angeles for Tel Aviv via Rome. There were 116 passengers on board, including a young Palestinian woman called Laila Khaled. She and her accomplice, Salim Al-Issawi, hijacked the aircraft on the final leg of the journey, forcing it...
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The defence of Taiz is the defence of unified Yemen
When Yemen’s Houthis and their then ally former President Ali Abdullah Saleh decided to attack the southern governorates in February 2015, the move came just a month after President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi had fled to Aden. The destiny of the Taiz governorate to the north west of Aden was...
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So what did happen during that terrorist attack in Vienna? Osama Joda explains all
The Austrian capital, Vienna, is recovering slowly from the trauma of the deadly gun attack near a synagogue on Monday 2 November by a gunman of Macedonian origin. Kujtim Fejzulai shot and killed four people and wounded 23 others. Police officers killed the attacker at the scene. It was...
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The Palestinians must try to win over disillusioned Israelis to their cause
Amira Hass is a courageous Israeli journalist who defends the Palestinian people relentlessly and without hesitation. She writes about the rights of Palestinians and exposes the actions and racism of Israel’s occupation. In Haaretz recently, she wrote about a 19-year-old Israeli woman, Hallel Rabin, who refused to do her...
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Saudi Arabia saw Turkey as a security guarantor in 2011, why not in 2020?
This is one of the uncomfortable questions raised by the newly declassified Clinton files. A diplomatic dispatch to the former Secretary of State dated 12 October 2011 revealed that the Saudis actually considered Turkey to be a possible security guarantor after the discovery of an alleged Iranian plot to...
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Egypt’s September protests: Indications and signs
The Egyptian people have been taking to the streets, and although small and sporadic initially, the protests have been accelerating day by day. People started demonstrating after actor and contractor Mohamed Ali called on them to protest on 20 September, perhaps thinking that there would be no response to...
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Joint action against the Israeli occupation has been called for, better late than never
The decisions taken by the secretaries-general of the Palestinian factions on 3 September in a joint online meeting from Ramallah and Beirut have been embodied in the first statement issued on Sunday by the Unified National Leadership of Popular Resistance in Palestine. It was the launch of a comprehensive...
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Britain’s colonial legacies and broken promises
Britain’s dramatic change of policy toward China has been underpinned by two charges. That Beijing violated its international treaty obligations in Hong Kong and secondly, that it has engaged in appalling human rights violations against its Uyghur population in Xinjiang Province. Seen from London, China’s National Security Law in...
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What are Russia’s interests in Syria leading to?
Since the beginning of the war in Syria in 2011, the Russian leadership has been standing beside the regime in adversity, especially in its war against Islamists and the armed opposition. In all his statements, Russian President Vladimir Putin has mentioned that Russia’s mission in Syria is to fight...
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Having refused negotiation, the Blockading Four must bear the consequences of arbitration
A press release issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 14 July described its judgement against Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and UAE as “final, without appeal and binding on the Parties.” Since June 2017, the four countries have imposed a land, air and sea blockade against the...