Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Daud Abdullah
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Morsi faces his first diplomatic tests
After exactly a month in office, President Mohamed Morsi’s honeymoon period has come to an abrupt end. Diplomatic snares are popping up in all directions. That his earliest foreign policy tests should come from neighbouring Israel was predictable. First, there was a video clip showing young Israelis standing on his…
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Banning Islamist politicians is not the answer
Israel has learnt nothing from the Arab Spring. This week, its army commander, Avi Mizrahi, issued a military order classifying the Islamist Change and Reform bloc as an illegal and proscribed organisation. The order was based on the Defence (Emergency) Regulations which were first promulgated in mandatory Palestine by the…
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Israel ignites the tinderbox of religious conflict
Has the struggle for occupied Jerusalem finally revealed its religious character? The recent claim by Israel’s Attorney General, Yehuda Weinstein, that Al-Asqa Mosque is part of Israeli territory has drawn unprecedented condemnation from across the Islamic world. His assertion that Islam’s third holiest mosque should be subject to Israeli law,…
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Palestinians and the Egyptian elections
For the moment everything is on hold in Palestine. In the West Bank, as well as the Gaza Strip, there is a tense wait to see how things unfold in Egypt. Reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas are at a virtual standstill. Negotiations between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the…
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Egypt plunges towards the unknown
The ruling by Egypt’s Constitutional Court that dissolves the country’s parliament and allows the presidential candidacy of Ahmad Shafiq, the former Mubarak prime minister, has cast serious doubts over a peaceful transition to democracy. The ruling came in the wake of several similar controversial decisions, all of which suggested that…
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Whatever the election result in Egypt, it heralds a new dawn
Now that the votes have been cast, Egyptians are holding their breath. They are not alone; the entire Arab nation and others in the region are also fixated with the outcome of the presidential election. None dare to ignore the potential consequences after the region’s largest country has regained its…
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Why the BBC must change
Love it or hate it, the BBC is perhaps the most powerful media institution in the world. Not even the Murdoch empire in its heyday matched the scale and impact of the BBC’s operations. Yet, in the last week, it has suffered two embarrassing setbacks in the aftermath of which…
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Palestinian prisoners are from planet Earth too
Given the contrasting reactions of Western leaders to the case of the former Ukrainian prime minister and that of the Palestinians in Israeli jails, one may think that the latter are from a different planet. In Ukraine, a single politician, Yulia Tymoshenko, has gone on hunger strike in protest against…
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Israel’s latest security obsession
As Israelis celebrate the 64th anniversary of the creation of their state in the land of historic Palestine, officials are warning of a new security threat. This, it seems, is not the bogey of Iranian nuclear weapons, but neighbouring Egypt, Israel’s long-time ally. The recent decision by the Egyptian authorities…
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How much longer can the Home Secretary hang on to her job?
The office of Secretary of State for the Home Department is one of the great offices of state but is regarded widely as a poisoned chalice. It is one of the most challenging and, arguably, thankless jobs in the British government. Home Secretaries are often damned if they do and…
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Europeans divided on Israel
A poll conducted in Europe reveals growing disconnect between governments and people over the policy on Israel. The Middle East is not the only region witnessing a growing disconnect between governments and people. In Europe, a major survey has shown that governments there have become increasingly out of tune with…
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More unease in the Pentagon with Israel
Something unusual is happening in the upper echelons of the US military establishment. There is a constant drip of reports calling for a change in official policy toward Palestine. What has entered the public domain may only be the tip of the ice-berg, and although the movement may be slow;…
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Muslim voters tell politicians “Ignore Palestine at your peril”
Following the final “prime ministers’ debate” the community initiative YouElect conducted a poll which confirms that Palestine and Islamophobia are at the top of Muslim concerns in this General Election campaign. Arguably one of the largest of its kind, the poll result constituted a resounding demand to the parliamentary candidates…
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Rebuttal to the Times Editorial – “The Gaza Trap”
By Dr Hanan Chehata on the editorial“The Gaza Trap” By (Times Online, Friday 16th October 2009.) Dear Editor, In the Times today you called upon Europe and the UN Human Rights Council to reject the entire Goldstone report, rather than abstaining from a vote on the issue. This is a…
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‘The UK is not a banana republic’
By Dr Daud Abdullah, for Al Jazeera English Director of the Middle East Monitor David Miliband, the UK’s foreign secretary, has apologised to his Israeli counterpart, Avigdor Lieberman, after the humiliation and embarrassment caused by the issuing of a warrant for the arrest of Tzipi Livni, the former Israeli foreign…
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Anatomy of a broken marriage: Israeli-Turkish Relations on the rocks
By Dr Daud Abdullah No war has tarnished the image of Israel and damaged its vital international relationships as the “Operation Cast Lead” it waged on Gaza last winter. There are times when a single event can change the history of nations. Many, including Israeli supporters, view the Gaza War…
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Uncovered: MI6 in the Palestine Papers
The leaked documents known now as the “Palestine Papers” have been picked over and analysed extensively by Al Jazeera and the Guardian; at least, most of them have. The files relating to the activities of MI6 officials in Jerusalem need a much more thorough investigation. The Middle East Monitor’s (MEMO) review…
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Mandela’s legacy for Palestine
Over the next two weeks tributes to the life and struggle of Nelson Mandela will continue to cascade on every media platform. All will no doubt be united on the fact that he was unquestionably a global figure. Like the people of South Africa, Palestinians across the political divide will…
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“Doha Forum” sidesteps maltreatment of Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt
To many analysts President Obama’s appointment of a special US envoy to the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) was only another item of window-dressing. On the burning issues that affect Muslim peoples worldwide the administration remains evasive at best and in denial at worst. While the just concluded “Doha Forum…
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Israel’s new war on Islamic sites
By Dr Daud Abdullah, for Al Jazeera EnglishDirector of the Middle East Monitor In a move that appears to be a celebration of the 16th anniversary of the massacre of 29 worshippers by the terrorist Baruch Goldstein, the Israeli government has proclaimed that the Ibrahimi Mosque in Khalil (Hebron) and…
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First it forged its passports, now Israel dictates to Germany
The dust from the Al-Mabhouh murder and forged passports affair has barely settled, yet Israel is again infuriating its European allies. After the furore following Al-Mabhouh’s assassination in Dubai, during which Israeli agents used forged passports from several European countries, Israeli officials would have been well advised to stay low,…
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Three messages from Tunisia
It was not that it happened but the manner of Zain al-Abedin Ben Ali’s departure from Tunisia which took everyone by surprise. The extraordinary speed, the humiliation and the reactions all told a story. Three momentous messages were delivered from the dictator’s toppling in Tunisia; one to the autocracies of…
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The Palestine Papers – “Shocking revelations” on Jerusalem
The chief Palestinian negotiator appears disconnected from his own people and his wider Arab and Muslim constituency. One of the most shocking revelations of The Palestine Papers obtained by Al Jazeera relates to the demographic and territorial concessions that the Palestinian Authority was willing to give on Jerusalem. The papers…
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The negotiators made no effort to defend and uphold the right of return
At a meeting with the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, on 18 February 2008, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner commended the Palestinian approach on the refugee issue, describing it as “wise”. This plaudit was only given after the Palestinian negotiators had confirmed their distinction between recognition of the right of…