Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Hana Hussain
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Will Turkey ever be part of the European Union?
“I would like to hear a clear declaration,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a visit to Poland last week. “If you want to accept Turkey, just do it. If you don’t want to, just say that.” Erdogan was of course, speaking of Turkey’s bid to join the...
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‘The Biggest Prison on Earth: A History of the Occupied Territories’ by Ilan Pappé
Professor Ilan Pappé’s latest book, “The Biggest Prison on Earth: A History of the Occupied Territories”, is a review of Israeli policy towards the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The historian sheds light on the mechanism that has been created to rule millions of Palestinians, who have effectively lived...
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Between the eagle and the bear: where do Egypt’s loyalties lie?
Egypt’s announcement earlier this month that it would be signing the final agreement for an industrial zone near the Suez Canal with Russia before the end of this year, was just the latest in a series of headlines that have highlighted increased cooperation between the two states. Moscow and...
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‘Palestinian women are symbols of heroism,’ says Palestine’s youngest female mayor
At just 26 years-old, Yousra Badwan is Palestine’s youngest female mayor after being elected to the post in the Azzun municipality of the occupied West Bank earlier this year. Badwan tells MEMO about her reasons for pursuing political office, and how she hopes to help her community in the...
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MEMO hosts ‘Palestine, Britain and the Balfour Declaration 100 years on’
The grey weather did not deter the hundreds of attendees who arrived early on Saturday morning at the British Library in London to attend MEMO’s conference to commemorate 100 years since the Balfour Declaration. A heavily subscribed event, the conference took a detailed look at Britain’s role in the...
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The real reasons why Saudi women can now drive
The news broke suddenly this week that Saudi Arabia had ended its infamous ban on women driving. Women across the Kingdom celebrated as King Salman Bin Abdulaziz called for licences to be printed in preparation for the first female drivers to take to the streets in June next year....
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Remembering the Second Intifada
On 28 September 2000 then Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque with heavily armed Israeli policemen and soldiers provoking a Palestinian uprising that lasted five years and left over 3,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis dead. Some 17 years later the occupation continues, the Palestinian people remain vulnerable,...
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In London, West Bank activists mark 50 years of Israeli occupation
Amnesty International and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign organised a joint event on the Israeli occupation on Monday evening, featuring activists from the West Bank Issa Amro and Farid Al-Atrash. The event marked the start of a new campaign initiated by Amnesty, in which it has called the UK government...
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‘Unliveable’: Gaza’s rising suicide rates
“I ask myself, what’s the point behind all of this and then I fall asleep.” Such is an excerpt from a short story by 22-year-old Mohanned Younis, a young writer and pharmacy graduate who committed suicide at the end of last month by inhaling poisonous gas. Having tried to...
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Jerusalem delegation to Britain raises the plight of Palestinians
Europal Forum and MEMO held a joint event yesterday afternoon to welcome a delegation of four Palestinian activists and community leaders from Jerusalem. The event was the first of many for the group, none of whom have been in Britain before. They are scheduled to meet with policymakers and...
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Qatar’s migrant workers: Progress for the wrong reasons is not progress
The boycott of Qatar has ensured that the tiny Gulf state has featured regularly in the news, but legislation passed last month saw headlines take a break from the allegations of Doha funding terrorism abroad, and instead looked closer to home. The new law grants legal protection to domestic...
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Egypt and the IMF: a cycle of stagnation condemns Egyptians to economic slavery
“Let me start with the good news,” announced Christine Lagarde of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the Egypt Economic Development Conference in 2015 that outlined President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s plan for economic reform. “The journey to higher growth has already begun.” Anyone would think otherwise when, in March...
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Remembering the arson attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque
On 21 August, 1969, an extremist Australian Christian, Dennis Michael Rohan, attempted to set fire to Al-Aqsa Mosque; his action had the apparent blessing of the Israeli occupation forces. Some 48 years later, the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa remains under as great a threat as ever. What: Arson attack...
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Is Trump making the Middle East great again?
US President Donald Trump has had an eventful six months in office. If his own domestic exploits were not enough to fill the headlines, his policy towards the Middle East would certainly have compensated. When not sacking, hiring, shuffling and reshuffling his staff, his official visits to Saudi Arabia...
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‘It’s a game to Israel, seizing and detaining Palestinians’
Last week, Israeli media reported that talks for a prisoner exchange were underway between Hamas and Israel; the first such talks to take place since the 2011 Gilad Shalit deal in which 1,027 Palestinians were freed in return for the return of an Israeli soldier. In a new proposal,...
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Will the UK ever sacrifice its relationship with Saudi Arabia?
On 5 July, right wing counter extremism think tank the Henry Jackson Society, released a report citing Saudi Arabia as the foremost promoter of Islamic extremism in the Muslim world and the West. British politicians and the media reacted with concern at the report, pressuring the government to release...
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#HandsOffAlAqsa
Human rights activists and pro-Palestinian supporters around the world have taken to social media to express their opposition to the closing of Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli occupation forces. Following a deadly shootout last Friday, Israeli forces closed the compound and cancelled Friday prayers in the mosque for the first...
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Remembering the attempted coup in Turkey
On this day in 2016, the Turkish military attempted to overthrow the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) and its leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Whilst the coup was unsuccessful, it was the bloodiest in Turkey’s history and its impact can still be felt strongly in the country a...