Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Motasem A Dalloul
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A badly-wounded ambulance driver is now an inspirational champion weightlifter; I salute him
The weightlifting club in the heart of the northern Gaza city of Jabalia is one of the most well-known and busiest sports centres in the besieged coastal enclave. Amazingly, it is run by a former ambulance driver who suffered severe injuries when his ambulance was hit by Israeli artillery as…
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If Biden is cutting aid to Egypt over human rights violations, why doesn’t he cut aid to Israel?
Following complaints from prominent rights groups, US State Department spokesman Ned Price announced last Tuesday that the Biden administration is expected to withhold $130 million in military aid to Egypt over human rights concerns. President Joe Biden is thus departing from the policy of his predecessor, Donald Trump, who ignored…
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Was Bennett’s visit to Egypt really ‘historic’?
The head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Directorate delivered an invitation from President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi last month for Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to visit his country. This was expected. Shortly after Bennett was sworn in as Prime Minister of the occupation state in June, Sisi had called him and…
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There are limits to the rapprochement between Turkey and Egypt
There was a meeting between senior Egyptian and Turkish officials in Ankara last week to discuss the possibility of repairing mutual relations. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu described the discussions to a local TV station as “positive”. According to Cavusoglu, Turkey is taking “positive steps” to improve relations. “Our [Egyptian]…
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Why has Morocco’s Justice and Development Party lost so badly?
The provisional results of the parliamentary election in Morocco show a crushing defeat for the Justice and Development Party (PJD), which collapsed from 125 seats to just 12. This is the party’s worst result since the 1997 election, when it won eight seats. Its defeat in this week’s election is…
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The scramble to earn a living in Gaza starts at school age thanks to Israel’s cruel siege
The start of the new school year in the besieged Gaza Strip saw just under 300,000 students aged between six and 17 turn up for classes; more than 20,000 are attending school for the first time, often in overcrowded classrooms. Despite the difficult situation in Gaza and the repeated Israeli…
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Israel is doing nothing to help the PA to survive
Last week, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz visited the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah and held two meetings with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The meetings have provoked heated reactions across the political spectrum in Israel and the Palestinian factions Defending the meetings, Gantz revealed that they were “solely…
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Bennett is following the Israeli military and US agenda
According to Israel’s Channel 12 TV channel, in the middle of last month Prime Minister Naftali Bennett turned down a request by Defence Minister Benny Gantz to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Gantz was disappointed with Bennett’s decision, and insisted that it was not only important for him to…
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Israel must be brought to account for its crimes against Palestinian children
More than 1.2 million Palestinian children in the occupied territories returned to their schools for the new academic year on 15 August. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), most of them have been counting down the days and looking forward to schools reopening.…
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The Rafah Border Crossing is a painful path for Gaza’s Palestinians
The young Ayman Adly graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy in Gaza’s Al Azhar University in 2009. Due to the high level of unemployment resulting from the Israeli-led siege and repeated military offensives launched against the coastal enclave by Israel, he could not find any work. “I went online and…
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Are the Palestinians in Gaza and Israel heading for a new confrontation?
Officials of Palestinian resistance factions in the Gaza Strip met on Monday afternoon to discuss how to deal with the Israeli procrastination over its pledges to fulfil the terms of the ceasefire that ended the occupation state’s 11-day offensive on the besieged enclave between 11 and 21 May. The meeting…
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Will the Israeli army ever stop killing Palestinians?
With an increasing number of Palestinians being killed by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Aviv Kochavi, warned soldiers recently against misjudgements when they use lethal force during clashes with Palestinians or when raiding their homes, farms and…
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The PA only cares about Israel
Arabic news website Arabi21 recently revealed details of a trilateral deal signed between the US, Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), which lays down strict terms for monitoring the Palestinian mass media, education curriculum and reactivating the trilateral incitement committee which consists of the three governments. The document signed on…
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Gaza fishermen are caught between a rock and a hard place
Samya and Omayya Abu Watfa lost their father eleven years ago. They are preparing for the new term at university, where Samya is studying chemistry and Omayya is studying food security. Each one needs between $1,100 and $1,200 for tuition fees but are dependent on their brother Mohammad, 33, who…
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Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah should reject Israel’s offer to be ‘protected tenants’
After a three hour deliberation, the Israeli High Court proposed a compromise on Monday that will see the postponement “for decades” of the eviction of Palestinian families from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah, occupied Jerusalem. The proposal stipulates that a member of each family would be granted a lifetime “protected…
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Olympic athletes represent the real Arab attitude towards Israel
Two Arab athletes at the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games made headlines when they pulled out rather than participate alongside their Israeli counterparts. A third, however, was celebrated by the occupation state. Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine withdrew rather than fight against Israel’s Tohar Butbul. Then Sudan’s Mohamed Abdalrasool did the…
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Why does Israel fear a boycott by an ice cream company?
The giant American ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s announced last week that it is going to stop selling its products in the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Such sales, it believes, are “inconsistent” with its values, the company said on its website. “We also…
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Bashar Al-Assad is presiding over millions of displaced persons and refugees
Over 600 people, including clergymen, MPs, political figures, and army officers, have attended the swearing-in ceremony of Bashar Al-Assad at the presidential palace in Damascus. He is now serving a fourth 7-year term of office after beating two little-known candidates in the May presidential election with 95.1 per cent of…
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Two months after Israel’s military offensive, Palestinians in Gaza are still living through the trauma
A family of four sons, two daughters, and both their parents has been homeless since 12 May when their apartment was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike on their six-storey residential tower block in Al Naser neighbourhood north of Gaza City. Raed Subaih, 45, is the head of the family. “We…
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Hamas and Saudi Arabia: A return to good relations?
Last week, Saudi Satellite TV Channel Al Arabiya surprised its audience when it hosted Chief of Hamas Political Bureau abroad Khaled Meshaal. The last time a Hamas official was hosted by this TV Channel was six years ago, before the new phase of souring relations between Saudi Arabia and the…
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Another Palestinian couple has been separated due to Israeli restrictions
Mohammad Dweekat has been living since 2007 with his mother and two sisters in an old rented house in Rafah, a city in the south of the Gaza Strip. The 21 year old has no income as neither he nor his mother or sisters have jobs. The family home is…
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In Germany, burning the Israeli flag is a problem, but killing Palestinians isn’t
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Idan Roll met with the German Ambassador, Susanne Wasum-Rainer, on Monday along with visiting German parliamentarians. Roll thanked the German guests for their country’s strong support for Israel during its major military offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza from 10-21 May. Germany’s unlimited support and cooperation…
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What more than surrender does the UAE want from the Palestinian Authority?
During his visit to the UAE, Israeli Foreign Minister and Alternate-Prime Minister Yair Lapid inaugurated the Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi, met with his counterpart Mohammad Bin Zayed and signed an agreement on finance and trade cooperation. Lapid celebrated his visit and described the inauguration of the embassy as “historic.” “We are standing here today because we chose peace…
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Why did the PA kill Nizar Banat?
Today at dawn, Palestinians across the occupied territories were shocked to learn that a well-known activist in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, Nizar Banat, had been killed by Palestinian Authority security forces. The PA Governor in Hebron, Jibreen Al-Bakri, issued a statement about the killing. He claimed that…