Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Muhammad Hussein
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As Israel creeps closer to its end game, there may be no third Intifada
Every year, usually during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, as if Palestinians are somehow unreactive without food in their stomachs, Israel does something that makes its security forces and their actions increasingly predictable. Like an annual festival, it launches an assault against the Palestinian population, either in the form…
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The West’s genocide deniers are dragging down the Palestinian cause
Influential American academic Noam Chomsky asked what he called a “simple question” in a recent interview with the journalist Ezra Klein for the New York Times: “Is the situation of the Uyghurs, a million people who’ve been through education camps, is that worse than the situation of, say, two million…
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Turkey and Ukraine could each be the foreign policy saviour of the other
Turkey has been criticised heavily over the past few years for what some see as a series of foreign policy blunders, from its military intervention in northern Syria to its assertiveness before the US and Europe. Now, though, it may have taken a very firm stance that could alter its…
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The hijacking of the Prevent review shows the vulnerability of Britain’s Muslims
Much has been speculated regarding Britain’s Muslim community over the years, from the alleged rise of extremism to the overall state of the community within the wider British society. But despite Muslims in the UK being seen as the most vibrant and active amongst their religious kin throughout Europe, over…
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The Pope’s visit brought hope to Iraqi Christians, but did not solve their problems
After almost two decades of conflict, instability and bad government, a wave of excitement swept through Iraq last week with the long-awaited spectacle of hope and revival that was the four-day visit to the country by Pope Francis. Social media lit up with updates and images of the trip, following…
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MEMO in conversation with Omar Abu Layla
The Syrian revolution broke out 10 years ago after the Assad regime security forces kidnapped and tortured some boys and then proceeded to crack down on peaceful protestors. The violence escalated, with the resultant ongoing civil war. Omar Abu Layla, a Syrian refugee based in Germany who founded and runs…
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Profile: Sir Gerald Kaufman MP (21 June 1930-26 February 2017)
On this day, the veteran British Member of Parliament Sir Gerald Bernard Kaufman died at the age of 86. The Labour Party MP left a legacy as one of Britain’s most vocal pro-Palestine political figures. Kaufman was born in Leeds on 21 June 1930, the son of Jewish immigrants from…
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If the Houthis are not terrorists, then neither are HTS
This month, the United States removed the Houthis from its list of designated terrorist groups, a decision thought wise by the administration of President Joe Biden. That move, more than simply reversing yet another policy adopted by the previous Trump administration, was made with the intention of enabling the continuation…
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Turkey is leading the way in the fight against big tech dictatorship
In recent months, the public’s eyes have been opened to the growing threat that technology and social media companies pose, realising with shock the extent to which the companies would go to invade users’ privacy and limit their expression. The messaging app WhatsApp struck first, updating its privacy policy and…
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Orientalism still runs deep within the Western subconscious, Capitol Hill has shown
When supporters of the soon-to-be ex-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol Building in Washington DC last week, many things were revealed that day. We saw the lengths that Trump supporters would go to keep him in office, the fragility of American democracy, the shockingly limited security employed by the US…
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The Axis of Torture was taught by a Nazi and is likely to grow
Torture is an evil as old as conflict, and there is much more to it than the sort of thing usually seen in the movies. It is, sadly, a skill that appears to be passed down from generation to generation, and is widespread. Individuals with such skills are not only…
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In offering its militias as security contractors, Iran is exporting its revolution
Afghanistan has long had a security problem, despite the many who have sought to guarantee its safety. The latest of those revealed themselves this week when Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif offered the Afghan government the help of Afghan Shia militants to fight against Daesh. “In Afghanistan, we are prepared…
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Middle East nuclear proliferation may be on the way, but the immediate threat is cyberwarfare
Nuclear weapons have long been a dream of Middle Eastern states wishing to expand their influence or outdo their rivals, and they have never been closer to that dream than they are now. Donald Trump’s withdrawal of the US from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, although seemingly bad for…
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‘Mankind’s greatest peace project needs Turkey,’ says Ambassador
Of all Turkey’s strained relations in recent years – its disputes with the United States, conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean and military confrontations in Syria and Libya – the most significant and impactful has probably been its link with the European Union. Relations between Turkey and Europe will be scrutinised…
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Iran’s mistake in its Nagorno-Karabakh policy sees Turkey reaping the rewards
It is unusual for Iran to have a sudden change of heart in its foreign policy. Indeed, it can be said to be one of the firmest and most blatant when it comes to its projection of regional influence, and its rhetoric is just as bold. This has changed with…
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A post-colonial united Libya looks increasingly like wishful thinking
Not many people have seen or even heard of, the black flag of Cyrenaica with its white crescent and star; a black version of the Turkish flag, perhaps. Events since the uprisings in Libya against former dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, however, are making it even more visible. Following the…
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France is curbing freedom in the name of freedom
France under President Emmanuel Macron has been making more than a few international waves over the past few months. It has involved itself in the dispute between Greece and Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean, for example, and given tacit support to the rogue Libyan Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar against the…
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Remembering the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal
What: Israel and Hamas conduct a prisoner exchange following the Gilad Shalit deal struck a week earlier, releasing over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in return for one Israeli soldier held for six years. Where: Palestine and Egypt. When: 18 October, 2011. What happened? On this day nine years ago,…
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The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance
Rashid Khalidi’s telling of the story of the loss of his homeland and its gradual invasion is a deeply personal one, and is unlike other more detached accounts I have read. The author hails from a prominent family in the traditional Palestinian elite in the city of Jerusalem. He breaks…
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MEMO in conversation with Dana Nawzar
MEMO’s interview with UK-based Kurdish writer Dana Nawzar about Kurdish statehood, the current status of Kurdish autonomy in the Middle East and militant Kurdish groups. Dana Nawzar holds degrees from the American University of Iraq in Sulaimani, University Putra in Malaysia, and Durham University in the UK, and has written…
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Will Turkey join the Axis of Resistance?
The past few years have demonstrated to the Axis of Resistance – the motley alliance of “anti-imperialist” imperialists – that its efforts in the Middle East have not gone unrewarded. Russia and Iran’s military intervention into Syria has allowed Bashar Al-Assad to survive years of onslaught by opposition groups and…
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Macron’s ‘red lines’ against Turkey reveals France’s neo-Napoleonic mission
Not since Napoleon stepped foot on the shores of Alexandria in July 1798, embarking on his short-lived invasion of Egypt, has a Frenchman so imperiously sought to topple a native regional power in the eastern Mediterranean while still appealing to the local population. Under the name of “God, on whom…
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Remembering Alan Kurdi
On 2 September, 2015, the body of a young boy was swept onto the shore of Bodrum in Turkey, embodying the refugee crisis flowing from Syria that year. The three-year-old boy, by the name of Alan Kurdi, reported as Aylan by the media, was the devastating fatality of just another…
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How long will Lebanon and Iraq tolerate militias which undermine national sovereignty?
A week ago, justice of sorts was meted out to those suspected of being behind the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005; one member of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia was charged with the crime and three others were acquitted. Although the result of that UN trial…