Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Nasim Ahmed
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Palestinian children face ‘exponential suffering’ under apartheid Israel
Forty years ago, Israel’s brutal assault against Palestinians prompted a landmark international resolution which called for the protection of children during war. On 19 August 1982, at its emergency special session on the question of Palestine, the UN General Assembly, “appalled at the great number of innocent Palestinian and Lebanese…
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‘Israel is an apartheid state – legally, politically and morally’, landmark conference concludes
Ex-Al Jazeera Chief, Wadah Khanfar, has blasted Western mainstream media over its failure to report honestly about the brutal reality of Israel’s illegal occupation. Speaking at a landmark conference in London yesterday, alongside a panel of representatives from all the major human rights groups, Khanfar paid tribute to journalist, Shireen…
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Turkey’s balancing act as NATO seeks to expand
The potential NATO membership of Sweden and Finland got off to a bad start late last week with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying that he does not have a positive opinion of the two Nordic nations joining the military alliance. While they are both NATO partners, the two countries…
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Remembering Israel’s 2021 onslaught on Gaza
On 6 May, 2021 Israel escalated its brutal crackdown on Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem, triggering a war with Hamas, during which the besieged Strip was bombarded for 11 days until a ceasefire came into effect on 21 May, 2021. What: Israel’s 2021 war on Gaza When: 6 May 2021…
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Defending UK’s counter-extremism strategy, David Cameron fuels anti-Muslim hostility
Former British Prime Minister, David Cameron, issued a robust defence yesterday of UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, known as “Prevent”. Writing in the Times, the 55-year old took-aim at mainstream Muslim organisations critical of the so-called de-radicalisation programme. In the article, Cameron endorsed a new report by the Policy Exchange think tank…
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UN reforms could make it harder for the US to veto criticism of Israel
The power of veto held by the five permanent members (P5) of the UN Security Council — the US, Russia, China, Britain and France — is one of the most contentious rules of the international organisation. Every now and then proposals are put forward to moderate the use of the…
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Sorry, Keir Starmer, but only in a world of ‘alternative facts’ is Israel not guilty of apartheid
Centrist politicians and commentators generally scorn the right wing for the polarisation of society, the coarsening of political discourse and the tribalism tearing communities apart. At the root of many if not all of these divisions are “alternative facts” that challenge the orthodox view. The phenomenon went viral during the…
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Remembering Israel’s siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem
On 2 April, 2002, Israel imposed a military siege on the Church of the Nativity in occupied Bethlehem after some 200 Palestinians took refuge inside the church from the advancing Israeli army. What: Israel’s siege of the Church of the Nativity When: 2 April 2002 – 10 May 2002 What…
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UK politicians and media need to open their eyes to the Islamophobia they are fuelling
Ever since the New York Times released its eight-part podcast last month on the Trojan Horse Affair, there has been a reckoning with truth. A reckoning which has not only shaken the British establishment and the mainstream press, it has also exposed the manner and extent to which anti-Muslim racism…
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Boris Johnson’s ‘good’ versus ‘evil’ hyperbole dishonours the victims of the US invasion of Iraq
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at the weekend that he had “never seen such a stark division between good and evil,” as he charged Russian president Vladimir Putin of “trying to crush a blameless, innocent civilian population.” What on earth did he mean? Putin’s invasion and its effects are…
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Israel deciding who can teach at Palestinian universities is another nail on the apartheid regime
Rarely does a week pass by where we don’t see Israel tightening its grip on Palestine through its apartheid system of domination and control, or new revelations about the detrimental effect this is having on Palestinians. This week it was the news that the occupation state has introduced a set…
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State-sponsored crackdown on Muslims in France: International law defines as ‘Persecution’
In late 2020, the French government’s decision to dissolve two of the most prominent and respected Muslim NGOs in the country, Baraka City, and the CCIF (Collective Against Islamophobia in France) by decree, shocked both French and European Muslims. While unknown at the time, this decision was to be the…
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Putin’s aggression would be impossible without the US creating a world safe for autocracy
I have been watching the Russia-Ukraine crises unfold while reading Ben Rhodes’ new book, “After the Fall: Being American in the World We’ve Made”. It is riveting, essential reading for anyone who wants to get a deeper understanding of Russian aggression and, more generally, the rise of authoritarianism around the…
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With near consensus over Israeli apartheid, will UK Labour move to the right side of history?
The near unanimous consensus amongst leading human rights groups over Israel’s practice of apartheid has thrust the UK Labour Party into an awkward and somewhat bewildering dilemma. The cognitive dissonance which for decades has enabled Labour, along with every major political party, group and institution, to maintain support for Israel…
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With apartheid an irrefutable reality, Israel’s democracy has always rested on blind faith
Amnesty International became the latest human rights group to label Israel an apartheid state. In a damning report titled “Israel’s Apartheid against Palestinians“ the rights group concludes that the occupation state has imposed a “cruel system of domination” and is committing “crimes against humanity.” Needless to say, Amnesty will not be…
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Israel throws millions into new clandestine hasbara initiative
Israel has long relied on its much-vaunted hasbara to conceal the reality of its domination of Palestine and subjugation of its people. Propaganda in short, the hasbara industry has been an invaluable tool in shaping the narrative and how it is viewed in the West, where the perception of Israel…
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Will progressive Jews aligned with Muslims really have a ‘destructive consequence’?
Every now and then the influential Tel Aviv based think tank the Reut Institute publishes a report on the growing threat to Israel’s privileged status within the American body politic. Although its reports are often described as conspiratorial, bordering on Islamophobic, its assessment of the forces aligned against the occupation…
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Islamophobia is a billion-dollar industry in the US; it’s time to uproot it
US lawmakers voted, last month, in support of a bill to create a State Department office tasked with monitoring and combating Islamophobia across the globe. With members of the House of Representatives casting their vote along party lines, a ten-seat majority held by the Democrats ensured a marginal victory for…
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Is the US guilty of putting alliance with Israel over justice in 36-year murder case?
Renewed interest in the murder of Palestinian-American civil rights activist, Alex Odeh, has fuelled speculations that the US-Israel alliance has blocked justice and hindered the criminal investigation into the killing. No one has been formally arrested for the murder of Odeh, despite strong leads indicating that his killers were three…
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US lawmakers vote to tackle global Islamophobia, but will Israel be investigated?
Judging by this week’s close vote on combating Islamophobia, and sensational revelations by a major US Muslim group, President Joe Biden’s attempt to move the US into a new period of history and exit the post-9/11 era while remaining, just about, the sole superpower, will face some of its biggest…
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Remember this: it will be Israel, not Iran, which destroys any new nuclear deal
World leaders have been trying desperately to salvage the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+ countries: the US, Britain, China, Russia, France and Germany. The seventh round of talks in Vienna ended on Friday with very little to suggest that the main…
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Remembering Resolution 181 calling for the partition of Palestine
What? UN partition plan for Palestine issued by the General Assembly in Resolution 181 When? 29 November 1947 What happened? The British, who had been awarded the mandate over Palestine in 1922, had all but admitted defeat by 1947. The contradictory goals of the 1917 Balfour Declaration, promising the “establishment…
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Does Britain’s sleepwalking into a racist two-tier citizenship system serve the UK’s interest?
The UK is sleepwalking into a racist two-tier system of citizenship following the revelation that Home Secretary, Priti Patel, had quietly introduced a highly controversial plan last week to strip people of citizenship without giving them notice to appeal. The question is, is this really about combatting Daesh terrorists or…
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Rushing to support the ‘ugly, extremist face of Israel’ does not defend ‘free speech’
Britain is mired in another row about freedom of speech following Tuesday’s student protest against extreme right-wing Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely. To the dismay of Palestinian student groups, the 42-year-old was invited by the Debating Society at the London School of Economics (LSE) for what was billed as a public…