Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Oraib Al-Rantawi
-
Sickness can be ‘death sentence’ in Gaza as war fuels disease
In Gaza, falling ill can be a death sentence. Cancer patients are waiting to die, polio has returned and many of the doctors and nurses who might have offered help are dead, while the hospitals they worked at have been reduced to rubble. Doctors and health professionals say that...
-
As the world gears up for another pandemic, Gaza’s healthcare system is in ruins
Since the apparent end of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2022 – or in some regions the year after – rumours of the next worldwide pandemic have spread on- and offline. Conspiracy theorists have claimed that a new global health emergency would be declared by the end of 2023 and...
-
War on Gaza leaves triplets separated from their mother for 1 year
A year after giving birth to triplets in East Jerusalem’s Makassed Hospital, Palestinian from Gaza, Hanane Bayouk, remains separated from them because of Israel’s war on the Strip. Twenty-six-year-old Hanane gave birth to her daughters – Najoua, Nour and Najmeh – in Jerusalem on 24 August 2023, after receiving...
-
Israel’s systematic immorality and terror contradict its claims of self-defence
The Second Arab-Israeli War marked a dark chapter in the history of modern conflict, exposing the brutal realities of Israel’s military strategies. On 29 October, 1956, backed by France and the United Kingdom, Israel invaded Egypt, ostensibly to break the blockade on the Straits of Tiran. This invasion led...
-
The UK’s far-right riots are the violent spasms of a dying British society
Long gone are those days of play and relaxation by a bustling beach in a British seaside town, where you would set up a windbreaker with family and friends, take a dip in the cool waters of the summer shoreline, stroll by the pier, enjoy the numerous vibrant cafes...
-
Ghassan Kanafani’s ‘Letter from Gaza’: A timeless testament of resistance amidst war
“No, my friend, I have changed my mind. I won’t follow you to ‘the land where there is greenery, water and lovely faces.’ No, I’ll stay here, and I won’t ever leave.” With these resolute words, Ghassan Kanafani immortalizes a moment of profound choice, where the soul is torn...
-
In Gaza, keeping the internet on can cost lives but also save them
Forced to flee his home yet again as war raged across the Gaza Strip, Khalil Salim was desperate to get his family to safety but how could he be sure he wasn’t leading them deeper into danger? He needed up-to-date information and so he went online and checked out...
-
There is no such thing as protective attire for journalists in Gaza
In a protest against the deliberate Israeli murders of their colleagues, Ismael Alghoul, and Rami Alrifi, in the Gaza Strip, a group of journalists threw their vests emblazoned with “PRESS” down on the ground before a podium, proclaiming that the supposedly protective attire is useless when the Israeli occupation...
-
Is Trump really playing ‘5D chess’ against Israel?
Ever since UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer took office last month, his government has surprised many in its steps regarding commitments towards Israel and Palestine. In clear contrast to his reluctance to say anything during the election campaign, Starmer came out almost immediately following his victory in support of...
-
What does Erdogan the tactician have in mind for reconciliation with Syria?
Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long been known as a seasoned tactician who, like few leaders on the world stage, is able to confuse his observers, critics and supporters alike on a frequent basis. One year opposed to interest rates, the next in support of them; one year...
-
Human shields: Israel’s hidden atrocities in Gaza
Israeli occupation forces have repeatedly used Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the beleaguered Gaza Strip as human shields since 1976, placing civilian lives deliberately and unnecessarily at risk, according to reports by several international human rights organisations. During the ongoing Israeli atrocities in Gaza, Israeli forces have...
-
Gaza’s pregnant women defy odds to give birth, protect babies
In a flimsy tent crouched low among the smashed buildings of Rafah, Palestine Bahr felt her contractions begin early one day in May. Her baby was coming but how would she make her way through the rubble-strewn streets to hospital without a car? She managed to find a donkey...
-
From Labour leader to independent, Jeremy Corbyn vows to work in the UK and Europe for a ceasefire in Gaza
Rises and falls are all part and parcel of the life of many a political figure, often in numerous occurrences and often at the hands of forces too big to be beaten. Jeremy Corbyn is no exception to that rule. Having served as leader of the UK’s Labour Party...
-
On the obstacles to the war between Hezbollah and Israel
Nothing is calm between the south of the Litani and the north of Kiryat Shmona, as the smoke of fires and shells covers the field, which involves raging movement on both sides. Many parties are awaiting zero hour, the heat of which is expected to extend beyond the borders...
-
The UAE is expanding its reckless policies and interventions
The past few years have marked the ascendancy of the UAE as a geopolitical power. The oil-rich country is now expanding its influence by operating key ports, signing corrupt gold mining deals, establishing military bases, raging wars and supporting counter-revolutions aiming at killing democratic experiments in other countries fearing...
-
Expert panel at SOAS discuss accountability for Israel’s Gaza war crimes and Genocide
The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), in collaboration with Influencing the Corridors of Power (ICOP), held a pivotal event at the Brunei Gallery yesterday evening as part of its ongoing Palestine series that has been running at SOAS and in the UK Parliament. The session, entitled “War...
-
If international law does not comply with Israel, then the West will build a new world order
International law has never been one of Israel’s strong points. Ever since its violent inception in 1948 when it neglected the United Nations’ resolution to share historic Palestine, and through the decades when it broke numerous ceasefires, destroyed Palestinian villages, violated virtually every human rights standard with regard to...
-
There is still time to save the people of Sudan
Nothing can justify the heinous crime committed by the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan’s Wad Al-Noura in Al-Jazira State. The killing or wounding of more than 200 people in the village on 5 June has to be added to the other crimes committed by the militia since the outbreak...
-
Will Gaza change the interactions between the Global North and the South?
The Israeli war on Gaza reshaped global positions by dividing the world into North and South and, for the first time ever, firm positions emerged from the countries of the South rejecting the standards of the North, which controlled the system of global values by monopolising the definition of...
-
The punishment for raising the Palestinian flag in the French Parliament
A harsh punishment was imposed on Sebastien Delogu, a Member of Parliament for France Unbowed (LFI) Party, preventing him from doing his job as a people’s representative for two weeks, and reducing his salary by half for two months, because he raised the Palestinian flag last Tuesday, during a...
-
Famine and the rising death toll in Gaza
Two Palestinian children died last week of starvation, dehydration and lack of medicine amid desperate conditions in the southern areas of the besieged Gaza Strip. The Ministry of Health announced the death of Abdulqader Sirhi, 13, and seven-month-old Fayiz Abu Ataya, from malnutrition and lack of food and medicine...
-
Combatting academic censorship of the Palestinian narrative in the UK
Tonight MEMO hosted an event on Academic Censorship in the UK, in which a panel of experts discussed efforts to subdue the Palestinian narrative within academia, as well as to assess the methods and mechanisms used toward that suppression. Held at London’s iconic P21 Gallery, the event’s panel consisted...
-
The UK should not be co-opted by the RSF militia and the UAE
The impact of the ongoing war in Sudan between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has been devastating; thousands have been killed and millions have been displaced, but a quick analysis will reveal that this war is also waged by foreign actors who aim to advance...
-
The slaughter of Palestinian scholars in Gaza is a deliberate Israeli tactic
Throughout the 229 days of the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza, the Israeli occupation has deliberately targeted and assassinated dozens of Palestinian scholars, scientists, academics and researchers along with their families. All were targeted while at home with their families or seeking refuge with relatives. This week, the Gaza...