Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Oraib Al-Rantawi
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Remembering the Russia-Turkiye war in 1877 and the Ottoman loss of the Balkan
What: Russia’s encroachment on the Ottoman Empire’s territories, marking the beginning of the final Russian-Turkish war and loss of Turkish control over the Balkans. Where: Balkans, south-eastern Europe When: 24 April 1877 – 3 March 1878 The mid-1800s was a time of rising nationalism throughout the world, and the...
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Are we witnessing the end of Pakistan’s military Establishment?
In the West, the existence of a “deep state” remains a contentious issue. Many activists and political outcasts have referred to it, even targeted it, while mainstream media outlets have rushed to condemn the concept as a conspiracy theory. Even so, many in Britain, for example, still refer to...
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Can Gulf States really save Europe from its incoming property grab?
Much has been made of the West’s decades-long energy suicide, especially amid its acceleration over the past few years. The introduction of policies to drive forward a green revolution and transition away from fossil fuels – while fuelled largely with good intention – has had the effect of threatening...
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Shining example: Solar power boosts struggling Tunisia school
A decade ago, the Makthar Boarding School in northern Tunisia had little clean drinking water or heat, poor food and no electricity for its nearly 570 students. But now, solar water heaters ensure hot water for showers and solar panels produce enough electricity, not only to power the school...
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Baghdad youth reclaim their city, 20 years after US-led invasion
Mouayad Mohsen is appalled by the ways of the modern world, and the 58-year-old Iraqi soldier-turned-painter is on a mission to teach his neighbours some manners. “No one says hello anymore, especially the youth,” he said, enjoying a tea at a cafe near his home in Baghdad Gate, a...
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Will Israel betray the Pax Americana by striking Iran without permission?
The days of war between the Arab world and Israel are long gone. Even enmity toward the occupation state has largely faded away, leaving in its trail the infamous Abraham Accords, despite the “normalisation” deals being generally accepted only by Arab or Muslim-majority nations which were never actually at...
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Is Saudi Arabia preparing for the collapse of the petrodollar and US dollar dominance?
One of the most illusory phenomena in our current existence is the money we use for buying, selling and hoarding on a daily basis. It is, to put it simply, in the air, backed up by nothing and reliant on nothing, yet at the same time highly delicate and...
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I am not Charlie: Satire and dehumanisation of Turkiye earthquake victims
Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine that has sparked major controversies over republishing cartoons insulting the Muslim Prophet Muhammad but has received huge waves of solidarity after becoming a victim of an attack that left 12 people dead, has posted a cartoon that has rightly received major critique. In...
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Between a dictator and a failed UN, post-earthquake Syria resembles its revolution: isolated and abandoned
There are few tragedies in the world for which the responsibility can be deflected away from politics and human fault. This week’s earthquake in Turkiye and Syria was one of those, and has resulted in a flurry of devastation – over 20,000 deaths so far, destroyed homes, huge infrastructure...
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The world is heading towards CBDCs: the inevitable future of finance or new form of dystopian control?
It is the unfortunate – or fortunate, depending on one’s propensity to autocracy – nature of every decentralised system in this modern age to become centralised under the scope of governmental regulation or private sector control. That has been true for taxation, data, health and safety legislation, construction permission...
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Using NATO membership as leverage, Turkiye is giving the EU a taste of its own medicine
Turkiye has surprised many policymakers and analysts over the past decade with its diplomatic prominence, soft power projection and hard power in the form of drones and other advances in weaponry. During this time of its expansion across the world stage – despite its largely shrunken economy – it...
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MEMO launches ‘The JNF/KKL: A Charity Complicit With Ethnic Cleansing’ by Dr Uri Davis
MEMO hosted the book launch of JNF/KKL: A Charity Complicit With Ethnic Cleansing, written by Dr Uri Davis, an Israeli academic and independent researcher who is noted to be a defender of Palestinian human rights, in London last night. Held in London’s P21 Gallery, the event started off with an introduction by...
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CCTV cameras will watch over Egyptians in new high-tech capital
The gleaming tower blocks and high-tech facilities of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s flagship new capital are a far cry from Cairo’s congested streets and crumbling facades. In the New Administrative Capital that is taking shape in the desert, lamp-posts double up as WiFi hotspots, key cards grant access to...
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Partition, regime change, and geopolitical rivalry: What does 2023 hold for the Middle East?
As the year of 2022 comes to an end, the usual spate of predictions for the incoming year are espoused by many. That includes, it seems, Russia’s Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev, who predicted on Twitter – either mockingly or seriously, or perhaps both – a number of...
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What Netanyahu is saying is this…
A few days before the formation of his sixth government, Benjamin Netanyahu has defined his ceilings for the solution to the Palestinian issue: self-rule for the Palestinians and security and sovereignty for the Israelis. He did not mention Jerusalem, which has already been declared to be Israel’s “united eternal...
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Elon Musk’s Twitter Files are cleaning house, but what other secrets remain?
When social media solidified itself into the collective consciousness of technology users in the first decade of this century, it was increasingly looking like a revolutionary tool and saviour for billions worldwide. That was not only because one could see what their friends were doing or baking, but because...
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How Israel targets Palestinian society through family separation
The Israeli occupation state makes every effort to disrupt and break up the social fabric of Palestinian communities, leading to domestic disorder. Sundry procedures have been implemented curbing the ability of separated Palestinian families to reunite. Despite this, Israel fails to break the spirit of the steadfast Palestinians who...
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Zionists have captured Jordan Peterson and are hijacking western conservatism
Jordan Peterson has long been a controversial figure, subject to attempts to suppress him from various sides. Much of that controversy is not wholly negative: his stand against Canada’s Bill C-16 – which obligates the use of Trans individuals’ pronouns in a clear example of compelled speech – was...
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Entrapment is the tool of the Western intelligence matrix to criminalise Muslim communities
There are countless stereotypes and tropes found throughout popular culture, movie productions and social media. One of those is that of undercover police or intelligence agents who famously tend to consist of well-built white men donned in disguises that are overly civilian with a tactical hint – usually with...
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Decline of the Tigris spells doom for Iraq fishermen
Every morning at sunrise, Iraqi fisherman, Ahmad Hassan Lelo, emerges from his shack on the banks of the Tigris River in the heart of Baghdad, and every morning his heart breaks at the sight before him. The once mighty river that meandered past his home is a shadow of...
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The Council of European Muslims works to help all Muslims, says its president
Muslims are well established in Europe; those in Eastern Europe in particular have been living in the continent for many centuries. A visible Muslim community has existed in Britain since the late nineteenth century. Modern European states have enabled Muslims to carve out a place for themselves within society...
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As climate elitists plunge us into darkness, Saudi Arabia gets the blame
In many ways, the COP27 climate conference being held in Egypt is a cruel but necessary irony. The tyranny of the host government — the sweeping arrests, arbitrary checking of citizens’ mobile phones at road checkpoints, and a further crackdown on freedom of expression — makes it look even...
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Winners of Palestine Book Awards 2022 announced
The winners of 2022’s Palestine Book Awards (PBA) were announced on Friday evening in an event in London to recognise authors and their contributions to literature on the subject of Palestine. Seven books were handpicked by the panel of judges and saw their authors presented with awards in five...
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Palestine Book Awards shortlisted authors presented in London event
MEMO hosted an informal event at London’s P21 Gallery last night ahead of this year’s Palestine Book Awards (PBA) in recognition of authors and their contribution to literature on the subject of Palestine. For the 11th PBA – held in person for the first time since 2019 after the...