Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Professor Paola Manduca
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Lebanon’s option: Resistance for self-defence
A long (and futile) debate is taking place in Lebanon about which is more effective: seeking a ceasefire or working and, thus, resisting, to stop Israel’s escalating aggression against the land, people, trees, stones, resistance, army, UNIFIL peacekeeping forces and all aspects of life in the Land of the...
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Appeal for stationery from the people of Gaza
The people of the Gaza Strip appeal to the world to try to save the educational process by allowing stationery into the Gaza Strip. The people accuse the Occupation of stalling the entry of stationery into the Strip and adding it to the prohibited materials, as well as accuse...
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Will Israel use a nuclear weapon in its attack on Iran?
Perhaps the most pressing question on the eve of the US presidential election on 5 November is: Who will be the first to strike the other: Israel or Iran? The twenty days that separate us from the election of the new US president are an extremely dangerous period of...
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13-year-old displaced Gazan delves into her passion for fashion
Living in a displacement tent in central Gaza, west of the town of Al-Zawaizah, 13-year-old Ruba Muhammad continues to pursue her passion for fashion design. Shaded by some olive trees, Ruba says her interest in fashion began when she came across dress designs on Pinterest before the war, leading...
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Gaza’s teachers are rehabilitating students back into education
Israel’s war on the besieged Gaza Strip has left children unable to attend school for a full academic year. While its bombing campaign has destroyed school buildings and wiped out all of the Strip’s universities. Any remaining academic centres have been damaged and are being used as shelters for...
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Israel returns ‘unidentifiable’ bodies of 80 Palestinians to Gaza
Israeli occupation authorities today handed over the bodies of more than 80 Palestinians killed in various circumstances during the Gaza war. The corpses were transferred to the Strip in coordination with the International Red Cross (ICRC), which in turn handed them over to the Ministry of Health in...
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Piecing together Gaza’s shattered solar panels
It is rare to find a solar panel in Gaza that is not damaged as a result of the relentless Israeli bombing campaign. Israel cut electricity supplies to Gaza in the early stages of the war, in its effort to tighten its grip on Palestinian there and make the...
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Israel has manufactured an industrial-scale version of Jim Crow rape hoaxes
Forget everything you have read about Israel’s claim that Hamas carried out a premediated campaign of mass rape on 7 October. So far, every act of rape or sexual violence alleged to have happened on that day is fabricated or completely unsubstantiated. The real story is how top US...
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The world has forgotten Syrian refugees in Lebanon
June 20th marked the 13th World Refugee Day observed globally since the onset of the Syrian conflict in 2011. In the initial years, as the mass exodus of Syrians reached its peak, their plight dominated the headlines. The current predicament of 12 million refugees from Syria, nearly half of...
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Palestinians in Gaza left thirsty as Israel blocks fuel deliveries
Displaced Palestinians in Gaza are struggling to meet their water needs as Israel continues to ban the entry of fuel into the enclave thus stopping the delivery of water and the operation of desalination plants. More than one million Palestinians are now crowded into the western region of Gaza,...
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While Gaza suffers physical genocide, the West Bank faces economic genocide
While the world is preoccupied with the horrific genocide in the embattled Gaza Strip, Israel is killing hundreds of Palestinians, seizing more land and strangling the occupied West Bank economically. On 22 May, following the International Court of Justice decisions against Israel and the recognition of Palestine by three...
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Why don’t we demand the return of the 14 Lebanese villages occupied by Israel?
Unfortunately, foreign countries (the most notable, Britain and France) determined Lebanon’s official borders, and the Lebanese had no say in this. In this regard, I have read much research by the well-known southern Lebanese academic, Dr Kamal Deeb, who is currently working and active in universities in Canada and,...
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Displaced Palestinians’ efforts to put smiles on children’s faces
OPINION: ‘My fears came true, Israel demolished my house as it had in 2014’...
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All these crises are in Kuwait
Some may have been surprised by the decision of the Emir of Kuwait, Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, to dissolve the National Assembly (Parliament), when it had only been a month and a few days since its members were elected in the early elections held on 4 April. However, the...
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What’s behind the declaration of the new Maghreb alliance?
Suddenly, more than a week after the end of the tripartite Carthage summit between the presidents of Algeria and Tunisia and the head of the Libyan Presidential Council, the Algerian News Agency announced that the summit, which culminated in the Carthage Declaration, was held to establish a new approach...
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How do ordinary Palestinians view the Iranian attack on Israel?
On the night of 14 April, Iran launched drones and missiles towards Israel after it vowed to avenge the bloody attack on its Consulate in the Syrian capital, Damascus. The Iranian attack is the first direct attack against Israel from Iranian territory. The Iranian attack coincided not only with...
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‘My fears came true, Israel demolished my house as it had in 2014’
Since Israel’s war on Gaza on 7 October, tens of thousands of tonnes of bombs have struck the enclave, forcing millions of Palestinians from their homes. Swarms of planes dropped their missiles on high-rise residential buildings, killing over 32,000 Palestinians and injuring over 72,000 more. Thousands more are missing...
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Three scenarios facing Tunisia
When the arrival of a shipment of bananas to Tunisian markets turns into an event worthy of the official television station devoting a celebratory report to it during the main evening news bulletin, we must know that the economic situation in the country is not good at all. We...
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In 2024, International Women’s Day is irrelevant if it doesn’t centre on women in Gaza
Since its inception in 1977, International Women’s Day (IWD) has become a global phenomenon. Held annually on 8 March, the day is aimed at celebrating the contributions of women throughout history, taking the opportunity to shed light on women’s experiences and achievements, whilst continuing to spotlight persistent gender disparities...
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Navigating political landscapes: Arab presence in British cities
The influence of minorities in the public life of democratic and open societies is not solely determined by their numbers, but also by their presence, engagement and interaction. This is exemplified by many minorities, including the Arab community in Britain. They are advocating for a more effective participation in...
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What is Lebanon’s priority, electing a president or resisting Israel?
Lebanon not only has recurring crises, but as a state and a people it is also facing the challenge of choosing between electing a new president — the position has been vacant for sixteen months — or continuing to support the resistance against Israel. There are strong opinions and...
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A global, grassroots campaign is an urgent necessity if UN resolutions are to have any meaning
Israel is killing tens of thousands of Palestinians across their stolen homeland relentlessly and brutally, especially in the city of Rafah and its surrounding areas. Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed publicly that the war against the Palestinians will continue until 2025 and until three goals are achieved: the elimination of Hamas;...
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Iran is now on Israel’s borders
It isn’t a small thing for the Israeli air force to destroy a building in Damascus where leaders from Iran’s Quds Force are meeting; and it isn’t a small thing that the coffins of those who were targeted were returned to Iran to join the coffins of those that...
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Palestinians are not numbers: an Obituary for Muhammed Alagha
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, Silence the pianos and with muffled drum Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come. Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead … W H...