Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Yvonne Ridley
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Critics of conditions in Gaza Zoo expose the value placed on Palestinian lives
Animal rights activists are furious that a zoo in the Gaza Strip which was shut down earlier this year because of the poor conditions has reopened with lions billed as the main attraction. The big cats were apparently smuggled into the tiny Palestinian enclave via tunnels from Egypt recently. Personally,…
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Jamal Khashoggi: questions still need answers, while hypocrisy is rife
The first anniversary of the barbaric murder of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi is approaching, but most world leaders apparently wish that we would forget about it and move on, none more so than the petulant Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’ de facto ruler. His fawning ministers are…
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Orthodox Jews are blamed for Israel’s ‘Titanic’ moment, but the Palestinians will pay the price
The fall of the Zionist State of Israel is being forecast by a leading Israeli academic, but his prediction has nothing to do with the latest election crisis which has left the state divided and fragile. While likening Israel to the ill-fated Titanic, Professor Dan Ben-David of Tel Aviv University…
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Scholars for dollars sell out Palestine and its people
Palestine polarises people, of that there is no doubt. Those condemning Palestinians usually do so out of their blind loyalty to the concept of the Zionist State. With today’s backdrop of real and alleged anti-Semitism, and the ever pervasive shadow of the Holocaust, it is easy to see why anyone…
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Assad’s debts mount as Putin calls the shots in Syrian ceasefire
It is significant to note that Saturday’s ceasefire in Syria was announced by Russia and not by the ruling Assad dynasty, whose corrupt behaviour triggered the brutal civil war back in 2011. Ironically, it is this same family corruption which could bring an end to the horrific conflict which has…
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Israel has hit Gaza with illegal collective punishment because Netanyahu wants more votes
Imagine if rogue neighbours on your street fired off some protest rockets towards the nearby parliament; you probably wouldn’t be too happy about it, and there would be national outrage, and rightly so. Action against the perpetrators would follow swiftly. What would not happen, though, is any form of collective…
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The Palestinians’ inalienable right to return is the real story
European settlers were behind the foundation of the United States of America and Israel, both of which are currently steering a path towards right-wing extremism fuelled by race hate. As such, perhaps we should not be in the slightest bit surprised at the blatant emergence of the three-headed monster representing…
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This triumvirate of evil has turned its sights on Kashmir
Russian revolutionary leader Lenin once said, “Show me who your friends are, and I will tell you what you are.” If we apply this to Narendra Modi and India, we can see that the Prime Minister of the world’s largest democracy counts among his closest allies both Israel and Myanmar.…
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Leading British Zionist says Labour’s anti-Semitism definition is not fit for purpose
Two of Tony Blair’s closest political allies have joined-in with the ongoing row embroiling pro-Palestine leader Jeremy Corbyn over the Labour Party’s handling of anti-Semitism allegations, claiming that an “existential crisis” is looming due to his poor leadership. It is doubtful that it is entirely coincidental that the attacks designed…
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Jews are being used as human shields in the war of words over anti-Semitism
US President Donald Trump provoked outrage recently when he launched a blisteringly racist attack against courageous American Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib, during which he basically told them to go back home. Many viewed his outburst on women of colour as a descent into overt…
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The Saudis and UAE abandon Yemen crisis to sabotage Sudan’s pro-democracy movement
Shameless is the only word I can find to describe the behaviour of the rulers of both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates who five months ago basked in glory as praise was heaped upon them for jointly pledging well over one billion dollars in the largest ever donation…
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Trump’s theatrics are bad news for Palestine
Whenever I have visited Palestine and speak to Palestinians I am always asked, “Why doesn’t the West care about our suffering?” It’s a question that I try to avoid answering, but the brutal truth is that many Westerners, their governments and media simply don’t care. The fact that a humanitarian…
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Bolton and Pompeo are America’s disastrous duo
It never ceases to amaze me how some of the most mediocre and uninspiring people somehow manage to reach the top of their profession. Among the most asinine, in my opinion, are the lacklustre US National Security Adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, men who are to…
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US ‘Peace to Prosperity’ conference actually offers Palestine little hope
The Trump administration’s vision for a futuristic-looking Gaza Strip is like something dreamed up by a Hollywood theme park, with pristine beaches reaching out into the calm, blue waters of the Mediterranean. It ignores the fact that these are the same beaches where children playing football in the sand and…
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Morsi’s death was a political assassination by a vindictive regime
Mohamed Morsi will forever be remembered as Egypt’s first democratically-elected President, something that his enemies can never take away from him. Yesterday, he collapsed and died in a Cairo courtroom just moments after he had addressed the hearing from a cage; he was facing ludicrous charges of espionage linked to…
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Trump’s ‘deal of the century’ is fraudulent
Donald Trump and his gullible team of foreign policy advisers have kept the rest of the world mildly entertained since the former reality TV host became the US President. The theatrics of Trump’s White House are indeed amusing as long as you are a casual observer with no direct interest…
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3 million Syrians await an unknown fate in Idlib as Assad and his allies continue to bomb them
New evidence reveals that Bashar Al-Assad’s brutal regime is committing war crimes by deliberately targeting schools and hospitals in the last Syrian rebel stronghold of Idlib. More than 20 have been bombed, shelled and destroyed this month alone by Assad and his allies Iran and Russia. Despite previous promises and…
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Why are we seeing such international apathy towards the Palestinians?
It is always refreshing to see the international community come together in emergencies when individual countries are blighted by man-made and natural disasters. Many European countries, for example, including Italy, Croatia, Greece and Cyprus, as well as Russia and Egypt, have responded with great urgency by sending firefighting aircraft and…
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T spells trouble as Zionists claim Palestine alphabet book is ‘anti-Semitic’
A public reading of the first-ever alphabet story book in the English language about Palestine has caused outrage among some American library patrons who claim that its contents are anti-Semitic. Now a literary event featuring the children’s book P is for Palestine and its author has been shelved until at…
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Eurovision turns out to be a big hit for Palestine
It was the result that nobody predicted: the winner of Eurovision 2019 is… Palestine! Despite the organisers describing the Eurovision Song Contest as a non-political event, the issue of Palestine took back, front and centre stage in Tel Aviv over the weekend, which may make Israel come to regret its…
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Interpal is David to Israel’s Goliath in the struggle to help Palestinians in need
One of the most inspiring Biblical stories is the legendary battle between David and Goliath and it is often referenced as a moral lesson of how underdogs can triumph in the face of overwhelming odds. I was reminded of it the other day while attending a lunch to celebrate the…
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Justice for the Mavi Marmara victims is the last chance for the ICC to prove its worth
Unless international law is to become meaningless, the time has come for political leaders around the world to step up and defend with some vigour and sincerity the principles that were laid down at the Nuremberg Trials in 1945-1946. Such principles did, after all, deliver justice for millions of victims…
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How can Israelis celebrate Passover while denying Palestinian Christians the right to travel?
One of the greatest religious stories shared by Jews, Christians and Muslims is the Exodus of Moses and the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt more than 3,000 years ago. This weekend the story will be recounted and reflected upon in Jewish households around the world as families come…
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Weasel words and chutzpah can’t sustain the myth of democratic Israel, but nobody cares
The word “chutzpah” has its roots in the old Hebrew “ḥutspâ” and, as adopted by Yiddish, basically means “audacity bordering on downright cheek”. We’ve seen and heard plenty of that in Israel this week as triumphant right-wing blocs head to the Knesset after Tuesday’s General Election. Predictably, Benjamin Netanyahu has…