Author's Posts
Future of American democracy: On inequality, polarization and violence
November 18th, 20200 In January 2017, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)’s Democracy Index downgraded the state of democracy in the United States from “full democracy” to “flawed democracy.” The demotion of a country that has constantly prided itself, not only on being democratic but also on championing democracy throughout the world, took...
“Playing for time”: The non-strategy of Mahmoud Abbas
November 14th, 20200 “If we are going to live another four years with President Trump, God help us, God help you and God help the whole world.” These were the words of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh during a virtual meeting with European legislators on November 3. While some may agree with Shtayyeh’s assessment, such...
What does Israel have against Palestinian singer Mohammed Assaf?
November 4th, 20200 Why does Israel hate Palestinian singer Mohammed Assaf? On October 16, Avi Dichter, Israeli member of Parliament from the right-wing Likud Party, announced that Assaf’s special permit to enter the occupied Palestinian West Bank would be revoked. Assaf, originally from Gaza, now lives with his family in the United Arab Emirates....
The world is changing: China launches campaign for superpower status
October 29th, 20200 The outdated notion that China “just wants to do business” should be completely erased from our understanding of the rising global power’s political outlook. Simply put, Beijing has long realized that, in order for it to sustain its economic growth unhindered, it has to develop the necessary tools to protect itself, its allies...
Despite ambiguity in international law, Palestinians are winning the “legitimacy war”
October 14th, 20200 “International law” remains one of the most discussed terms in the context of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. It is almost always present, whether the discussion pertains to the Israeli wars and siege on Gaza, the expansion of illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank or the encroaching apartheid throughout Israel and the...
Black lives should always matter: Delinking social justice from seasonal U.S. politics
October 10th, 20200 After viewing the first U.S. presidential debate on Sept. 29, one is left with no doubt about the degenerating political discourse among America’s ruling elites. Following the debate between President Trump and the Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, most analyses focused mainly on the personal insults and name-calling,...
In lieu of a liberation strategy: Palestinian elections are designed to buy time
October 1st, 20200 It is abundantly clear that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has underestimated the seriousness of the challenges facing Palestine and the Palestinians. The rushed agreement between his party, Fatah, and Hamas in Istanbul on September 24, and the Palestinian leader’s speech at the 75th session of the U.N. General...
How do Democrats and Republicans differ on Palestine and Israel?
September 23rd, 20200 The polarized nature of American politics often makes it difficult to address fundamental differences between the country’s two main political rivals, Republicans and Democrats. As each side is intent on discrediting the other at every opportunity, unbiased information regarding the two parties’ actual stances on internal and...
As Washington retreats, Eastern Mediterranean conflict further marginalizes NATO
September 11th, 20200 The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an alliance in name alone. Recent events notwithstanding, the brewing conflict over territorial waters in the Eastern Mediterranean indicates that the military union between mostly Western countries is faltering. The current Turkish-Greek tension is only one facet of a much larger...
Israel’s friends at the RNC: “Christian Zionists” dictate the agenda of the Republican Party
September 3rd, 20200 It is difficult — and futile — to argue which American president has historically been more pro-Israel. While former President Obama, for example, has pledged more money to Israel than any other U.S. administration in history, Donald Trump has provided Israel with a blank check of seemingly endless political...
“Dying to Fish”: How Israeli piracy destroyed Gaza’s once thriving fishing industry
September 3rd, 20200 On August 16, the Israeli navy declared the Gaza sea a closed military zone. A few days later, a group of Gaza fishermen decided to take their chances by fishing within a mere two or three nautical miles off the Gaza shore. No sooner had they cast their nets, Israeli navy bullets began whizzing all around them. Soon after the...
“Palestine is still the issue”: U.N. vote exposes, isolates Canada
August 26th, 20200 This article is cowritten by Ramzy Baroud and Romana Rubeo The notion that “Canada is better”, especially when compared with U.S. foreign policy, has persisted for many years. Recent events at the United Nations have, however, exposed the true nature of Canada’s global position, particularly in the matter of its blind and...
Hands off Lebanon: Macron’s self-serving “new pact” must be shunned
August 19th, 20200 French President Emmanuel Macron is in no position to pontificate to Lebanon about the need for political and economic reforms. Just as thousands of Lebanese took to the streets of Beirut demanding “revenge” against the ruling classes, the French people have relentlessly been doing the same; both peoples have been met with police...
The politics of war: What is Israel’s endgame in Lebanon and Syria?
August 15th, 20201 On August 4, hours before a massive explosion rocked the Lebanese capital, Beirut, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued an ominous warning to Lebanon. “We hit a cell and now we hit the dispatchers,” Netanyahu said during an official tour of a military facility in central Israel. “I suggest to all of them, including,...
List of Israeli targets leaked: Tel Aviv fears the worst in ICC investigation of war crimes
July 29th, 20200 When International Court of Justice (ICC) Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda confirmed last December that the Court has ample evidence to pursue a war crimes investigation in occupied Palestine, the Israeli government responded with the usual rhetoric, accusing the international community of bias and insisting on Israel’s “right to defend......
Why Palestinian-Israeli prisoners exchange deal could happen soon
July 22nd, 20200 For the first time since the Israeli war on Gaza in 2014, the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is signaling its willingness to engage in negotiations regarding the release of the bodies of two Israeli soldiers believed to be held by resistance groups in Gaza. But will another prisoner exchange similar to that of...
Good news from Washington: AIPAC, Israel losing to progressive Democrats
July 19th, 20200 While the U.S. administration of President Trump remains adamant in its support for Israel, the traditional Democratic leadership continues to employ underhanded language, the kind of “strategic ambiguity” that offers full support to Israel and nothing but lip service to Palestine and peace. Trump’s policies on Israel and......
On Israel’s bizarre definitions: The West Bank is already annexed
July 15th, 20200 Wednesday, July 1, was meant to be the day on which the Israeli government officially annexed 30 percent of the occupied Palestinian West Bank and the Jordan Valley. This date, however, came and went and annexation was never actualized. “I don’t know if there will be a declaration of sovereignty today,” said Israeli Foreign...
Tearing down the idols of colonialism: Why Tunisia, Africa must demand French apology
July 1st, 20200 The visit by newly-elected Tunisian President Kais Saied to France on June 22 was intended to discuss bilateral relations, trade, etc. But it was also a missed opportunity, where Tunisia could have formally demanded an apology from France for the decades of French colonialism, which has shattered the social and political fabric of this...
PA political circus: Why Abbas must hand the keys over to the PLO
June 29th, 20200 The painful truth is that the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas has already ceased to exist as a political body that holds much sway or relevance, either to the Palestinian people or to Abbas’ former benefactors, namely the Israeli and the American governments. So, when the Palestinian Authority prime minister,...
The ‘Palestinian Chair’: Exposing Israel’s direct role in U.S. violence
June 20th, 20200 Exposing Israel The banning of deadly police practices by many American states and cities following the murder of an African American man, George Floyd, at the hands of Minneapolis police officers is, once more, shedding light on U.S.-Israeli collaboration in the fields of security and crowd control. From California to New York, and......
‘Wolf warrior diplomacy’: Israel’s China strategy in peril
June 6th, 20200 Israel’s balancing act that allowed it to reap America’s unconditional and, often, blind support, while slowly benefiting from China’s growing economic influence and political prestige, is already floundering. Thanks to the heated cold war between the U.S. and Chinese economic superpowers, the Israeli strategy of playing both...
A Machiavellian fiasco: How ‘centrist’ Gantz resurrected Netanyahu, Israel’s right
April 22nd, 20200 It was intended to be a Machiavellian move, but the decision by Benny Gantz, leader of Israel’s Kahol Lavan (Blue and White) coalition, to join a Benjamin Netanyahu-led government is likely to destabilize the political fabric of Israeli society for years to come. In a surprising move, Gantz has entered into precarious political......
Spreading the virus of occupation: Spitting as a weapon in the hand of colonial Israel
April 15th, 20200 Spitting at someone is a universal insult. In Israel, however, spitting at Palestinians is an entirely different story. Now that we know the deadly coronavirus can be transmitted through saliva droplets, Israeli soldiers and illegal Jewish settlers are working extra hard to spit at as many Palestinians, their cars, doorknobs and so...
‘Zionist’ Biden in his own words: ‘My name is Joe Biden, and everybody knows I love Israel’
March 18th, 20204 "I am a Zionist. You don't have to be a Jew to be a Zionist," current Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden, said in April 2007, soon before he was chosen to be Barack Obama’s running mate in the 2008 elections. Biden is, of course, correct, because Zionism is a political movement that is rooted in 20th century nationalism......
