Author's Posts
Money, power and turf: Winning the Middle East media war at any cost
December 11th, 20190 It is hardly surprising to see Middle Eastern countries at the bottom of the World Press Freedom Index, as the worst violators of freedom of the press. But equally alarming is the complete polarization of public opinion as a result of self-serving media and, bankrolled by rich Arab countries, whose only goal is to serve their specific,...
Israel’s next move: The real danger in the U.S. decision to normalize illegal Jewish settlements
November 27th, 20190 It is hardly shocking that the United States government has finally decreed that illegal Jewish settlements which have been built in defiance of international law, are, somehow, “consistent” with international law. U.S. foreign policy has been edging closer towards this conclusion for some time. Since his advent to the White House...
How Western media bias allows Israel to get away with murder in Gaza
November 20th, 20190 An Israeli attack on Gaza was imminent and not because of any provocations by Palestinian groups in the besieged, impoverished Gaza Strip. The Israeli military escalation was foreseeable because it factors neatly in Israel’s contentious political scene. The war was not a question of “if”, but “when.” The answer came on...
A lesson for the Palestinian leadership: Real reasons behind Israel’s arrest and release of Labadi, Mi’ri
November 13th, 20190 The release on November 6 of two Jordanian nationals, Heba al-Labadi and Abdul Rahman Mi’ri, from Israeli prisons was a bittersweet moment. The pair were finally reunited with their families after harrowing experiences in Israel. Sadly, thousands of Palestinian prisoners are still denied their freedom, still subjected to all sorts of...
Microsoft should not fund Israeli spying on Palestinians
November 6th, 20190 The act of Palestinian activists covering their faces during anti-Israeli occupation rallies is an old practice that spans decades. The masking of the face, often by Kufyias — traditional Palestinian scarves that grew to symbolize Palestinian resistance — is far from being a fashion statement. Instead, it is a survival technique,...
She deserves our support: Betty McCollum wants the U.S. to stop subsidizing torture of Palestinian children
October 23rd, 20190 In December 2018, a 17-year-old Palestinian teen, Ayham Sabah, was sentenced by an Israeli military court to 35 years in prison for his alleged role in a stabbing attack targeting an Israeli soldier in an illegal Jewish settlement in the West Bank. Sabah was only 14-years-old when the alleged attack took place. Another alleged...
The last lifeline: The real reason behind Abbas’ call for elections
October 16th, 20190 The call by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for elections in the occupied territories is a political ploy. There will be no true, democratic elections under Abbas’ leadership. The real question is: Why did he make the call in the first place? On September 26, Abbas took on the world’s most important political...
Administrative torture: Free Heba al-Labadi, a Jordanian citizen in Israeli prison
October 9th, 20192 On August 20, Heba Ahmed al-Labadi fell into the dark hole of the Israeli legal system, joining 413 Palestinian prisoners who are currently held in so-called administrative detention. On September 26, Heba and seven other prisoners declared a hunger strike to protest their unlawful detention and horrific conditions in Israeli prisons....
The Africa-Palestine Conference: Why South Africa must lead the way
October 3rd, 20190 On September 16, I visited South Africa, a country where many Palestinians have always felt welcomed, if not overwhelmed by the degree of genuine and meaningful solidarity. While having the honor to address many audiences in six, major cities, I have also learned a great deal. An important and sobering lesson is that while apartheid...
Apartheid made official: Deal of the Century is a ploy and annexation is the new reality
September 23rd, 20190 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is moving quickly to alter the political reality in Palestine, and facing little or no resistance. On September 10, Netanyahu declared his intentions to annex swathes of Palestinian land adjacent to the Jordan River, an area that covers 2,400 square kilometers, or nearly a third of the...
‘Justice is indivisible’: Screams of Israa Ghrayeb should be our wake-up call
September 13th, 20190 The death of Israa Ghrayeb has ignited furious reactions regarding the so-called “honor-killings” in Palestine and throughout the Arab world. It also wrought confusion with respect to the jurisprudential foundation of such crimes, which are often committed in the name of protecting the honor of the family. Israa, a 21-year-old...
Manifestos of hate: What White terrorists have in common
August 26th, 20190 Writing under the title of “If the El Paso shooter had been Muslim”, Moustafa Bayoumi stated the obvious. “If the El Paso shooter had been a Muslim,” Bayoumi wrote in the British Guardian newspaper on August 6, President Trump “would be lobbing accusations such as “Islam hates us” in the direction of Muslims and not...
Jewish settlers rule the roost in Israel, but at what price?
August 25th, 20190 Israeli Jewish settlers are on a rampage in the occupied Palestinian West Bank. While settler violence is part of everyday routine in Palestine, the violence of recent weeks is directly linked to the general elections in Israel, scheduled to be held on September 17. The previous elections, on April 9, failed to bring about political...
The war on innocence: Palestinian children in Israeli military court
August 10th, 20191 On July 29, 4-year-old Muhammad Rabi’ Elayyan was reportedly summoned for interrogation by the Israeli police in occupied Jerusalem. The news, originally reported by the Palestinian News Agency (WAFA), was later denied by the Israeli police, likely to lessen the impact of the PR disaster that followed. The Israelis are not...
Killing Tariq: Why we must rethink the roots of Jewish settlers violence
July 30th, 20190 Seven-year-old Tariq Zabania from Al-Khalil (Hebron) was killed on the spot when an Israeli Jewish settler ran his car over him on July 15. A photograph of little Tariq, lying face down on the road, was circulated on social media. His untimely death is heartbreaking. Tariq’s innocent blood must not go in vain. For this to happen, we......
‘World Refugee Day’: Palestinians keep their right of return alive through hope, resistance
June 22nd, 20190 The United Nations’ World Refugee Day, observed annually on June 20, should not merely represent a reminder of “the courage, strength and determination of women, men and children who are forced to flee their homeland under threat of persecution, conflict and violence.” It should also be an opportunity for the international...
Kushner as a colonial administrator: Let’s talk about the ‘Israeli model’
June 16th, 20190 In a TV interview on June 2, on the news docuseries “Axios” on the HBO channel, Jared Kushner opened up regarding many issues, in which his “Deal of the Century” was a prime focus. The major revelation made by Kushner, President Trump’s adviser and son-in-law, was least surprising. Kushner believes that Palestinians are not......
Facing the facts: Israel cannot escape ICC jurisdiction
June 8th, 20190 The chief military advocate general of the Israeli army, Sharon Afek, and the U.S. Department of Defense general counsel, Paul Ney, shared a platform at the “International Conference on the Law of Armed Conflict”, which took place in Herzliya, Israel between May 28-30. Their panel witnessed some of the most misconstrued...
Resurrecting the PLO is Palestine’s best response to the ‘Deal of the Century’
May 31st, 20190 Palestinian groups Fatah, Hamas and others should not confine themselves to simply rejecting the Trump administration's so-called “Deal of the Century.” Instead, they should use their resistance to the new American-Israeli plot as an opportunity to unify their ranks. Leaked details of the “Deal of the Century” confirm...
The two narratives of Palestine: The people are united, the factions are not
May 20th, 20190 The International Conference on Palestine held in Istanbul between April 27-29 brought together many speakers and hundreds of academics, journalists, activists and students from Turkey and all over the world. The conference was a rare opportunity aimed at articulating a discourse of international solidarity that is both inclusive and...
Israel’s common denominator: Why Israel will continue to bomb Gaza
May 20th, 20190 On May 4, Israel launched a series of deadly airstrikes on the besieged Gaza Strip, prompting a response from various resistance groups. At least 25 Palestinians were killed and nearly 200 people wounded in the Israeli attacks. Four Israelis were also killed by Palestinian rockets. The clashes were instigated by Israel, when the......
France and the EU, recognizing yet supporting apartheid reality in Palestine
May 3rd, 20190 A recent statement made by the outgoing French ambassador to the U.S. regarding the nature of Israeli apartheid accentuates a larger ailment that has afflicted the European Union foreign policy. The EU is simply gutless when it comes to confronting Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. Ambassador Gerard Araud was, of course,...
Notre Dame of Gaza: Our mosques and churches are also burning
April 26th, 20191 As the 300-foot spire of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris tragically came tumbling down on live television, my thoughts ventured to Nuseirat Refugee Camp, my childhood home in the Gaza Strip. Then, also on television, I watched as a small bulldozer hopelessly clawed through the rubble of my neighborhood mosque. I grew up around that......
War versus peace: Israel has decided and so should we
April 19th, 20190 So, what have we learned from the Israeli legislative elections on April 9? A whole lot. To start with, don’t let such references as the “tight race” between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his main rival, Benny Gantz, fool you. Yes, Israelis are divided on some issues that are particular to...
The unfinished Gaza war: What Netanyahu hopes to gain from attacking Palestinian prisoners
April 12th, 20190 The current violence targeting Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails dates back to January 2. It was then that Israel’s public security minister, Gilad Erdan, declared that the “party is over.” “Every so often, infuriating pictures appear of cooking in the terrorist wings. This party is coming to an end,” Erdan was quoted in......
