Cautious optimism among Arab and Muslim Americans in Detroit over the Gaza ceasefire agreement
January 17th, 20250 After 647 days of relentless violence and genocidal crimes against the Palestinian people in Gaza, the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday was seen as a moment of hope, marking the potential end of a devastating nightmare. This long-overdue agreement represents more than just a pause in conflict; it is a...
Israel destroyed Gaza “for generations to come” and the world stayed silent
January 17th, 20250 The first official reference to Gaza becoming increasingly uninhabitable was made by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in 2012, when the population of the Gaza Strip was estimated at 1.8 million inhabitants. The intention of the report, “The Gaza Strip: The Economic Situation and the Prospects for...
Lebanon: A race on two fronts
January 17th, 20250 In Lebanon, citizens welcomed the election of a president after more than two years of vacancy. However, a political crisis emerged when the "Shi'a duo" — the Amal Movement and Hezbollah — felt an agreement had been breached regarding their support for President Joseph Aoun. The duo was taken aback when 88 parliamentarians designated...
Gazans may breathe the air of peace after 467 days of genocide
January 17th, 20251 Finally, on Wednesday, January 15, a detailed ceasefire agreement was announced, bringing a much-needed end to the suffering in Gaza after 467 days of brutal Israeli aggression. During this period, Israel employed all forms of killing and destruction, but Gaza’s resistance stood firm. Palestinians in the Gaza Strip endured unimaginable...
Ramping up criticism of Israel, Pope Francis calls situation in Gaza “shameful”
January 10th, 20250 VATICAN CITY – On Thursday, Pope Francis stepped up his recent criticism of Israel's military campaign in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave "very serious and shameful." In a yearly address to diplomats delivered on his behalf by an aide, Francis appeared to reference deaths caused by winter cold in...
U.S. health and medical organizations renew calls to end genocide in Gaza, organize free clinic for victims of Israeli war crimes
January 10th, 20250 Amid the international community's failure to end the Israeli war on Gaza, various health and medical organizations in the United States and Canada joined the Doctors Against Genocide organization to renew demands for an end to the ethnic cleansing and human rights violations in the occupied territories. This call was marked by protests...
U.S. House votes to sanction International Criminal Court over Netanyahu and Gallant arrest warrants
January 10th, 20250 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Thursday to sanction the International Criminal Court to protest its issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over Israel's campaign in Gaza. The vote was 243 to 140 in favor of the "Illegitimate Court...
Who is Joseph Aoun, the Lebanese army commander elected the 14th president of Lebanon?
January 10th, 20250 General Joseph Aoun, the Lebanese army commander who was elected president on Thursday, kept his military on the sidelines of a recent war between Israel and the Hezbollah resistance group, ordering it to prioritize civil peace even as troops were killed. Aoun, a 60-year-old career soldier, became the fifth Lebanese army commander to...
Lebanon’s parliament elects army chief Joseph Aoun as president, ending a two-year vacancy
January 10th, 20250 On Thursday, Lebanon’s parliament voted to elect army chief commander Joseph Aoun as the 14th president of the country, filling a more than two-year-long presidential vacuum. The vote came weeks after a tenuous ceasefire agreement halted a 14-month conflict between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah group and at a time when...
The war criminal “victim”: Netanyahu’s inevitable fate
January 10th, 20250 Suddenly, Yoav Gallant, Israel's notorious minister of defense, disappeared into obscurity. The man who served in his country's military for about 35 years, in politics for nearly 10 and oversaw major wars, including the ongoing genocide in Gaza, quickly retreated from headlines and political significance. In his resignation letter,...
U.N. body accuses Israel of destroying Gaza healthcare
January 4th, 20250 Israeli attacks on hospitals in Gaza have devastated the Palestinian enclave's health system and raised serious concerns about Israel's compliance with international law, the U.N. Human Rights Office said in a report on Tuesday. The 23-page report, documenting various attacks between Oct. 12, 2023, and June 30, 2024, concluded that...
A Palestinian year in review: Genocide, resistance and unanswered questions
January 2nd, 20251 The story of the Israeli war on Gaza can be epitomized in the story of the Israeli war on Beit Lahia, a small Palestinian town in the northern part of the Strip. When Israel launched its ground operations in Gaza, Beit Lahia was already largely destroyed due to many days of relentless Israeli bombardment which killed...
Death toll in Gaza from the Israel-Hamas war tops 45,000 Palestinians, health officials say
December 30th, 20240 More than 45,000 Palestinians have now been killed in the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, health officials in the embattled territory said Monday, as often-stalled ceasefire negotiations appeared to be gaining ground. Qatar, Egypt and the United States have renewed efforts to broker a ceasefire deal in recent days, and Israeli...
Unity above else: The only road to the liberation of Palestine
December 30th, 20240 A new kind of unity around Palestine is finally finding its way to the Palestine solidarity movement worldwide. The reason behind this unity is obvious: Gaza. The world’s first live-streamed genocide in the Gaza Strip, and the growing spontaneous compassion, thus solidarity, with the Palestinian victims, helped recenter priorities...
Palestinians sue Biden administration for creating loopholes for Israel on military aid and human rights abuses
December 30th, 20241 The State Department has carved out exceptions for close ally Israel that block a U.S. law restricting foreign military support over human rights abuses, a lawsuit from a group of Palestinians in Gaza and American relatives asserted Tuesday. Former State Department officials and crafters of the 1997 Leahy law were among those advising......
Abu Mohammed al-Golani: The former al Qaeda chief, now leading Syria’s rebels
December 6th, 20240 As the commander of al Qaeda's franchise in the Syrian civil war, Abu Mohammed al-Golani was a shadowy figure who kept out of the public eye, even when his group became the most powerful faction fighting President Bashar al-Assad. Today, he is Syria's most recognizable insurgent, having gradually stepped into the limelight since...
From applause to arrest warrants: The distance between the U.S. Congress and the ICC
December 6th, 20240 The way the U.S. Congress and the International Criminal Court (ICC) view and handle matters involving the Israeli prime minister is significantly different. The U.S. Congress demonstrates unwavering support for the Israeli prime minister despite widespread international concerns over potential criminal actions. On the other hand, the......
Who is Massad Boulos, Trump’s advisor for Arab and Middle Eastern affairs?
December 6th, 20240 On Sunday, President-elect Trump announced his selection of Lebanese American businessman Massad Boulos as his senior advisor for Arab and Middle Eastern affairs. This appointment has garnered significant attention from media outlets both within and outside the United States, including in the Arab world and in Boulos' homeland,...
Amnesty International investigation concludes Israel is committing genocide
December 6th, 20240 “We will look back and say, ‘Why did we not do more earlier?” Amnesty's director tells Zeteo. By Prem Thakker A young Palestinian man walks in the rubble following Israeli airstrikes on Khan Yunis, Gaza, on April 7. File photo Israel is committing...
Escalating offensive in Syria: Strategic advances and geopolitical realignments
December 6th, 20240 On Israel’s timing: Turkey turns against the “de-escalation” agreement as armed groups overrun northern Syria and advance southward The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has described the recent sweeping offensive involving formerly rival factions as a meticulously coordinated and long-prepared operation. This multi-faceted...
No more “deals” – what Palestinians want and will fight to achieve
November 29th, 20240 A major problem in American thinking in the Middle East is the utter rejection of the notion that Palestinian rights are fundamental, if at all relevant, to the coveted peace and stability. Long before Donald Trump’s first “Deal of the Century” was officially revealed on January 28, 2020, successive U.S. administrations......
Dearborn woman launches donation initiative for people in Lebanon after her family was displaced
November 29th, 20240 DEARBORN — A woman from Dearborn has started her own initiative to donate goods to Lebanon as Israeli strikes continue to hit parts of the country, displacing and killings thousands. Suzana Hassan, a mother of three, felt compelled and inspired to help after she learned that her entire family in Lebanon was displaced. Through...
Israel and Hezbollah agree to a ceasefire in Lebanon brokered by the U.S. and France, war on Gaza rages
November 29th, 20240 On Wednesday, tens of thousands of displaced Lebanese residents began returning to their homes in Southern Lebanon as a ceasefire was called, halting the fighting between Israel and Lebanese group Hezbollah. After a nearly 14 month cross-border fight and Israel's invasion into Lebanon last month, with thousands killed, displaced and......
A nation in denial: Why Israel’s defeat is imminent
November 22nd, 20240 The paradoxical phrase, “running away forward” is one of the most apt descriptions that illustrates the state of Israeli affairs now. It seems that everything that Israel has done in the past year or so is a mere attempt to deny, distract from or escape imminent future scenarios – all of which are bleak. Indeed, the last year...
International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant
November 22nd, 20241 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finds himself under mounting international and domestic pressure as he continues his aggressive attacks on Gaza and Lebanon. Despite failing to achieve his stated war objectives, Netanyahu persists in his policy of "forward escape," attempting to deflect attention from his legal troubles. He is......
