Ready to work with Netanyahu: Mansour Abbas splinters Arab vote in Israel
March 15th, 20210 At a glance, it may appear that the split of Arab political parties in Israel is consistent with a typical pattern of political and ideological divisions which have afflicted the Arab body politic for many years. This time, however, the reasons behind the split are quite different. As Israel readies for its fourth general elections...
“Is this who we are?”: Gitmo is America’s enduring shame
March 10th, 20210 “That’s certainly our goal and our intention.” This was the non-committal answer given by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki when, on February 12, she was asked by a reporter whether the new Joe Biden administration intends to shut down the notorious Guantánamo Bay Prison by the end of the president’s first term in...
Biden is on the verge of making the same dangerous mistakes as his predecessors
March 7th, 20210 By Frank Giustra and Andrew Bacevich If the escalating tensions between the United States and China aren't causing you concern yet, you've not been paying attention. Any conflict between the two superpowers would result in unimaginable devastation — if not physical, at least economic. And don't forget: Both China and the United...
Biden’s foreign policy: No joy in Mudville
March 3rd, 20210 By Thomas L. Knapp Well, at least he hasn't started any NEW wars! For four years, that was the excuse I got from anti-war Donald Trump supporters every time he escalated one of the several wars he inherited from George W. Bush and Barack Obama. I expect to start hearing it from anti-war Joseph Biden supporters soon. Trump was...
Imagining Palestine: On Barghouti, Darwish, Kanafani and the language of exile
February 24th, 20210 For Palestinians, exile is not simply the physical act of being removed from their homes and their inability to return. It is not a casual topic pertaining to politics and international law, either. Nor is it an ethereal notion, a sentiment, a poetic verse. It is all of this, combined. The death in Amman of Palestinian poet Mourid...
Europe will redefine itself despite political shift in the U.S.
February 20th, 20210 Despite the long-awaited political change in Washington as Democratic President Joe Biden has officially become the 46th president of the United States, Europe is unlikely to resume its previously unhindered reliance on its trans-Atlantic partner. The four years of Donald Trump were rife with tension and strife between the U.S. and...
“Leaving Aside” international law: Why Democrats are as dangerous as Republicans to a just peace in Palestine
February 17th, 20210 Motivated by their justifiable aversion to former President Trump, many analysts have rashly painted a rosy picture of how Democrats could quickly erase the bleak trajectory of the previous Republican administration. This naivety is particularly pronounced in the current spin on the Palestinian-Israeli discourse, which is promoting,...
Help is available for young people struggling with addiction during the pandemic
February 11th, 20210 In the midst of a pandemic, the drug epidemic persists as health experts say fentanyl is still the leading cause of drug overdoses in Wayne County, while the number one drug of choice for teens is marijuana, followed by alcohol and heroin. As most of us know, substance use is still very prevalent among young people in the country and...
“Freedom is never voluntarily given”: Palestinian boycott of Israel is not racist, it is anti-racist
February 11th, 20210 Claims made by Democratic New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang in a recent op-ed in the Jewish weekly, “The Forward”, point to the prevailing ignorance that continues to dominate the U.S. discourse on Palestine and Israel. Yang, a former Democratic presidential candidate, is vying for the Jewish vote in New York City....
Our mutual fight: The case against Pakistani normalization with Israel
February 6th, 20210 The Pakistani government should never, under any circumstances and no matter the pressure, normalize with Israel. Doing so is not only dangerous — as it will embolden an already vile, racist, violent apartheid Israel — but it would also be considered a betrayal of a historic legacy of mutual solidarity, collective affinity and...
Time to reset our national approach towards domestic violent extremism
February 3rd, 20211 The past four years in America have been tumultuous regarding the internal security of our republic. Mass shootings, such as ones at a high school in Parkland, Florida and a Pittsburg, Pennsylvania synagogue, horrified Americans across the political spectrum. More recently, an alleged plot to abduct Governor Whitmer, which included a...
The “insurrection” and its discontents: “American exceptionalism” revisited
January 31st, 20210 History is being written in the United States today. Even the most pessimistic about the prospects of American democracy have rarely ventured out this far while offering a bleak analysis of America’s future, whether in terms of political polarization at home or global standing abroad. As shocking and, certainly, telling as the images...
Fearing the Palestinian narrative: Why Israel banned “Jenin Jenin”
January 21st, 20210 On Jan. 11, the Israeli Lod District Court ruled against a Palestinian film-maker, Mahmoud Bakri, ordering him to pay hefty compensation to an Israeli soldier who was accused, along with the Israeli military, of carrying out war crimes in April 2002, in the Palestinian Jenin refugee camp located in the northern occupied West Bank. The...
We must learn from the attack on the U.S. Capitol
January 20th, 20210 With a new administration taking office, it is tempting to put the disturbing events of Jan. 6 behind us. But we should not dismiss – or fail to learn from – what happened when the president of the United States incited his followers to storm the Capitol and try to overturn a lawfully decided election. The event was a dark moment...
Covid-19 under Apartheid: How Israel manipulates suffering of Palestinians
January 14th, 20210 Israel’s decision to exclude Palestinians from its COVID-19 vaccination campaign may have surprised many. Even by Israel’s poor humanitarian standards, denying Palestinians access to life-saving medication seems extremely callous. Amnesty International, among many organizations, condemned the Israeli government’s decision to bar......
2021: Palestine’s chance of fighting back
January 12th, 20210 2020 will go down in history as the year that terminated the American-sponsored “peace process.” While 2021 will not reverse the monumental change in the U.S. attitude and objectives in Palestine, Israel and the Middle East, the new year presents Palestinians with the opportunity to think outside the American box. The previous...
A country in turmoil: Why Netanyahu is a symptom, not cause of Israel’s political crisis
December 23rd, 20200 It is convenient to surmise that Israel’s current political crisis is consistent with the country’s unfailing trajectory of short-lived governments and fractious ruling coalitions. While this view is somewhat defensible, it is also hasty. Israel is currently at the cusp of a fourth general election in less than two years. Even by......
When the people rose: How the Intifada changed the political discourse around Palestine
December 16th, 20200 December 8 came and went as if it was an ordinary day. For Palestinian political groups, it was another anniversary to be commemorated, however hastily. It was on this day, 33 years ago, that the First Palestinian Intifada (uprising) broke out, and there was nothing ordinary about this historic event. Today, the uprising is merely...
“Long live the (dead) peace process”: Abbas prioritizes U.S. ties over Palestinian national unity
December 10th, 20200 No one seemed as excited about the election of Joe Biden being the next president of the United States as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. When all hope seemed lost, where Abbas found himself desperate for political validation and funds, Biden arrived like a conquering knight on a white horse and swept the Palestinian...
The king’s man: Blinken’s appointment reassures Israel that little will change under Biden
December 2nd, 20200 Right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has nothing to worry about as Antony J. Blinken, who will directly handle America’s foreign policy in the Middle East is a loyal friend of Israel. Crisis averted. President-elect Joe Biden’s appointment of Antony J. Blinken as his secretary of state was a master stroke,...
“Total reset” is wishful thinking: The daunting task of reordering U.S. foreign policy
November 28th, 20200 A new term has imposed itself on the conversation regarding the impending presidency of President-elect Biden: “The Total Reset.” Many headlines have already promised that the Biden presidency is ready to “reset” U.S. foreign policy across the globe, as if the matter is dependent solely on an American desire and......
America’s pandemic response: A national and global failure
November 25th, 20200 The COVID-19 pandemic has produced staggering levels of suffering and loss. It has caused more than 250,000 deaths in the United States while devastating the national economy. In addition, our failure to respond effectively has damaged America’s standing in the world. Every day, it seems, we set new records for infections and...
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...
Hope is elusive in troubled Middle East
November 5th, 20200 Where is the hope for the Middle East? No matter how hard we try, it is hard to find grounds for optimism about the future of this troubled region. The Middle East has been a focus of American foreign policy for decades. The time, talent and resources that the United States has spent on challenges in the Middle East are staggering,......
