By redefining UNRWA, Washington destroys the foundation for a just peace in Palestine
May 7th, 20220 Palestinians are justifiably worried that the mandate granted to the United Nations Agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, might be coming to an end. UNRWA’s mission, which has been in effect since 1949, has done more than provide urgent aid and support to millions of refugees. It was also a political platform that protected and...
WHO report: COVID led to 15 million deaths globally, not the 5 million reported
May 5th, 20220 Almost three times as many people have died as a result of COVID-19 as official data show, according to a new World Health Organization (WHO) report, the most comprehensive look at the true global toll of the pandemic so far. There were 14.9 million excess deaths associated with COVID-19 by the end of 2021, the U.N. body said on...
ISIS “Beatle” sentenced to life for murdering U.S. hostages
May 3rd, 20220 WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Friday, a U.S. judge imposed a lifetime prison sentence on a member of an ISIS militant group nicknamed "The Beatles" who beheaded American hostages, at a hearing where one victim's mother told the defendant, "I will not hate you." U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis in Alexandria, Virginia, held an emotionally...
Bennett must tread carefully: The “Sword of Jerusalem” could be unleashed again
May 1st, 20220 Starting on April 15, the Israeli occupation army and police raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Occupied East Jerusalem on a daily basis. Under the pretense of providing protection to provocative “visits” by thousands of illegal Israeli Jewish settlers and right-wing fanatics, the Israeli army has wounded hundreds of Palestinians,...
Sources: Jordan pushing to restore Jerusalem mosque status quo
April 29th, 20220 Jordan has intensified efforts to push Israel to respect the historic status quo of Jerusalem's Al Aqsa mosque and avoid violent confrontations that could threaten a wider conflict, Jordanian officials and Western diplomats said on Thursday. The officials said Jordan had notified Washington it was ready to discuss the issue with...
Lebanese cabinet orders military to investigate deadly capsize of migrant boat
April 26th, 20220 BEIRUT — Lebanon's cabinet ordered the military court on Tuesday to investigate the capsize of a migrant boat after colliding with a naval vessel giving chase, with at least six dead and dozens missing. The boat carrying Lebanese and Syrian migrants sank off the coast near the impoverished northern city of Tripoli on Saturday...
Muslim American giving aimed at poor totaled $1.8 billion last year, study shows
April 23rd, 20220 By Dan Parks Muslim Americans gave $1.8 billion last year to meet their religious obligation to help the poor, according to a new study by the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. The study counted only giving related to the religious principle known as zakat, which...
Palestine’s widening geography of resistance: Why Israel cannot defeat the Palestinians
April 17th, 20221 There is a reason why Israel is insistent on linking the series of attacks carried out by Palestinians recently to a specific location, namely the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank. By doing so, the embattled Naftali Bennett’s government can simply order another deadly military operation in Jenin to reassure its citizens...
Israeli forces kill three Palestinians in the West Bank, including 14-year-old
April 16th, 20220 RAMALLAH - Israeli soldiers shot dead three Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, including a teenager and a lawyer, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, as troops mounted more sweeps in the territory after deadly Palestinian attacks in Israel. The Health Ministry said soldiers shot and killed a 14-year-old near...
At least one killed, 7 injured in explosion near Lebanon’s Sidon
April 12th, 20220 At least one person was killed and seven were injured in an explosion at a scout center affiliated with the Shi'a Amal Movement near Sidon in southern Lebanon, officials told Reuters early on Tuesday. The blast demolished the building and army personnel were searching through the rubble for any further casualties, sources added. The...
Saudi Arabia shakes up Yemen alliance in bid to exit quagmire
April 9th, 20220 On Thursday, Saudi-backed Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi ceded power to a council whose members form the core of an anti-Houthi alliance as Saudi Arabia looks to exit a costly war that has strained Washington's ties with Gulf allies. Why does this move matter? The war is a multifaceted one and Saudi Arabia has struggled to...
Yemenis cut back their Ramadan meals as soaring prices bite
April 8th, 20220 ADEN/SANAA – Aqeel bin Thabet, a university professor in the Yemeni city of Aden, used to buy one or two sheep to eat during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, but because of soaring prices this year can only afford meat from a butcher once a week. Others in the city like 50-year-old Intisar Ahmad said she will have to forgo meat...
Congress members urge Biden to ensure “free and fair” Lebanese election
April 8th, 20220 U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) is joining a group of two dozen U.S. House members to urge the Biden administration to work with Lebanese officials to ensure that the upcoming parliamentary elections on May 15 are carried out on time, transparently and free of corruption. The group sent out a letter to Secretary of State Antony...
Jordan’s Prince Hamza renounces royal title, protesting policies
April 4th, 20220 AMMAN — Prince Hamza bin al-Hussein, a former heir to Jordan's throne who was placed under house arrest last year, announced on Sunday he was giving up his royal title in protest over Jordan's current policies. Hamza was accused last April of trying to destabilize the monarchy in a foreign-inspired plot, but was spared punishment...
Organizations call for Ramadan boycott of Israeli dates grown and packaged in illegal settlements
April 1st, 20220 A rights organization is relaunching a Ramadan boycott of Israeli dates grown on illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands, and harvested through abusive treatment of Palestinian workers. American Muslims for Palestine’s (AMP) National Israeli Date Boycott Campaign 2022 is a nationwide boycott of dates produced in Israeli......
The billion dollar deal that made Google and Amazon partners in the Israeli occupation of Palestine
March 26th, 20220 “We are anonymous because we fear retaliation.” This sentence was part of a letter signed by 500 Google employees last October, in which they decried their company’s direct support for the Israeli government and military. In their letter, the signatories protested a $1.2 billion contract between Google, Amazon Web Services (AWS)...
Court charges Lebanon’s Geagea over Beirut violence, judicial source says
March 24th, 20220 BEIRUT — A Lebanese military court has charged Christian politician Samir Geagea over deadly clashes in Beirut last October, a judicial source and broadcaster Al Jadeed said on Thursday, a move that could stoke political tension two months before an election. An official in Geagea's Lebanese Forces (LF) party said the charge......
Lebanese judge charges central bank governor with illicit enrichment
March 21st, 20220 BEIRUT — A Lebanese judge charged central bank governor Riad Salameh with illicit enrichment on Monday, adding to the number of graft investigations he already faces. Judge Ghada Aoun told Reuters the case related to the purchase and rental of Paris apartments, including some to the central bank. Salameh denied the charge when...
Weathering the global storm: Why neutrality is not an option for Palestinians
March 21st, 20220 By Ramzy Baroud A new global geopolitical game is in formation and the Middle East, as is often the case, will be directly impacted by it in terms of possible new alliances and resulting power paradigms. While it is too early to fully appreciate the impact of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war on the region, it is obvious that some...
Famine in Yemen could increase fivefold without immediate action, U.N. warns
March 18th, 20220 By Andrea Germanos Multiple United Nations agencies on Monday sounded heightened alarm over the food crisis in Yemen, warning of a projected fivefold increase in famine conditions. Warnings from the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Program (WFP) and UNICEF came in response to the just-released Integrated Phase...
What are the sanctions on Russia trying to achieve?
March 16th, 20220 By Peter Beinart I’ve been thinking about the similarities between this moment and the moment after 9/11. In both cases, foreign attacks provoked fierce American outrage. After 9/11, that righteous indignation constricted public debate. I’m not even talking about the debate over invading Iraq. Think back to the debate over......
U.S. accused of hypocrisy for supporting sanctions against Russia, but not Israel
March 11th, 20220 By Chris McGreal The U.S. and some of its European allies are facing accusations of double standards for supporting sanctions and international war crimes investigations against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine while blocking them over Israeli military actions in the occupied Palestinian territories. But pro-Israel groups in the...
Israeli demolitions in occupied Palestine under Biden far surpass same period under Trump
March 11th, 20220 The latest data from the United Nations showed that Israel’s demolitions of Palestinian property since President Biden took office have far surpassed the amount seen under his predecessor, Donald Trump. Israel has displaced more than 1,300 Palestinians, a majority of whom are children, in the time Biden has been president. According......
Ukraine conflict could hit food supplies, worsening Yemen hunger crisis
March 4th, 20220 SANAA — Potential disruption to global wheat supplies after Russia's invasion of Ukraine is raising concerns that war-torn Yemen's hunger crisis and food price inflation could deepen, with some Yemenis rushing to buy flour. The World Food Program (WFP) said this week that the Ukraine crisis is likely to further increase fuel and food...
Russia invades Ukraine in biggest attack on another state in Europe since WW2; U.S. imposes sanctions on Moscow
February 25th, 20220 News of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Thursday shored up global anxieties over a conflict that has the potential to drag in regional powers and the U.S., marking the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War Two. The invasion began Thursday morning with attacks by land, sea and air, with missiles......
