April 8th, 20210If imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti becomes the president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), the status quo will change substantially. For Israel, as well as for the current PA president, Mahmoud Abbas, such a scenario is more dangerous than another strong Hamas showing in the upcoming Palestinian parliamentary...
July 22nd, 20200For 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...
June 22nd, 20190GAZA - Palestinian officials on Saturday dismissed proposals unveiled by President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner for big money projects to form the first economic portion of the Trump administration’s long-awaited Middle East peace plan.
Senior Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official Hanan Ashrawi said Kushner’s...
May 31st, 20190Palestinian 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...
May 6th, 20190GAZA - After two sleepless days and nights of Israeli shelling and Palestinian rocket fire, Gazans on Monday faced a first day of Ramadan overshadowed by funerals and the grim task of pulling bodies from collapsed buildings.
As dawn brought a ceasefire of uncertain duration, few Palestinians in the impoverished coastal enclave were...
December 7th, 20180UNITED NATIONS — A U.S. attempt to get the United Nations to condemn the Palestinian militant group Hamas for the first time failed on Thursday because the draft resolution fell short of votes needed in the General Assembly.
The resolution required two-thirds support and while Assembly resolutions are non-binding, they can carry...
November 16th, 20180GAZA — Ahmed Abu Saif struggles to maintain a straight face as he looks at the amorphous pile of rubble of what used to be a five-story building he owned.
The structure is one of the several civilian sites that have been flattened over the past 24 hours in Gaza as Israeli jets pounded the besieged and densely-populated coastal...
September 28th, 20180UNITED NATIONS — On Thursday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the United States to reverse its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and cuts in aid to the Palestinians, saying these had undermined the two-state solution to the conflict.
“With all of these decisions, this administration has reneged on all...
September 10th, 20180The Israeli government wants to change the rules of the game entirely. With unconditional support from the Trump administration, Tel Aviv sees a golden opportunity to redefine what has, for decades, constituted the legal and political foundation for the so-called "Palestinian-Israeli conflict."
While President Trump’s foreign policy...
August 26th, 20180On Sunday August 12, news from Gaza was distressing: The Ministry of Health announced that it would no longer be able to treat cancer patients in the Israel-besieged Strip.
"Colon and lung cancer, as well as lymphoma patients, cannot be provided with the necessary therapy now," said Dr. Mohammed Abu Silmiya, director of Abdulaziz...
May 11th, 20180The Gaza border protests must be understood in the context of the Israeli occupation, the siege and the long-delayed “Right of Return” for Palestinian refugees. However, they should also be appreciated in a parallel context: Palestine’s own factionalism and infighting.
Factionalism in Palestinian society is a deep-rooted ailment...
May 4th, 20180RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was re-elected as chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) Executive Committee on Friday, as the veteran leader sought to renew his legitimacy while installing loyalists who he hopes will eventually continue his mission.
The expected reappointment...
May 4th, 20180Three more Palestinians were killed and 611 wounded last Friday, when tens of thousands of Gazans continued their largely non-violent protests at the Gaza-Israel border.
Yet as the casualty count keeps climbing — nearly 45 dead and more than 5,500 wounded — the deafening silence also continues. Tellingly, many of those who long...
April 27th, 20180WASHINGTON, D.C. — Foreign corporations cannot be sued in American courts for human rights abuses committed overseas, the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday, refusing to revive a lawsuit claiming Jordan-based Arab Bank helped finance militant attacks in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
The 5-4 decision ended a lawsuit by some...
April 13th, 20181By Farah Harb
The Arab American News
While the U.S. media is focused on the coverage of President Trump’s “blurry” tweets bashing Syria and other fellow politicians along with the news about Khloe Kardashian’s cheating boyfriend, major events in Gaza, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon have gone almost...
March 23rd, 20180On March 13, while on the way to the besieged Gaza Strip, the convoy of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah was targeted by two 33-pounds bombs.
Hamdallah was visiting Gaza, through the Israeli border checkpoint, Erez, to open a large sewage treatment plant that— if allowed to operate regularly— will make life...
March 2nd, 20180GAZA — The man who makes crisps, chocolate and vanilla snacks for Gaza had just finished explaining how his business was going through the worst economic crisis of his life when the lights went out, shutting down his factory. Again.
Wael Al-Wadiya has been running his food manufacturing business since 1985 – in a Gaza Strip that...
January 31st, 20180WASHINGTON - The State Department said on Wednesday it had designated Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the Hamas Movement, as a "terrorist".
The State Department said in a statement that Haniyeh, along with two active groups in Egypt and one in the Palestinian territories, were listed as specially designated "global terrorists".
It...
January 5th, 20180By Ramzy Baroud
2017 will be remembered as the year that the so-called "peace process", at least in its American formulation, ended. And with its demise, a political framework that has served as the foundation for U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East has also collapsed.
The Palestinian leadership and its Arab and international...
December 24th, 20170GAZA —Hamas’ leader in Gaza said on Thursday a reconciliation deal with President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction was collapsing, just 10 weeks after the agreement was reached.
The rivals signed a deal brokered by Cairo on Oct. 12 after Hamas agreed to hand over administrative control of the Gaza Strip, including its border...
December 8th, 20170On Wednesday, Arabs and Muslims across the Middle East condemned the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital as an incendiary move in a volatile region and Palestinians said Washington was abandoning its leading role as a peace mediator.
The European Union and United Nations also voiced alarm at President Trump's decision to...
