By Jamal Kanj | | ( Middle East Monitor) – Palestinian diaspora narratives are broad. Sheikh Jarrah is the story of Palestinian families, in one East Jerusalem neighbourhood, under the Israeli occupation. In contrast, my diaspora journey traces a family of sheep herders and farmers in the Galilee pushed to a Northern Lebanese refugee camp […]
Archives for May 2021
Israel and the Palestinians celebrate a ceasefire — but will anything change?
By Anthony Billingsley | – Israel and Hamasagreed to a ceasefire. That is good news for everyone involved. The dying can hopefully end and further destruction be avoided — at least for now. Both sides can also claim victory. Hamas can claim to have defended the interests of Palestinians in Jerusalem in contrast to its […]
Israeli invasion of al-Aqsa Mosque Compound Shows Conflict remains Hot despite Ceasefire, Angers Muslims Worldwide
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Only half a day after a ceasefire went into effect between the Palestinians in Gaza and the government of Binyamin Netanyahu in Israel, the peace was disturbed in Jerusalem at the flashpoint al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Rabi’ Sawaid reports for Arab 48 that confrontations broke out Friday afternoon between worshipers at […]
Israeli Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinian East Jerusalem is a Spark in a Tinderbox: What I Saw There
Belfast (Special to Informed Comment) – The latest escalation in violence in the Middle East was sparked by the Israeli government plan to ethnically cleanse dozens of Palestinian families from the Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in Jerusalem. Most of these families had been previously forced from their homes in 1948 when Israel was created […]
What Is Joe Biden’s Israel Policy, Exactly?
( Foreign Policy in Focus) – So just what is the Biden administration’s policy towards Israel? Why did Biden take so long to respond to the violence as it spiraled out of control in Jerusalem and Gaza? Why do Biden’s repeated “Israel has the right of self-defense” litanies so closely match the positions of his […]
Int’l Energy Agency: We must Ban new Fossil Fuels Now to avoid Overheating our Earth
By Volker Roeben | – Established in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis, the International Energy Agency (IEA) was created to maintain the stability of the international oil supply. As an independent adviser to many governments on energy policy, the IEA has the authority to make member states release reserve oil stocks to stabilise […]
Israel’s Pyrrhic Victory: It Razed some buildings, but Reinforced Palestinian National Identity
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Israel and Hamas agreed on an unconditional ceasefire to begin at 2 am on Friday morning, which both sides put into effect, according to the Washington Post. Palestinians throughout the Occupied territories celebrated what they saw as a victory, according to Al Jazeera. One man in Gaza told the network […]
The Issue isn’t Self-Defense, it is Occupation and Statelessness: Juan Cole interviewed by Steve Clemons, “The Bottom Line”
“While unquestioning support for Israel is still the name of the game in Washington, DC, a growing number of Democrats are demanding political rights for Palestinians. University of Michigan Professor Juan Cole is the founder of Informed Comment, a blog on US foreign policy in the Middle East. He tells host Steve Clemons that people […]
Did Gaza change the world’s perspective on Palestine-Israel?
By Mamoun Fandy | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – In what looks to be a brave new world, even as its features are taking shape, a group of people has been able to change Palestinian and Israeli communities, as well as the regional environment and global awareness. They are the social media activists […]