By Hossam Shaker | – When the Arab youth revolted in 2011 to demand freedom and democracy in their countries, Facebook was the social media platform of choice for crowd mobilisation, a proven experience in other contexts around the world. When Palestinian youth tried to take a chance and speak out against the Israeli occupation […]
Does the Demi Lovato Affair prove that Brand Israel is now toxic?
By Asa Winstanley | @AsaWinstanley | – “Brand Israel” was launched. As I’ve written before, this public relations strategy was an utter failure. War crimes, apartheid and denial of basic human rights are a hard sell, it seems. By now, Israel is a completely toxic brand, even for some of its own supporters. Israel no […]
South Africans advise Palestinians on how Apartheid can be Overcome
Ramzy Baroud | @RamzyBaroud | – The way to truly defeat Apartheid: A conversation with Na’eem Jeenah and Salim Vally “Perhaps the time has come for Palestinians and justice-loving Israelis to imagine a new future,” wrote South African intellectuals and academics, Na’eem Jeenah and Salim Vally, in their essay, “Beyond Ethnic Nationalism: Lessons from South […]
An Expansionist State? Did Israel ever have any intention of honoring either the 1947 Partition Plan or 1967 borders?
By Thomas Suárez | – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to annex parts of the occupied West Bank if re-elected in last month’s General Election, eliciting outrage from world leaders. However, that “promise” to usurp not just the West Bank, but all of Palestine, is century-old news, an ongoing promise being kept, and no […]
Iraq protests expose the crisis in the regime’s integrity
By Abdulwahhab Badrakhan | – A third wave of protests in Iraq, following those in 2015 and 2018, continues to shake the three pillars of the regime — the constitution, electoral law and an independent judiciary — although protesters’ basic demands are not political. There is, nevertheless, a general conviction that they are impossible to […]
Is Najran the Saudi Frontline in its Failing Yemen War, or its Achilles Heel?
By Omar Ahmed | – The 14th century Arab historian Ibn Khaldun is famed for his treatise Al-Muqqadimah and is regarded as “the father of social science”; he wrote about the rise and fall of states and civilisations. Tunis-born, his ancestors hailed from Yemen’s Hadramawt. He is notable for popularising the notion of ‘asabiyya which […]
Israeli PM Netanyahu’s political and personal reputation is in shreds
Motasem A Dalloul | @abujomaaGaza | – Israel’s General Election two weeks ago has presented it with its second major political deadlock this year. The Blue and White party won 33 seats and the Likud won 32; the other parties will only be significant if they join a coalition with one of these two major […]
Saudi looks ‘positively’ at Yemeni truce proposal
Saudi Prince Khalid Bin Salman believes that his country looks “positively” at the truce proposal announced by Houthis in Yemen, Arabi21.com reported on Friday. In a series of tweets, the prince wrote “we look positively at the truce announced by Yemen because this is what we have been seeking. We hope it is really implemented.” […]
Anti-Palestinianism is the modern day McCarthyism
By Asa Winstanley | @AsaWinstanley | – As regular readers of this column will know, the McCarthyite atmosphere in Britain against supporters of Palestinian rights is getting worse. That is down in part to the Labour Party leadership’s acquiescence to the smear campaign to portray the party as anti-Semitic. The Labour National Executive Committee’s acceptance […]