By Emilie Rutledge, The Open University and Aiora Zabala, The Open University | – The United Arab Emirates (UAE), the world’s seventh largest oil producer, will host the 28th UN climate change summit (COP28) in Dubai from November 30 to December 12. Presiding over the conference will be the chief executive of the UAE state-owned […]
Gaza: What Aid Agencies can hope to Achieve under the Strict Limits of the 4-Day Pause
By Sarah Schiffling, Hanken School of Economics; and Chris Phelan, Edge Hill University | – (The Conversation) – The four-day humanitarian pause in Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip will be vital to allow humanitarian agencies into the stricken Palestinian enclave with much-needed supplies of food, water, fuel and medicine. But four days is a […]
In the Face of Death, Destruction and Displacement, Beauty plays a Vital Role in Gaza
By Stephanie Acker, Clark University | – A small group of children in Gaza sit on a lavender and white blanket around a small tray of beverages, singing “Happy Birthday” to a young girl. Like kids her age around the world, she wears a sweatshirt with prints of Elsa and Anna, characters from “Frozen”; unlike […]
Israel’s Sustained Bombing Created Massive Gaza Disease Risk: Overcrowded Shelters, Dirty Water and breakdown of Basic Sanitation
By Yara M. Asi, University of Central Florida | – (The Conversation) – After more than a month of being subjected to sustained bombing, the besieged people of the Gaza Strip are now confronted with another threat to life: disease. Overcrowding at shelters, a breakdown of basic sanitation, the rising number of unburied dead and […]
The Media must stop Enabling Trump’s Attention-Seeking use of Fascist Rhetoric
By Robert Danisch, University of Waterloo | – Donald Trump is campaigning for the presidency of the United States the same way that Adolf Hitler in Germany and Benito Mussolini in Italy campaigned almost 100 years ago. Trump recently travelled to New Hampshire and delivered a speech that included a pledge to “root out the […]
How Colonialist depictions of Palestinians feed Western Stereotypes of eastern “Barbarism”
Elizabeth Vibert, University of Victoria | – Like so many other Palestinians, my friend Abeer Salah (not her real name) lives in exile. For Salah, home is Baqa’a refugee camp 20 kilometres north of Jordan’s capital of Amman. But she has family and friends trapped in Gaza. Since the horrific Hamas attacks of Oct. 7 […]
“From the River to the Sea” – A Palestinian Historian explores the Meaning and Intent of a Scrutinized Slogan
By Maha Nassar, University of Arizona | – What does the call “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” mean to Palestinians who say it? And why do they keep using the slogan despite the controversy that surrounds its use? As both a scholar of Palestinian history and someone from the Palestinian […]
The Gaza Conflict Opens up New Opportunities for China in the Middle East, Global South
Shaun Narine, St. Thomas University (Canada) | – (The Conversation) – The western world’s support for Israel as it attacks Gaza has provoked fury across the Arab world and much of the Global South. This situation undermines the West’s international standing and offers opportunities for China to enhance its regional and global diplomatic influence. Whether […]
‘We remain Afraid of the Future’ – how Palestinian Children’s Optimism was Fading even before this Crisis
By Ritesh Shah, University of Auckland | In October alone, more children were reported to have died in Gaza than the total number of children killed annually in all other conflicts since 2019. The awful statistic led to United Nations Secretary General António Guterres calling Gaza a “graveyard for children”. Since the Hamas attack on […]