Israel/ Palestine

By Phyllis Bennis | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus) – In some ways, the U.S.-brokered plan for mutual recognition between Israel and the United Arab Emirates is big news. For more than a quarter of a century, only two Middle Eastern countries — Egypt and Jordan — had officially recognized Israel. None of the […]

Israel/ Palestine

Gaza was Already Israel’s Open Air Prison, Bombed and Blockaded, and now Covid-19 and Lockdown

Middle East Monitor

By Mohammed Rafik: ( Middle East Monitor ) – Life has shut down in the Gaza Strip with an unexpected number of coronavirus infections within a single-family outside the quarantine zones. A number of deaths have also been reported and a full curfew was announced on Monday. In the middle of all of this, Israel […]

Israel/ Palestine

‘Dying to fish’: How Israeli piracy destroyed Gaza’s once thriving fishing Industry, a Key Source of Protein

Ramzy Baroud

( Middle East Monitor) – On August 16, the Israeli navy declared the Gaza sea a closed military zone. A few days later, a group of Gaza fishermen decided to take their chances by fishing within a mere two or three nautical miles off the Gaza shore. No sooner had they cast their nets, Israeli […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israelis have demolished 650 Palestinian Homes in Jerusalem just this year, Wrong even without a Pandemic

Ramona Wadi

Middle East Monitor ) – Contrary to what the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s Secretary-General Saeb Erekat stated confidently a few months ago, Israel has not stopped demolishing the homes of Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank. In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, an agreement riddled with loopholes was reached in which Israel agreed […]

Arms Sales

Was F-35 Stealth Jet Sale to Arab UAE at heart of deal with Israel and Trump? Did Netanyahu Lie?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Only a week after the breathless announcement of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) recognition of Israel, the two newlyweds are already having their first spat. On Wednesday, Matthew Lee of AP reports, Trump broached the sale of Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Stealth fighter jets to the UAE. Trump said, […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israel’s Blockade of 2 Million Palestinians in Gaza is making it Uninhabitable

Middle East Monitor

By Yousef Alhelou | – Gaza’s two million residents have become accustomed for the past 20 years to Israeli air strikes, ground incursions and naval attacks. In fact, the besieged coastal enclave has become an experimental field where Israel’s latest technology and military arsenal including deadly drones are used. Fear and panic have become the […]

Featured

In Further War Crime, Israelis cut Electricity to Gaza, Idling 50,000 Factory Workers

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The government of far right Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu cut off fuel for the sole power plant in the Gaza Strip, a small Palestinian territory surrounded on three sides by and blockaded by Israel. As a result, on Monday the Gaza Strip’s sole power plant went dark, Al Jazeera […]

Arab World

Is this the end of Arab Jerusalem? From Libya to Yemen, Regional Powers have their own Reasons for Recognizing Israel

Middle East Monitor

By Muhammad Hussein | – While the US’ Deal of the Century ran out of traction earlier this year before it even took off, Israel’s own version took effect last week when it reached a historic peace deal with the United Arab Emirates. In return for delaying its annexation plans in the West Bank, which […]

Donald Trump

Marriage of convenience: what does the historic Israel-UAE agreement mean for Middle East peace?

The Conversation

By Tony Walker | – The normalisation of diplomatic ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates has variously been described as a “breakthrough” and an important staging moment towards a comprehensive Middle East peace. These conclusions are, at best, premature. Normalisation of relations between Israel and an important Gulf state is a highly significant […]