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Year: 2011

Unbearable Lightness of Thomas Friedman
By Cyril Mychalejko (The Imperial Messenger: Thomas Friedman at Work by Belén Fernandez. Verso Press, 2011.) One year ago, Foreign Policy magazine placed New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman at number 33 on their list […]

Gingrich and Arab Spring for America
By Aijaz Zaka Syedi When you stand upside down on your head, the world looks upturned too. So it’s just as well that US presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich thinks the Palestinians are an ‘invented people.’ He […]

Factions Warn of ‘Last Chance’ Ahead of Unity Talks
Palestinian political groups have called their upcoming meeting in Cairo the last chance for implementation of a reconciliation deal between Fatah and Hamas. Seven months after the agreement was signed in the Egyptian capital, the […]

Israeli Soldiers Shoot Gaza Fisherman
A Palestinian fisherman has been injured after Israeli forces opened fire on his boat in Gaza’s maritime boundary, medics reported. According to Palestinian sources, a 45-year-old fisherman was injured in his legs by two gunshots fired […]

Newt Makes a Discovery – ‘With Friends Like These..’
By Uri Avnery My God, what a bizarre lot these Republican aspirants for the US presidency are! What a sorry bunch of ignoramuses and downright crazies. Or, at best, what a bunch of cheats and […]

Israeli Jails ‘Refilled’ after Prisoner Swap
Israel has detained nearly the same number of Palestinians they freed in the first stage of a prisoner exchange deal in the two months since the swap, a prisoners group said on Thursday. Israeli forces […]

Palestinian Mosque in West Bank Set on Fire
A Palestinian mosque near the West Bank city of Ramallah has been set alight by people thought to be Jewish settlers, damaging its interior. The incident happened on Thursday after Israeli forces tore down structures in […]

Israeli Tanks Ruin Farmland in Gaza
Israeli tanks accompanied by a group of troops have ruined an area of farmland in northern Gaza Strip. The ground incursion, also backed by Israeli bulldozers, was carried out on Thursday, reported Press TV correspondent […]

Congressional Tyranny, White House Surrender
By Ralph Nader Paraphrasing Shakespeare, something is rotten in the state of Capitol Hill. A majority of Congress is just about to put the finishing touches on an amendment to the military budget authorization legislation that […]

The Gate of Mercy?
By Tamar Fleishman An hour and twenty minutes is a lot of time when you are at the checkpoint and you advance only by twenty meters, given that it’s not even the rush hour and […]

Russia United, for the Time Being (Part II)
By Eric Walberg Russia’s parliamentary elections have sparked a political crisis, surprising everyone, from President Putin (excuse me, Medvedev) down, including the demonstrators themselves, marvels Eric Walberg Tahrir Square continues to send out its beacon […]

Second Phase of Prisoner Swap Underway
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said Wednesday that the Israeli prison service has notified the detainees who will be released in the second phase of the prisoner swap deal. The society has released a list naming […]

Jerusalem Mosque Burnt in ‘Price Tag’ Attack
Vandals have set fire to a disused mosque in Jerusalem, daubing inflammatory graffiti in Hebrew on the walls in an apparent anti-Palestinian "price tag" attack. Israeli police said on Wednesday they were investigating the overnight incident […]

Bibi Hailed for Ban on Call to Prayers
The Israeli foreign minister has lauded Premier Benjamin Netanyahu for supporting a bill banning calls to worship from mosques in the occupied Palestinian lands. Avigdor Lieberman claimed that the controversial proposal was a "legitimate" one, adding […]

US Fear and Loathing over Spy Drone
By Ismail Salami – Tehran In what seems to be nothing but US-style barefaced arrogance, President Barack Obama has demanded the return of a spy drone which violated the airspace of the Islamic Republic but […]

BDS Update: BDS Unites East and West
By Eric Walberg – Cairo Just in case there was an iota of doubt left in your mind, Israel was officially declared an apartheid state during a session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine in […]

Masked in Gaza: The Untold History of Palestinian ‘Militancy’
By Ramzy Baroud Essam Al-Batsh and his nephew, Sobhi Al-Batsh, are the latest in a long line of reported Palestinian ‘militants’ killed by Israel. The civilians were both targeted while driving in a car in […]

Palestine Flag Raised at UNESCO Headquarters
Palestinians have raised their flag at the headquarters of the UN cultural agency in Paris in a historic move and symbolic boost for their push for an independent state. Cheers rose alongside the red, black, […]

Israel to Boost Cooperation with NATO
Israel is seeking to enhance military cooperation with the NATO air forces through large-scale drills in foreign skies and hosting foreign air forces to train in its training facilities. According to a report by Ha’aretz published […]

Israel’s Dimona Risks Uncovered
A court case on radiation exposure in Israel’s Dimona nuclear plant has revealed that health damages at the Israeli nuclear site were ‘covered up.’ Dr. Dan Litai, an Israeli safety engineer who gave a testimony to […]

Newt Unleashes His Tetrodotoxin at the Palestinians
By William A. Cook ‘Remember there was no Palestine as a state. It was part of the Ottoman Empire. And I think that we’ve had an invented Palestinian people, who are in fact Arabs, and […]

Detentions Threaten Hamas, Fatah Talks
Committees working on the terms of a reconciliation deal between Fatah and Hamas have made little progress, and increasing political detentions may threaten the accord, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said on Monday. At the last […]

Hundreds of Settlers Attack Nablus Village
Hundreds of settlers stormed the Nablus village of Asira al-Qibliya overnight Sunday, causing damage to Palestinian property. Witnesses told Ma’an that around midnight more than 200 settlers from the notorious Yitzhar settlement entered the village […]

Israel Approves Houses in Illegal Settlement
Israel has given final approval to the building of 40 new houses at a settlement in the occupied West Bank to replace temporary structures there, the settlement’s council head said. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed over a […]

Israel Moves to Curb African Migrants
Israel’s government has approved a $167m plan to stem the flow of African migrants who cross into the country through its porous border with Egypt. Announcing the government’s intention to increase fines for employers who […]

Gingrich Stands by ‘Invented’ Remark
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has declared his support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but declined to use a pre-debate speech in Iowa to step back from earlier controversial remarks in which […]

Refugees Bearing Brunt of Economic Hardship in WB
The unemployment rate among refugees in the West Bank has continued to grow this year, even though overall levels of joblessness there have fallen, according to a United Nations report released today. The report, released […]

Israel Closes Al-Aqsa Access Ramp
Israel’s decision to close a footbridge leading to the holy Al-Aqsa mosque compound in al-Quds (East Jerusalem) has sparked Palestinian anger. Mughrabi Bridge, a wooden access ramp to Al-Aqsa mosque, was shut down on Monday […]

Iran, the Revolution and the Language of War
By Deepak Tripathi A few days ago, I revisited a lecture given by Fred Halliday, FBA, an intellectual giant among scholars of Middle East and Cold War history, at the London School of Economics in […]

Washington’s Alliance with ‘Moderate Islam’
By James Petras The dynamic of democratic, nationalist and class struggles throughout the Muslim world has set in motion a new constellation of alliances between the imperial West (US and European Union) and Islamist parties, leaders […]