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Rainbow of Crisis
Articles in this section
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17 May 2007, by Ali Abunimah
A Political Marriage Of Necessity
As Israel celebrates 59 years of independence, Palestinians on May 14 commemorate the Nakba, the catastrophe of expulsion and decades of exile that continue to this day. -
15 May 2007, by Nahla Chahel
Waiting fot the next war?
In a ridiculous game, Lebanese politicians are warning that dark days are lurking in the shadows. Their statements were straightforward and report-like, with an objective “innocence.” Perhaps (...) -
15 May 2007, by George Bisharat
Remembering the Nakbah
Why do some people have the power to remember, while others are asked to forget? That question is especially poignant at this time of year, as we move from Holocaust Remembrance day in early (...) -
14 May 2007, by Gamze Çavdar
The story behind the elections
“This is a bullet fired at democracy,” snapped Recep Tayyıp Erdoğan, Turkey’s prime minister and chairman of the country’s ruling party, in reaction to the May 1 ruling by the Constitutional (...) -
14 May 2007, by Carl Bloice
The not-so-hidden-agenda (oil!)
Carl Bloice elucidates the failure or unwillingness of the Western media to accurately report the invasion and occupation of Somalia by a US backed Ethiopian government. He asserts that behind (...) -
14 May 2007, by Pervez HOODBHOY
Carnage In Karachi - What’s Next?
General Pervez Musharraf is now a desperate man. Dozens were left dead in the horrific carnage on May 12, initiated by his violent political allies in Karachi, the MQM, in an attempt to stem the (...) -
11 May 2007, by Michel Warshavsky
Mobile borders
Six years ago, I wrote a book titled On the Border, in which I tried to reflect on the unique way the Israeli state and its ideology deal with the border phenomenon. Recently, I had several (...) -
11 May 2007, by Bay Fang
Iraqi Women Facing Talibanization
Yanar Mohammed returned to Iraq from Canada in 2003 because she thought the veil of tyranny had finally been lifted from her native country. She and two other women started the Organization for (...) -
11 May 2007, by Ramzy Baroud
Hourglass of blood
The Darfur crisis in Sudan is perhaps the most politically convoluted conflict in the world today. Its underpinnings involve local, regional and international players, all selfishly vying for (...) -
8 May 2007, by B’Tselem
Utterly Forbidden: The Torture And Ill-Treatment Of Palestinian Detainees
In recent years, Israel has openly admitted that ISA (formerly the General Security Service) interrogators employ "exceptional" interrogation methods and "physical pressure" against Palestinian (...) -
4 May 2007, by Phyllis Bennis and Robert Jensen
Moving Beyond Anti-War Politics
As Congress sends its bill requiring partial troop withdrawals from Iraq to the White House for a certain veto, it has never been clearer that mobilizing against this war is necessary, but not (...) -
2 May 2007
Knesset extends racist entry law for another year
The Knesset extended for fifteen months the validity of the racist Nationality and Entry into Israel (Temporary Order) Law, which prevents family unification of residents of East Jerusalem and (...) -
1 May 2007, by Chris Toensing
A Simulacrum of Internationalization
The Palestinians have long sought, and Israel has long resisted, the internationalization of efforts to construct a process that would lead to a durable and comprehensive peace. Independent (...) -
29 April 2007
The Economic Costs of the Apartheid Wall in Jerusalem
The Alternative Information Center’s report "The Separation Wall In East Jerusalem: Economic Consequences" provides a detailed and critical economic analysis of the damages and effects of the (...) -
29 April 2007, by Graham Usher
Kabul — running on empty
Seven years after the fall of the Taliban, Kabul is living on hope but precious little else, writes Graham Usher from the Afghan capital -
29 April 2007, by Ayesha Kajee
The Dirty Political Underbelly of the Darfur Conflict
Beyond the complex “ethnic, regional and tribal dimensions” to the conflict in Darfur there is also a national and international political aspect that is not always acknowledged particularly in (...) -
26 April 2007
Towards an International Alliance against Imperialism and Zionism
The 5th Cairo conference is held at a time that is full of potential, but also full of challenges. The war launched by the Zionist military artillery against Lebanon with the support of the US (...) -
24 April 2007, by Siddharth Varadarajan
A willing suspension of disbelief
Forget about Iran, North Korea, and terrorism, the principal security challenge of our time is how to restrain the U.S. from pursuing policies that promote conflict and undermine international (...) -
22 April 2007, by Amira Hass
The Holocaust as Political Asset
The cynicism inherent in the attitude of the institutions of the Jewish state to Holocaust survivors is not a revelation to those born and living among them. We grew up with the yawning gap (...) -
20 April 2007, by Azmi BISHARA
Shattered illusions
If the fall of Baghdad exposed the dangers of identifying the state solely in its leader, Iraq’s past four years show the folly of those — especially Arabs — who thought democracy could be (...) -
17 April 2007, by Ali Abunimah
The persecution of Azmi Bishara
The Israeli state and the Zionist movement have begun their latest assault in their century-long struggle to rid Palestine of its indigenous people and transform their country into a Jewish (...) -
17 April 2007, by Kaveh L Afrasiabi
A New Peace Plan for the Region
The lofty objective of a collective security arrangement in the Persian Gulf received a major boost when a representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei unveiled a 10-point (...) -
17 April 2007, by Robert Fisk
Divide and Rule: Bush’s Doomed Plan for Baghdad
Faced with an ever-more ruthless insurgency in Baghdad — despite President George Bush’s "surge" in troops — US forces in the city are now planning a massive and highly controversial (...) -
16 April 2007, by Ghassan Khatib
The Palestinian View on the prisoner’s exchange
Throughout 40 years of occupation, the prisoners’ issue has always been a hugely important one in Palestinian society. Prisoners as a segment of society are highly credible in the eyes of a (...) -
15 April 2007, by The International Committee for the Support of Palestinian Prisoners
Solidarity with Palestinian Prisoners
While life goes on as normal for many people all over the world, about 12,000 Palestinians are suppressed in the Israeli prisons for no reason other than their continuous attempt to demand (...) -
12 April 2007, by Siddharth Varadarajan
Under siege, Teheran ups the ante
ORDINARILY, IRAN’s announcement hailing its mastery over "industrial scale" nuclear fuel enrichment should have occasioned neither surprise nor alarm. After all, the Iranian plan to run up to (...) -
11 April 2007, by Nicola Nasser
Squeezing Palestinians into Mission Impossible
Tag it:The 40-year old Israeli military occupation and the more than one-year-old economic siege are eroding the national existence of the Palestinians and squeezing the Palestinian leadership (...) -
6 April 2007, by Khaled Amayreh
Olmert’s theatrics
Israel’s prime minister is engaged in a public relations exercise. Meanwhile, it is business as usual, as his army plans a wide ranging assault against Gaza, reports Khaled Amayreh from East Jerusalem -
4 April 2007, by Nicola Nasser
Peace Making Could Not Be Unilateral, Divisible
Flanked by international and regional non-Arab dignitaries representing the UN, EU, OIC, NAM and the leaders of Turkey, Malaysia and Pakistan as well as the foreign minister of Iran, the leaders (...) -
2 April 2007, by Nahla Chahal
Who will benefit from oil privatization?
Perhaps the facts of the historical struggle over Iraq’s oil are general knowledge. However, at present, there are many attempts to establish a legal framework that would overturn the successes (...) -
31 March 2007
Government clampdown against Labour group
In an unjustifiable and unexplainable governmental escalation, General Al Sherbeeny Hasheesh Chairman of the City of Naj Hamadi (Governorate of Qena in Southern Egypt) issued this morning (...) -
31 March 2007, by Azmi Bishara
The Arab Peace Initiative
According to the US and Israeli foreign ministers, the Arab peace initiative is a non-binding Arab position for which the Arabs deserve a pat on the back and a friendly nudge to modify it. The (...) -
27 March 2007, by Phyllis Bennis
RISING THREATS FROM WASHINGTON
The U.S. is continuing to ratchet up threats against Iran. The current stand-off in the Gulf between Iran and Britain may well not have been a deliberate British provocation, beyond the (...) -
27 March 2007
A Letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon from Palestinian Human Rights Organizations
Dear Secretary-General Ban, As Palestinian organizations dedicated to the protection and promotion of human rights, we welcome your decision to visit the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) (...) -
26 March 2007, by Azmi Bishara
Olmert as expected
Israel is demanding the absurd, but the illusion is shattered if Arab states understand that the game of axis politics is not in their interest, writes Azmi Bishara -
25 March 2007
Time is running out
CP: when you were running for president against Abbas, what was it like to campaign against somebody who had the US, Israel, so much money and support on his side? MB: For me it was very (...) -
25 March 2007, by Meron Rapoport
Dialogue or non dialogue
Suddenly, after a good few years in which it seemed to all or most of the world that the ball was in the Palestinian court, because there was ‘no partner‘ - suddenly, the situation has changed. (...) -
20 March 2007, by Uri Avnery
There is hope
Not only the Palestinians must be breathing a deep sigh of relief after the swearing in of the Palestinian National Unity Government. We Israelis have good reason to do the same. This event is (...) -
16 March 2007
Nablus after the siege
The most recent Israeli invasion of Nablus, dubbed operation “Hot Winter,” ended on 1 March. A couple days later in the early morning hours, a few of us entered the city and headed to the (...) -
15 March 2007, by Roksana Bahramitash
The view from Teheran
“We want them to invade” A few nights after my arrival to Tehran last January, I was invited to an old friend’s house. After dinner we were having tea while her husband was watching “Voice of (...) -
14 March 2007, by Mahmood Mamdani
The politics of naming: genocide, civil war, insurgency
The similarities between Iraq and Darfur are remarkable. The estimate of the number of civilians killed over the past three years is roughly similar. The killers are mostly paramilitaries, (...) -
13 March 2007, by Stephen Zunes
The Failures of Democratization
The failures of Iraqi democratization as advocated by the Bush administration should not be blamed primarily on the Iraqis. Nor should they be used to reinforce racist notions that Arabs or (...) -
9 March 2007, by Siddharth Varadarajan
Spinning its way to conflict again
BASED ON what the world knows or fears about Iran’s nuclear programme, is the crisis really so dire that sanctions and war are the only way of securing ourselves from the possibility of Tehran (...) -
7 March 2007, by Omayma Abdel-Latif
The Shia-Sunni divide: myths and reality
As the US-led occupation of Iraq enters its fifth year, conflicts and political rivalries in the region appear to be assuming a sectarian edge unseen since the 1982-1989 war between Iraq and Iran. -
2 March 2007, by SAMAN SEPEHRI
The confrontation is coming
WHAT WAR with Iran would look like,” reads the cover of the September 25 Time magazine. In the cover story, Michael Duffy writes, “A flurry of military maneuvers in the Middle East increases (...) -
2 March 2007
Lebanon in the crossfires
THE PRESS here is portraying the opposition movement headed by Hezbollah in Lebanon, that is attempting to challenge the Siniora government, as a movement that is provoking sectarian conflict. (...) -
27 February 2007, by Siddharth Varadarajan
Spinning its way to conflict again
BASED ON what the world knows or fears about Iran’s nuclear programme, is the crisis really so dire that sanctions and war are the only way of securing ourselves from the possibility of Tehran (...) -
23 February 2007, by Jonathan Cook
This is what apartheid looks like ...
The scene: a military checkpoint deep in Palestinian territory in the West Bank. A tall, thin elderly man, walking stick in hand, makes a detour past the line of Palestinians, many of them young (...) -
22 February 2007, by Siddharth Varadarajan
Keep the peace process on track
IN TERMS of the choice of both target and timing, it is not difficult to surmise that Sunday night’s bomb blast on board the link train of the Samjhauta Express was aimed primarily at stopping (...) -
22 February 2007, by Graham Usher
Talibanization
A severed head is waved before a baying crowd. The camera zooms in to show a second bloodied corpse, the eyes gouged out and a wad of cash stuffed in the mouth, swinging from a pole. He is one (...) -
20 February 2007, by Ramzy Baroud
Will the Makkah agreement work?
The Makkah agreement, signed between rival Palestinian groups, Hamas and Fatah on February 8, under the auspices of the Saudi leadership, was welcomed by thousands of cheering Palestinians (...) -
19 February 2007, by Stephen Zunes
Iran in Iraq?
Faced with growing public opposition to the U.S. war in Iraq, the Bush administration has been desperately trying to divert attention to Iran. Washington has gone so far as to make a series of (...) -
19 February 2007, by Travis Sharp
Complex 2030
More than 15 years since the end of the cold war initiated a new era finally making major advances in nuclear disarmament possible, the Bush administration is proceeding with a radical plan to (...) -
19 February 2007, by Ken MENKHAUS
There and back again
When 2006 dawned in Somalia, the war-torn Horn of Africa nation had been without a functioning central government for 15 years. The main claimant to the title, the Transitional Federal (...) -
17 February 2007, by Nahla al-Shahal
The Civil Wars That No One Wants but Everyone Creates
Yesterday, (like every day) in Baghdad, over 100 people were killed in a single incident. This time it was in al-Sidriya, one of the most devastated quarters. One hundred others were killed in (...) -
16 February 2007, by Phyllis Bennis
Escalating Threats
Even the New York Times has editorialized that the Bush administration is "bullying" Iran. Noting that "the one tactic the administration is refusing to consider is diplomacy," the Times warned (...) -
16 February 2007, by Salah Hemeid
Blaming Teheran
Displaying a small cache of munitions and weapons in a hall inside Baghdad’s Green Zone Sunday, US army and intelligence officers offered what they claimed to be the most solid evidence yet of (...) -
16 February 2007, by Azmi Bishara
In place of appeasement
For a people either rootless or under occupation, the Palestinians have made more than their share of diplomatic initiatives. The norm, one would think, would be for an occupied people to fight (...) -
16 February 2007, by Gamal Nkrumah
Unequal exchanges
Making Washington pay for its nuclear double standards has become an absolute necessity. United States President George W Bush is advocating tougher sanctions against Iran for Tehran’s peaceful (...) -
14 February 2007, by Siddharth Varadarajan
From mega surge to dual rollback
EVER SINCE the Islamic Revolution of 1979 took Tehran out of Washington’s orbit, the United States has run its Iraq policy with one eye firmly planted on Iran. -
14 February 2007, by SIDDHARTH VARADARAJAN
Government gears up for political show of strength
With the 60-day compliance deadline imposed by the United Nations Security Council set to expire on February 21, the Iranian Government is appealing to citizens to come on to the streets in (...) -
14 February 2007, by Siddharth Varadarajan
Teheran rejects nuclear pressure
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday that his country would not suspend its nuclear fuel operations or compromise its right to peaceful nuclear energy. -
12 February 2007, by Alice GRAY
Water Crisis in Gaza
THE POLITICAL RHETORIC and frequent violence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict often serve to mask underlying environmental issues which, if not resolved, may pose an even greater threat to (...) -
7 February 2007, by Amit Baruah
The road to a multipolar world?
TRILATERAL MEETINGS between India, China, and Russia could prove to be a mighty force in international relations. But, so far, the three countries have been extremely careful in defining what (...) -
5 February 2007, by Ramzy Baroud
Shameless in Gaza
The most recent fighting in the Gaza Strip, which has left many people dead, confirms that the internal strife plaguing the Occupied Territories since the advent of Hamas to power in January (...) -
3 February 2007, by Ian Black
U.S. revealed as powerful yet weak
THE UNITED States is still powerful enough to shape an agenda for international activity but too weak to implement it globally as it faces uncertain prospects in Iraq, an escalating (...) -
31 January 2007
Palestinians Call to Action
Forty years after Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including east Jerusalem, and almost 60 years after the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) of 1948, the Palestinian people is at a (...) -
25 January 2007, by Wanjohi Kabukuru
Oil, not terrorists, is the reason for US attack
Geologists put Somalia and Sudan at the top of the list of prospective commercial oil producers -
23 January 2007
Debacle
Q. Polls show the Iraqi population eager for a U.S. withdrawal, yet Iraq’s elected leadership seems to strongly reject such calls. What do you think is going on? Gilbert Achcar. I think that (...) -
23 January 2007, by Michael Warschawski
Major General Dan Halutz, War Criminal
Major General Dan Halutz, the IDF Chief of Staff, has finally decided to resign. Good news, but not good enough. Last summer, during the war against Lebanon, we demanded his resignation due to (...) -
17 January 2007, by Najum Mushtaq
The United States, again
A day before U.S. planes struck suspected al-Qaida hideouts in Somalia, Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer spelled out in Nairobi the preferred order of leadership. “Some people would (...) -
13 January 2007
Sins of ommission
The true story behind the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia, the US bombardment of the country and the instalment of the pro-Western and secular transitional government has yet to be told, writes (...) -
10 January 2007, by Mohamed Hassan
A very risky war
The extremely fragile position of the Meles-regime in Ethiopia can explain its offensive to attack Somalia. By attacking Somalia under pretext of attacking the allies and even members of Al (...) -
9 January 2007, by Phillys Bennis
Desperately Seeking Victory
Bush’s "new direction" speech will announce a major escalation of U.S. troops in Iraq. The move will be called a "surge," as if that actually represents a military strategy, but the euphemism (...) -
9 January 2007, by Mondli Hlatshwayo
The challenge of the World Social Forum this month in Nairobi
The convergence of social movements and all those that are opposed to neoliberalism in Kenya in January 2007 compels us to examine the international context from a perspective that seeks to (...) -
6 January 2007
Iraqi human rigths organization condemns the execution of Saddam
The execution of Saddam was carried out and announced by the global media. As IFC stated soon after the death sentence was issued, this trial had nothing to do with serving justice, restoring (...) -
4 January 2007
My Personal Hero: Tali Fahima
Yesterday, 3 January 2007, I waited at the gate of the Ayalon prison compound in Ramle along with a few dozen friends, to welcome Tali Fahima who was released from jail after more than two years (...) -
2 January 2007, by BISHARA Azmi
End of the neocons?
This year marked a major shift in American fortunes; one to which nationalist and leftist Arab political forces much respond in unity. -
2 January 2007, by BAZZI Muhammad
The People’s Revolt
Local Lebanese strife is — not Shiite vs. Sunni, pro-Islamist vs. pro-Western — but essentially a rebellion against the Siniora government’s economic policies. -
2 January 2007, by Richard Falk
THE FLAWED EXECUTION OF SADDAM HUSSEIN
Given the harsh brutality of Saddam Hussein’s political career I would never have anticipated a certain measure of sympathy for the man at the end of his life. It was not only the unseemliness (...) -
30 December 2006, by Salam Ali
Iraq and the Baker-Hamiton Report
Iraqi Communist Party central committee member SALAM ALI explains the challenges ahead facing Iraq at its crucial crossroad point. -
28 December 2006, by SAMAHA Joseph
The Impasse of US policy
Few weeks ago, in response to a question about Iraq, George Bush said: “Absolutely yes, we are winning!” Two days ago, in response to a question about Iraq, George Bush said: “We’re not (...) -
11 December 2006, by Phyllis BENNIS
Is Washington Changing Course?
Despite the breathless hype, the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group (ISG) report did not include any dramatic new ideas for ending the war in Iraq. In fact, it did not include a call to end the war (...) -
6 December 2006, by Nassar Ibrahim
The Hidden Agenda of the War on Gaza
For over six months, the Gaza Strip has been living under fire as the Israeli military machine besieges and kills the population. The pretexts for the military operations there are the search (...) -
2 December 2006
United Nations versus United States?
This is a moment of several overlapping transitions at the United Nations. A new secretary-general will take over at the end of December. New countries will join the Security Council as (...) -
2 December 2006
A “New” US Policy over Iraq?"
According to the New York Times and Washington Post leaked versions of the report, recommendations will tinker around the edges of Bush’s strategy, but not propose an actual policy reversal. (...) -
2 December 2006
US intends to split Iraq along sectarian lines
How do you explain the current upsurge in sectarian violence? It is in essence a struggle over power and influence among political forces, mainly Islamic. The Primer Minister and his own (...) -
1 December 2006, by Siddharth VARADARAJAN
The answer to the nuclear issue is more democracy"
What is your assessment of the effect the so-called global war on terrorism has had on the human rights situation around the world? I must say at the outset that any kind of violence is (...) -
28 November 2006, by JAHANGIR Asma
Protecting women
Zina [all sex outside marriage] remains an offence but the procedure for its complaint has been made stricter and those making an accusation of rape cannot be punished for zina. Thus, false (...) -
22 November 2006, by Siddharth VARADARAJAN
No Plan B for Bush
WITH the absence of weapons of mass destruction and a rising number of U.S. military casualties exposing both the lies and the hubris of the Iraq occupation, the conviction of Saddam Hussein was (...) -
21 November 2006, by Walden Bello
What Will Democrats Do?
The recent US election was a redemptive election. At a time that many throughout the world had written off the American electorate as lifeless putty in the hands of Karl Rove, it woke up to (...) -
14 November 2006, by Joseph Massad
Big plans to destroy Palestinian Democracy
Before the United States government subcontracted the Chilean military to overthrow the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende in 1973, it carried out a number of important (...) -
13 November 2006, by Anthony Newkirk
Misery in Gaza
Ever since the establishment of a Hamas-led government last spring, the United States and the European Union have been waging economic warfare against the Palestinian Authority. As Israel’s (...) -
8 November 2006, by Robert Fisk
A Guilty Verdict on America, as Well
So America’s one-time ally has been sentenced to death for war crimes he committed when he was Washington’s best friend in the Arab world. America knew all about his atrocities and even supplied (...) -
8 November 2006, by ELIZA ERNSHIRE
The Women of Beit Hanoun
The winter rains have started and the temperatures are falling everyday. Unsealed roads are fast becoming muddy tracks. The heavens are weeping too, witness to the frightful events that are (...) -
8 November 2006, by Siddharth VARADARAJAN
To the victor belongs the judge’s gavel
THROUGHOUT HISTORY, law and war have been uncomfortable companions, each acknowledging the importance of the other but unwilling to compromise on the integrity of its domain. And yet, when the (...) -
8 November 2006, by Tapan Kumar Bose
Maoists and the SPA agree on moving forward
The Seven Party Alliance Government and the Communist party of Nepal Maoists finally agreed on the terms for ’arms management’, Maoist participation in the new interim government and the (...) -
6 November 2006
Hizballah through the fog of the Lebanon war
JPS: Before going into recent events, we thought it would be useful to take a look at Hizballah on the eve of the July war and especially what has happened in the years after the Israeli (...) -
6 November 2006, by MERRIMAN Rima
Gaza: pummeling the victim
The terrible imbalance of power between the Israelis and Palestinians makes it impossible for Israel, regardless of which government is in power, to deal with the Palestinians in any way except (...) -
30 October 2006
A call for an Anti-war, Anti-
Opposing war and violence on the Korean Peninsula and around the world, in the name of all people who wish for peace and democracy, we assert the following: 1. We condemn the hypocrisy of (...)