First published by the Arab Weekly on 25/12/2016 London - Palestinian Christians and Palestinian Muslims are looking back with deep concern at a year in which they saw their struggle for freedom and independence battered. The Palestinians end the year with no sign of reconciliation between the main political factions Hamas, which rules the Gaza …
Continue reading Expecting more of the same for Palestinians
First published by the Middle East Monitor on 12/12/2016 From the Middle East Monitor 2016 will be remembered for a new phrase that came to characterise popular uprisings against “the establishment” in the West. From the UK to the USA, “taking back control” struck a chord with the voters when it was adopted by Donald …
Continue reading The Palestinians too should take back control of their destiny
First published by the Middle East Monitor on 31/10/2016 Waleed Shaath, held by his mother, is the two millionth person born in Gaza on 12th October 2016 [Abed Rahim Khatib/Apaimages] The news that the population of Gaza has reached the 2 million mark was reported widely in the media but has stirred hardly any real …
Continue reading Waleed Shaath is the two millionth reason for ending the siege on Gaza
First published in the Middle East Eye on 19/10/2016 The UK home affairs select committee has fallen for the Israeli lobby's attempt to conflate criticising Israel with anti-Semitism I would not be writing this column in this way if the UK Parliament’s home affairs select committee had not dragged my homeland, Palestine, into the controversy surrounding …
Continue reading Redefining anti-Semitism will not silence Palestinians’ struggle for justice
First published by the Middle East Eye on 13/10/2016 The foreign secretary's candid speech reveals an opportunity to influence UK policy in the Middle East - Arab ambassadors should seize it Away from the endless discussions on Brexit at this year’s Conservative party conference in Birmingham, there were the usual fringe meetings and receptions that complement …
Continue reading Rolls Royce, pants and sand: What Boris Johnson said to the Arab ambassadors
First published by the Middle East Monitor on 23/9/2016 Having failed to convince most of the world to accept its colonisation of Palestine, Israel has been busy redefining the long standing meaning of words and phrases in the hope that their new definition becomes the accepted norm. Words and phrases such as terror, anti-Semitism, security, …
This first appeared on the Middle East Eye on 12/9/2016 For more than a decade, Israel has been building a wall which it claims provides security for its citizens. The wall, which the Israeli cabinet decided to build in 2002 with the declared objective of "regulating the entry of Palestinians from the West Bank into …
Continue reading Israel’s ‘apartheid wall’ inspires more violence than it deters
Lichfield is holding a conference entitled Holding Palestine in the Light 7-9 October. This promises to be an excellent event and I am privileged to be contributing to it. Details here
First published by the Middle East Eye on 11/8/2016 The troubles of the Middle East have followed the Olympic flame to Rio de Janeiro for the Brazilian games. An early controversy erupted even before the teams reached the Maracana Stadium. The Lebanese and Israeli delegations clashed when the organisers planned for the two teams to …
Continue reading Hey Israel, give Palestinians a sporting chance
Published by the Middle East Monitor 6/8/2016 Image from Middle East Monitor The Balfour Declaration is a letter from the then British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Walter Rothschild, for transmission to the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland. The critical part of this short letter said: “His Majesty’s government view with favour the …
Continue reading Britain should apologise for the Balfour Declaration, not ‘celebrate’ it
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