Al-Aqsa under threat as Israeli elections loom

First published by the Middle East Monitor on 17/1/2019 Muslims arrive at Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound to perform the Friday prayer in Jerusalem on 26 October 2018 [Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency] When Muslims first prayed, they faced Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem rather than Mecca. When Prophet Mohammed (Peace be Upon Him) ascended to heaven, he did so …

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Criticise Israel and you immediately trigger its army of outraged partisans

First published by the Middle East Eye on 12/12/2018 #HumanRights An army of social media trolls are at the ready to denounce legitimate criticism of Israel’s occupation and settlement enterprise Israel was created through violence and terror, which it continues to heap on Palestinians to this day, as it works to fulfill the dream of …

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US embassy move is a day of mourning and a warning

First published by the Middle East Eye on 14/5/2018 As Trump celebrates the relocation of his country’s embassy to Jerusalem, Israel should recognise that the next generation of Palestinians will never stop fighting back The vultures are circling again, this time on a mission to take another bite out of Palestine's heart, Jerusalem, 70 years …

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The Great March of Return: An opportunity for Palestinians to return to Najd or is it Sedrot?

First published by the Middle East Monitor on 30/3/2018 There is nothing like a trip to Beirut and a visit to Palestinian refugee camps to remind visitors of the nub of the Palestinian catastrophe, the Nakba which refugees continue to endure to this day. They were thrown out of their homeland simply because another people wanted to …

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Bedouins’ endless suffering in Israel

First published by the Arab Weekly on 25/2/2018 How else does one explain replacing Bedouin villages with Jewish-only settlements? Unabated onslaught. Bedouin children stand on the rubble of two classrooms destroyed by the Israeli Army in the village of Abu Nuwar in the West Bank, on February 4. (AP) Descendants of the Bedouins who inhabited …

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What options does Abbas have after that General Assembly vote?

First published by the Middle East Monitor on 27/12/2017 Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas makes a speech during extraordinary meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul, Turkey on 13 December 2017 [Onur Çoban/Anadolu Agency]   As the dust settles on a significant week at the UN, in which America’s recognition of Jerusalem as …

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Es hora de que la comunidad internacional defienda a los niños palestinos

Monitor de Oriente 7/12/2017 Niños palestinos haciendo sus deberes en una chabola de un barrio pobre de Gaza [Ezz Zanoun/Apaimages]   El maltrato que Israel perpetra contra los niños palestinos no es ninguna novedad. Más bien es un ejemplo de las muchas maneras en las que rompe con el derecho internacional y el derecho internacional …

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Israel is pushing its luck with the EU

First published by the Middle East Monitor on 20/10/2017 Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu (L) speaks during US President Donald Trump's (R) visit to Israel on 23 May 2017. [Israeli Government Press Office/Haim Zach/Handout] When it comes to the various stakeholders in the Israeli Palestinian conflict Israel has guaranteed American support in almost whatever …

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The US kicks the Israeli-Palestinian peace deal into the long grass

First published by the Middle East Eye on 30/8/2017 #Occupation Just days after a US delegation visit to Israel and Palestine, Netanyahu declares that Israel will no longer uproot settlements. Any dreams of peace anytime soon are a long way off   Say what you want about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but he doesn’t …

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Language discrimination, another blow at Jewish- Arab equality in Israel

First published by the Arab Weekly on 6/8/2017 Israel has been replacing Arabic road names with the Hebrew names.   The Israeli Ministerial Committee on Legislation recently approved a draft bill that would end Arabic’s status as an official language of the country, despite an Arabic-speaking population that includes 20% of the state’s citizens. This …

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