Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem
By James M. Dorsey The 2022 Qatar World Cup may be sparking social change in the Gulf, just not (yet) in Qatar. Qatar’s winning of the hosting rights for the World Cup gave human rights and trade union activists the leverage they needed to more effectively pressure the Gulf state for reform, if not abolition,…
Read More “2022 World Cup sparks labour reform, just not in Qatar” »
Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives Consolidates 28 Humanitarian Programmes and Foundations Operating in 116 Countries; Refocuses on Middle East Middle East‘s largest development and community foundation includes 1,400 development programmes and initiatives targeting 130 million in need through to 2025 H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, announced today the…
Read More “Al Maktoum Foundation to refocus on Middle East” »
Ultra Wealthy In United Arab Emirates Control US$255 Billion Of Private Wealth There are 1,275 ultra wealthy individuals in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), representing 20% of the total ultra wealthy population in the Middle East, Wealth-X research shows. The combined wealth of the UAE’s ultra high net worth (UHNW*) population stands at US$255 billion. The study also reveals that 57%…
Read More “20 percent of Middle East wealth controlled by UAE individuals” »
By James M. Dorsey A staunch supporter of general-turned-president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris, has called on the government to allow soccer fans, a pillar of anti-government protest, back into stadia that have largely been closed to the public for nearly five years. Mr. Sawiri’s request on the eve of two African Confederation…
Read More “Staunch Sisi supporter calls for opening of stadia and dialogue with ultras” »
Plight of Syrian refugees traveling through Europe documented in video by Israeli journalist Seth Frantzman By Ray Hanania Israeli journalist and writer Seth J. Frantzman has produced an insightful video documentary on the challenges of the plight of Syrian refugees called “The Human Face of the European Union Refugee Crisis.” The documentary is a collection…
Read More “Israeli journalist reports on challenges of Syrian refugees” »
By James M. Dorsey The rise of Islamic State (IS) beyond the borders of Syria and Iraq over the past one year has drawn comparison with the spread of communism more than a century ago. It has also pitted proponents of kinetic realpolitik seeking military defeat of the extremist against supporters of the notion that…
Read More “Fighting Islamic State: Getting Down To Root Causes” »
On Tuesday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu TWEETED, On my way to #UNGA I have the great privilege and responsibility to tell the truth to the world for Israel’s sake. On Monday Trevor Noah kicked off his stint as Jon Stewart’s chosen one by vowing “the war on Bullsh*t will continue at The Daily Show….
By James M. Dorsey Palestine is a headache Saudi King Salman doesn’t need as he confronts rare demands from members of his ruling family that he and his son be removed from power, growing unease about a seven-month old devastating military campaign in Yemen that has caused devastation and mounting civilian casualties, widespread criticism of…
“The Secret”: An Improbable Friendship: The Remarkable Lives of Israeli Ruth Dayan and Palestinian Raymonda Tawil and Their 40-Year Peace Mission By Anthony David When Ruth Dayan phoned me up and promised to share a secret with me, I was teaching at Al Quds University in the occupied West Bank. Why would the wife of Moshe Dayan, the…
Israeli Forces continue to target Palestinian youth in the occupied West Bank. This week, three young martyrs joined the thousands of others whose deaths tell the story of Palestinian resistance to the occupation and theft of Palestine. By Dezeray Lyn Hebron, Occupied Palestine — There are bullet holes in the metal doors siding the exit-passage of checkpoint 56 in the…
Read More “Suffer the Children: Israel’s Ripping at the Roots of Palestine” »
On Friday Israel’s Nuclear Whistle Blower Mordechai Vanunu wrote at Facebook Sep. 10- Nine police men come to my home with a search warrant and arrest warrant, they took all my digitale stuff, computers, iPhone, memory stick, hard drive, camera, CDs, every thing, with all the passwords to all my internet activity. They are still…
Read More “Mordechai Vanunu Reports and the Thomas Merton Connection” »
Jordan nominates “Theeb” for 88th Academy Awards Award–winning Jordanian feature narrative “Theeb”, by director Naji Abu Nowar, is Jordan’s official submission for the Best Foreign Language Film category of the 88th Academy Awards, the Royal Film Commission (RFC) announced recently. The selection was made by a committee of Jordanian artists and craftspeople involved in the…
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Inevitably, the mass exodus of refugees from conflict areas was going to provoke the spilling into Europe of multiple disputes in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa. Spanish soccer is the first to feel the weight of the baggage that has turned vast numbers into destitute refugees. By James M. Dorsey Inevitably, the mass exodus…
Read More “Middle Eastern conflicts spill onto Spanish soccer pitch” »
On Thursday Mordechai Vanunu’s house arrest in virtual solitary was lifted after 7 days without Internet or phone. Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme will “continue to monitor his situation.” By Eileen Fleming On Thursday The International Atomic Energy Agency’s General Conference voted down a resolution proposed by the Arab nations, which called…
Read More “Mordechai Vanunu House Arrest Ends and Israel Wins at UN” »
Israel has recruited its soldiers, armed settlers and biased news media to defend its oppression of Palestinian civilians in the Occupied West Bank of Palestine. The Israelis enter areas, take lands and resources like water wells and destroy Palestinian buildings, and give the assets to the armed settler fanatics. And they wonder why Palestinians throw stones…
Read More “The violence by Israel’s soldiers and settler terrorists” »
By James M. Dorsey The war by Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies against Houthi rebels in Yemen has become a debilitating sectarian conflict that has reduced large parts of the impoverished country to rubble and potentially destabilising the region. The kingdom has framed its approach in stark sectarian terms that has sparked intolerance towards…
Read More “Saudi Arabia’s Reach in Yemen: Fighting for Regional Dominance” »
By James M. Dorsey A panel in Doha of religious scholars, officials of Qatar’s government-sponsored human rights committee, and international labour activists has called on Qatar to radically alter its controversial labour policies. The call serves to support Qatari government promises of labour reform in response to World Cup-related international criticism and increases moral pressures…
Read More “Religious support for Qatari labour reforms puts Gulf states on the spot” »
By Abdennour Toumi Paris, France — As the social season in Algeria heats up, so does the political one. However, President Bouteflika is intelligently focussing on a strategy to move his pawns into his rivals’ zone, in this case the Generals in Ali Khodja Castle He has been using tactics to overcome Algeria’s political turmoil of the 90’s…