Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem
First Lady Michelle Obama is traveling to Qatar and Jordan and penned this first blog post about the State Visit from November 1 through November 7, 2015. Mrs. Obama will post daily on her trip. This is her first post By First Lady Michelle Obama (Nov. 2, 2015, Qatar, UAE) — This post is part…
On Friday Mordechai Vanunu wrote regarding his 8th Supreme Court Appeal, “I had a court hearing on [October 26, 2015]. We appealed all the restrictions. I even spoke to the Judges. They gave to the police 90 days to end their investigation for last arrest, after that they will decide.” Vanunu also wrote, “Without Freedom…
Protests against Israeli embargo against the Gaza Strip and Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Jerusalem continue. Israeli soldiers and armed settler terrorists have targeted civilians in response and in violation of international law By Mohammed Asad Palestinian protesters gather as tear gas fired by Israeli troops fall during clashes near the border between…
Read More “Protests against Israeli embargo and occupation continue” »
Palestinian Journalist Tarek Masood has been filing reports for The Arab Daily News since September 2015 on the clashes between Israeli soldiers and Israeli settler terrorists and Palestinian civilians. This week, Tarek was targeted by the Israeli military and seriously injured By Ray Hanania Palestinian journalist and photojournalist Tarek Masood, who has been documenting the…
Read More “Arab Daily News Journalist Masood injured by Israelis” »
On Thursday the headline in The New York Times read “Palestinian Uprising Shifts to West Bank City of Hebron” and reported: This month’s Palestinian uprising that started with a wave of knife attacks in Jerusalem has shifted some 18 miles south to Hebron, another holy city with a stark history of violence and tension… …
Read More “Hell in Hebron and The NY Times Reports the Obvious” »
Turkish soccer offers Erdogan headaches instead of voters in walk-up to election By James M. Dorsey Turkish soccer has offered President Recep Tayyip Erdogan more headaches than likely votes as the Turkish leader battles to ensure that his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will secure a majority in snap parliamentary elections on Sunday. Polls…
Read More “Turkish soccer offers Erdogan headaches instead of voters in walk-up to election” »
I don’t know if humor can change anyone’s minds about standing up to extremism and bringing peace to the Middle East, or if it can really bring different rival religious, ethnic or national groups together. But I do know that after performing my first standup comedy show this week, the Jewish, Christian and Muslim audience…
Read More “Performing Arab-Jewish standup comedy, first time” »
ماذا تفعل الأنظمة العربية بالشيعة والمسيحيين والأقليات؟ أشكر الزميل هاني نقشبندي على مقاله الرائع بعنوان “حسن.. وماذا نفعل بالشيعة إذا؟” الذي نشر في جريدة إيلاف يوم الأربعاء 22 اكتوبر 2015. لقد وضعت أصبعك على الجرح الذي ينزف في الجسد العربي منذ بداية الثمانينيات من القرن المنصرم، حين اعتبرت انظمة الحكم العربية ان كل مواطنيها من…
Read More “ماذا تفعل الأنظمة العربية بالشيعة والمسيحيين والأقليات؟” »
“Liberty-Equality-Fraternity” is the motto of the French Republic but the spirit it implies is applied selectively in reality. By Abdennour Toumi Paris, France — In October of 2005 neighborhoods in the banlieues of France erupted in violence, the cause of those riots, the deaths of two teenagers Ziad and Bouna, electrocuted on a power transformer…
Read More “The Struggle for Social and Economic Justice in France” »
This weeks marks the 20th anniversary of the murder of Yitzhak Rabin and the destruction of the Palestine-Israel peace process by Israeli extremists led by Benjamin Netanyahu. As the region spirals into greater violence, Netanyahu rises as the singular cause of this vicious cycle of death and destruction By Ray Hanania This week marks the…
Read More “Heroes, cowards and real terrorists in the Middle East” »
By James M. Dorsey Never missing an opportunity to shoot itself in the foot, 2022 World Cup-host Qatar has adopted a new law that is more likely to convince critics that it aims to put a friendly face on its controversial kafala or sponsorship system rather than radically reform a legal framework that trade unions…
Every year, racist anti-Arab costumes find their way into the marketplace in America that are sold to children to use for the annual holiday celebration of Halloween. This year costumes included a racist face of an Arab and an Israeli military uniform carrying an Uzi sub-machine gun symbolizing Israel’s military terrorism against Palestinian civilians By…
Read More “Retailers pull racist anti-Arab costumes for Halloween” »
By James M. Dorsey Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa’s candidacy for the presidency of world soccer body FIFA is likely to serve as a litmus test for newly introduced integrity checks on the group’s executives. Sheikh Salman, a former soccer player, has consistently like other members of his ruling…
Read More “AFC Salman’s FIFA candidacy puts integrity checks to the test” »
Charles Glass on Syria: Religious Cleansing Continues “Urgent” Need for US-Russian Settlement “Until the regional powers and superpowers agree that the war in Syria should end, it will not end,” veteran Middle East correspondent Charles Glass said Wednesday at an event sponsored by Christian Solidarity International. In a public lecture at Boston College, Charles Glass,…
Read More “Charles Glass on Syria: Religious cleansing continues” »
Palestinians continue protests against Israeli violence By Mohammed Asad Palestinians continued protests against violence by Israeli soldiers and armed Israeli settlers at the border with Israel at the Gaza Strip on Friday October 23, 2015. Reports continued of Palestinians being wrongfully assaulted by Israeli soldiers and armed Israeli settlers throughout the Occupied West Bank and…
Read More “Palestinians continue protests against Israeli violence” »
Portrait with Fire: Khader Adnan By Dezeray Lyn “Some people think being jailed is a destiny. I say freedom is a destiny.” In Heather Christle’s stirring poem, Self Portrait with Fire, bending to conceal flaming legs, (s)he sets the grass on fire. On this day, sitting with Khader Adnan, Palestinian freedom fighter, it is hard…
Using the Holocaust for politics is disgusting. When Arabs do it it is criticized. When Israelis do it, it undermines the issue of the Holocaust. Israelis like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu exploit the Holocaust all the time because scoring political points to him means more than the unprecedented human suffering that Jews and others suffered…
Read More “Netanyahu trivializing the Holocaust for selfish political gain” »
By James M. Dorsey As Egyptian general-turned-president Abdel Fattah Al Sisi struggled this week to get Egyptians to cast their vote in parliamentary elections, militant soccer fans put widespread youth disillusionment with the president’s autocratic rule on public display. More than 10,000 fans rushed in response to a call by Ultras Ahlawy, the militant support…
Read More “Egyptian soccer fans put youth disillusion with elections on public display” »