World
World
Ben & Jerry’s agrees to end operations in occupied Palestinian territory
July 20th, 20210 After years of efforts by anti-occupation activists, the popular American ice cream company Ben & Jerry's has halted sales of its products in the occupied Palestinian territories. Activists in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and other pro-Palestine and anti-Israeli apartheid activists praised the decision,...
Reports: Israeli firm’s spyware used to target journalists’ and activists’ cell phones
July 19th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — An Israeli company's spyware was used in attempted and successful hacks of 37 smartphones belonging to journalists, government officials and human rights activists around the world, according to an investigation by 17 media organizations published on Sunday. One of the organizations, The Washington Post, said the...
Lebanon spins further into crisis as Hariri abandons bid to form government
July 15th, 20210 BEIRUT — Lebanese politician Saad al-Hariri abandoned his months-long effort to form a new government on Thursday, dimming the chances of a cabinet being agreed on any time soon that could start rescuing the country from financial meltdown. Hariri announced his decision after meeting with President Michel Aoun, saying it was clear...
Family separation Law: Israel’s demographic war on Palestine intensifies
July 15th, 20210 When the Israeli Knesset (parliament) failed to renew what is commonly referred to as the Family Reunification Law, news reports and analyses misrepresented the story altogether. The even split of 59 MKs voting in favor of the law and 59 against it gave the erroneous impression that Israeli lawmakers are equally divided over the right of...
EU to adopt sanctions regime for Lebanon leaders, France says
July 12th, 20210 PARIS — On Monday, the European Union agreed to adopt a sanctions regime for Lebanese leaders by the end of July, France said, in an effort to force a stable government to emerge from nearly a year of political chaos following the Beirut blast. "There was a moment ago a political consensus to put in place a legal sanctions framework...
The people vs. Mahmoud Abbas: Are the Palestinian Authority’s days numbered?
July 8th, 20210 “The Palestinian Authority’s days are numbered.” This assertion has been oft repeated recently, especially after the torture to death on June 24 of a popular Palestinian activist, Nizar Banat, 42, at the hands of PA security goons in Hebron (Al-Khalil). The killing — or “assassination” as some Palestinian rights groups...
Farewell to Donald Rumsfeld, dreary war criminal
July 2nd, 20210 At 2:40 p.m. on September 11, 2001, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld issued orders to one of his underlings. Among Rumsfeld’s thoughts: Best info fast. Good enough judge whether good enough hit SH @ same time not only UBL And: Near term target needs – – go massive – sweep it all up – Things related &...
U.S. envoy: Aid programs for Yemen under threat without increased funding
June 24th, 20210 YEMEN — On Thursday, the U.S. called on the international community, especially regional countries, to fulfill their pledges to increase funding for humanitarian assistance to Yemen and warned that aid programs could otherwise be forced to close. U.S. Special Envoy to Yemen Timothy Lenderking told a webinar sponsored by the...
Iran accuses U.S. of meddling for criticising election
June 22nd, 20210 TEHRAN — Iran accused the U.S. on Tuesday of interference for saying its election was neither free nor fair as political factions traded blame for the record low turnout and high number of invalid ballots. Ebrahim Raisi, a hardline judge who is under U.S. sanctions, secured victory as expected on Saturday in an election marked by...
Head designer for Zara under fire for anti-Palestinian message to model
June 15th, 20210 Fast fashion giant Zara has come under fire after Palestinian model Qaher Harhash revealed messages sent from Vanessa Perilman, the brand’s head designer for women’s clothing, in response to his posts calling for justice in Palestine. "So your point is that you are trying to show the world that Israel is a horrible evil country...
On the politics of victory and defeat: How Gaza dethroned the king of Israel
June 12th, 20210 How did Benjamin Netanyahu manage to serve as Israel’s longest-serving prime minister? With a total of 15 years in office, Netanyahu surpassed the 12-year leadership of Israel's founding father, David Ben Gurion. The answer to this question will become particularly critical for future Israeli leaders who hope to emulate Netanyahu’s...
Netanyahu faces end of rule in parliamentary vote on new government
June 8th, 20210 ISRAEL — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces an end to his long hold on power in Israel on Sunday when the country's legislature votes on approving an improbable government of diverse parties that came together to unseat him. "It's happening!" opposition leader Yair Lapid of the centrist Yesh Atid party wrote on Twitter on...
The fumbling king of Palestine: Palestinians are defeating the Oslo culture
June 3rd, 20210 The political discourse of Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, is similar to that of an ineffectual king who has been isolated in his palace for far too long. The king speaks of prosperity and peace, and tirelessly counts his innumerable achievements, while his people are dying of starvation outside and...
Far-right nationalist Bennett and centrist Lapid could end Netanyahu’s reign
June 1st, 20210 Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing an end to his long reign over the country, as his rivals pressed on with a political pact to unseat him on Tuesday. After March’s inconclusive election, the country's fourth in two years, Likud emerged as the party with most votes. But after wooing smaller right-wing and...
Ethical Danish pension fund considers excluding Israel over human rights
May 29th, 20210 A Danish pension fund, which prides itself on being the world's strictest on human rights violations, says it is considering adding Israel to a long list of countries it excludes following this month's conflict with Palestinians. The $22 billion Akademiker looks after the pensions of Denmark's teachers and university lecturers and has......
Syria’s Assad wins fourth term with 95 percent of the vote, in election the West calls fraudulent
May 28th, 20210 Syrian President Bashar al-Assad won a fourth term in office with 95.1 percent of the votes, in an election that will extend his rule over a country ruined by war, but which opponents and the West say was marked by fraud. Assad's government says the election on Wednesday shows Syria is functioning normally despite the decade-old...
U.N. rights chief says Israel’s attacks in Gaza may be war crimes
May 27th, 20211 GENEVA — In remarks to the Human Rights Council on Thursday, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said Israeli forces may have committed war crimes in their 11-day assault on the Gaza Strip. Israeli airstrikes killed at least 248 in Gaza, including 66 children and 39 women, before a ceasefire was announced last...
Abdul El-Sayed: American taxpayers are subsidizing Gaza’s destruction
May 21st, 20210 — This essay, penned by Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, originally appeared in his newsletter The Incision on Thursday under the title "Gaza." It has been edited for style. In 2004, a couple childhood friends and I decided, like many 20-somethings, to spend the summer abroad. We headed to the Middle East, land of our forefathers. Our goals were...
The evolution of apartheid: Why Israel is becoming a pariah state
May 20th, 20210 On April 27, one of the world’s largest and most credible rights groups, Human Rights Watch (HRW), concluded, in a comprehensive 213-pages report, that Israel is an apartheid state. “Across these areas and in most aspects of life, Israeli authorities methodically privilege Jewish Israelis and discriminate against Palestinians.......
Dems offer resolution blocking $735 million Israel weapons sale, Hamas official predicts ceasefire within days
May 19th, 20210 On Wednesday, Democratic U.S. lawmakers introduced a resolution seeking to block a $735 million sale of precision-guided weapons to Israel, in a response to continuing devastating attacks on Palestinians by Israeli forces. Since the fighting began on May 10, Palestinian health officials say 228 people have been killed in aerial...
“We are seeds”: More than 10,000 local residents protest murderous Israeli campaign against Palestine
May 17th, 20210 DEARBORN — More than 10,000 local residents and activists gathered last weekend in protest of the latest Israeli ethnic cleansing campaigns in occupied territories of Palestine over the weekend. The Israeli government has sanctioned tactics of attacks aimed at the dispossession of residents from their homes, recently targeting the......
Israel destroys AP, Al Jazeera tower; killing of Palestinians continues
May 15th, 20210 GAZA — Israel pounded Gaza, destroying a tower block that housed the AP and Al Jazeera news organizations, and which it said had militant assets, with no sign of an end to almost a week of bombardment from Israel that has killed more than 130 Palestinians in Gaza. The death toll is rising from the worst escalation since 2014 and...
Never-ending destruction of historical sites in Mecca and Medina, cradle of Islam
May 15th, 20210 Saudi Arabia, in which Wahhabism is the state form of Islam, has a long history of vandalizing and demolishing historical monuments. Cultural devastation of Islamic heritage sites is not a new phenomenon to the Bedouin kingdom of Saudi Arabia. After the conquest of Mecca and Medina in the mid-1920s Saudis went on an orgy of......
