Commentary
Commentary
Netanyahu’s ban on Omar, Tlaib backfires, plays right into the hands of BDS movement
August 31st, 20191 A group of more than 70 Republican and Democratic members of Congress traveled to Israel on a delegation sponsored by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) earlier this month, but the annual trip was far more noteworthy for those who didn't make it; namely U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN). The...
Freedom of expression in America has a different meaning when it comes to Israel
June 10th, 20190 When then-graduating PhD candidate Steven Thrasher made a speech at the NYU graduation commencement last month, endorsing the BDS movement, some parties felt the need to disassociate from Thrasher’s views and go out of their way to express their “outrage” and “shock” at his remarks. Thrasher, who earned his doctoral degree...
Bahia Amawi and the strangest loyalty oath Americans are forced to take
December 21st, 20181 Bahia Amawi works as children's speech pathologist for the Pflugerville Independent School District in Texas. Or, rather, she used to work as a children's speech pathologist for the district. After nine years, Glenn Greenwald reports at The Intercept, the district's administration declined to renew her contract because she refused to...
Journalism, history and war: Sit, type and bleed
June 19th, 20170 The typical newsroom set-up, where journalists chase after news headlines dictated by some centralized news gathering agency — often based in some Western capital — does not suffice any more. In the case of the Middle East, the news narrative has been defined by others and dictated to Arab journalists and audiences for far too...Israel and Saudi Arabia’s priorities in Syria
Current developments both inside and outside of Syria have shown that the primary sponsors of the extremist-dominated insurgency – namely, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Israel and Turkey – aren’t quite ready to throw in the towel.One may be forgiven for thinking the Obama administration...
Will Tunisia be a model for political reform in the Arab world?
February 14th, 20140 The sociopolitical context for political reform in the Arab world is immensely challenging. As a result, few Arab countries have an easy way to democracy. But miraculously, Tunisia has already shown the start of a genuine Arab awakening.This homogeneous North African Arab country was the first to mobilize public dissent peacefully, to...
On war criminals and heroes: The whitewashing of Ariel Sharon
January 17th, 20140 The death of former Israeli leader Ariel Sharon enlivened U.S. media’s interest in the legacy of a man considered by many a war criminal, and by some a hero. In fact, the supposed heroism of Sharon was at the heart of CNN coverage of his death on January 11.Sharon spent the last eight years prior to his death in a coma, but apparently...
France’s sham philosopher:Bernard Henri Levy and the destruction of Libya
November 22nd, 20130 While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “the world’s most influential Jew,” Bernard Henri Levy is number 45, according to an article published in the Israeli right-wing newspaper the Jerusalem Post, on May 21, 2010.Levy, per the Post’s standards, came only two spots behind Irving Moskowitz, a “Florida-based tycoon...A showdown for war or peace
In pressing for negotiated settlements to the Iranian nuclear dispute and the Syrian civil war, President Barack Obama is challenging the imposing lobbying, propaganda and financial clout of the new Saudi-Israeli alliance, with the future direction of U.S. foreign policy – and geopolitical stability – at stake.Already, Israeli Prime...Saudi anger masks concern over loss of influence
WASHINGTON — Saudi Arabia’s public anger against the United States masks the kingdom’s growing concern about its diminishing influence in the Persian Gulf and the wider Arab world.It has nothing to do with U.S. policy toward the Palestinians, Washington’s seeming oscillation toward Syria, or President Barack Obama’s support for...Cracks widen in U.S.-Saudi alliance
WASHINGTON — While Monday’s meeting between Secretary of State John Kerry and Saudi King Abdullah may have helped calm the waters, the latest anxieties and anger expressed by Riyadh toward the United States has reignited debate here about the value of the two countries’ long-standing alliance.In fact, a parting of the ways is...Fractured opposition could derail Syria talks
WASHINGTON - Despite U.S. and Western pressure on the opposition to take part in U.N.-sponsored talks aimed at halting the two-and-a-half-year-old Syrian civil war, most experts here believe the rebels are unlikely to show up any time soon. And even if they do, the results will be unlikely to change much of anything on the ground.The...Encouraging Iran’s readiness for peace making
If one day Iran succeeds in establishing normal relations with the Western world, it would create a sea change for the entire Middle East.On October 15 and 16, Iran resumed negotiations in Geneva with the permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany. Iranians appear keen on “closing an unnecessary crisis and opening...Russia throws Obama a life preserver on Syria
WASHINGTON— With President Barack Obama facing increasingly certain defeat in his quest for Congressional authorization to carry out military strikes against Syria, the Russian government, Monday, appeared to offer the White House a way out of the crisis.Seizing on what seemed to be an offhand remark by Secretary of State John Kerry...Sectarianism and the irrational new discourse: Why Arabs must worry
My friend Hanna is Syrian and also happens to be Christian. The latter fact was rarely of consequence, except whenever he wished to boast about the contributions of Arab Christians to Middle Eastern cultures. Of course, he is right. The modern Arab identity has been formulated through a fascinating mix of religions, sects and races.......
U.S. militarism in Mideast is radicalizing Iran
Iran was once on a path of liberalization and reform, before the U.S. Military began sowing destruction throughout the Middle East and Central Asia, following the attacks on the United States in 2001.Although now largely forgotten, the last president of Iran, Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005), was a liberal-minded reformer who fought for...Beirut, and love, and rain
Nizar Qabbani.Nizar Qabbani was a revolutionary lover, whose powerful poetry was known for its simple language. With aesthetic anger, he wrote verses that dealt with love, politics, nationalism, eroticism and feminism. He once declared love in Arab society as a "prisoner" that needs to be set free. Qabbani was born in Damascus in...Hypocrisy over Iran’s nuclear program
The controversy over Iran’s nuclear activities has at least as much to do with the future of international order as it does with nonproliferation. For this reason, all of the BRICS countries have much at stake in how the Iranian nuclear issue is handled.Conflict over Iran’s nuclear program is driven by two different approaches to...Obama opts for Syrian ‘regime change’
Following President Barack Obama’s address to an audience of Israeli students in Jerusalem last month, progressive commentators in the United States hailed the speech as “a passionate appeal for peace” that “placed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict squarely back on his agenda.” But those intoxicated by Obama’s rhetoric will......
Of hope and pain: Rachel Corrie’s Rafah legacy
“Hi Papa .. Don’t worry about me too much, right now I am most concerned that we are not being effective. I still don’t feel particularly at risk. Rafah has seemed calmer lately,” Rachel Corrie wrote to her father, Craig, from Rafah, a town located at the southern end of the Gaza Strip.‘Rachel’s last email’ was not dated on...Chavez’s legacy
Bertrand Russell once wrote about the American revolutionary Thomas Paine, "He had faults, like other men; but it was for his virtues that he was hated and successfully calumniated." This was certainly true of Hugo Chavez Frias, who was probably more demonized than any democratically elected president in world history. But he was......
The Tehran I remember
As someone who lived in Tehran, Iran back in the 1970’s, I especially enjoyed seeing the movie Argo win the Best Picture Oscar. It’s a great story, with compelling characters and lots of suspense. The fact that the story is true makes it even more incredible because the plot is like something that would spring from the...How the Iraq war was sold
The Washington Post continues to allow former members of the Bush administration, including President George W. Bush, to distort the case for going to war against Iraq in 2003 and to blame the intelligence from the Central Intelligence Agency for the decision to use force.In the “Outlook” section on Feb. 3 (“Still Fighting over a......