Tomorrow Egyptians should be celebrating the first anniversary of their January 25 youth uprising that ostensibly replaced dictatorship with democracy. But instead of gaiety in the air, there is a general atmosphere of nervousness. Continue reading
When it comes to US/Israeli strategy vis-à-vis Iran’s insistence on its right to enrich uranium ostensibly for peaceful purposes, there are wheels within wheels. If you think the situation is confusing that’s because it’s meant to be. What is certain is that tensions between the two sides have risen to incendiary levels in recent weeks. It only needs the purposeful or accidental strike of a match to thrust the entire Middle East and Gulf region into a full-scale conflict with devastating consequences. Continue reading
Americans instinctively treat men and women serving in the military with reverence. The president, the government, Congress, schools, the media and Hollywood conspire to portray soldiers, Marines and special forces as highly ethical individuals not only willing to sacrifice life and limb for the sake of their country but also to topple dictators they’ve never heard of and introduce ‘freedom and democracy’ to far-flung places they’ve never seen on a map. Continue reading
If you rely on the major English-language satellite channels for your news, the dangerous ratcheting-up of tensions between Tehran and Washington may have escaped your radar. For some reason best known to network heads, Iran’s belligerent words and actions and the responses of Washington and London are an afterthought compared to extensive TV coverage of the GOP race and events in Syria and Iraq. Continue reading
If you believe that current hostilities between Washington and Tehran are all about Iran’s uranium enrichment program opening the door to a potential Iranian-made nuclear bomb engraved “Tel Aviv,” you’ve yet to peel the layers of this increasingly poisonous onion. Once you do, you’ll understand that fundamentally the feud is over which side gets to dominate the oil-rich Gulf region. Continue reading
Just when we think that things can’t get any worse, they just might. I wonder how many of us who wished our friends a happy, peaceful and prosperous New Year infused that message with any real confidence? The reality is that most of the world is in a mess; sadly, created by mankind’s greed, egoism, xenophobia and will to power. Instead of humanity evolving, coming together as citizens of one world, as seemed to be the promise at the end of the Cold War, reason has been replaced by religious and political extremism, and compassion for the poor and disadvantaged with every man for himself. Continue reading
It is one thing for countries to acknowledge crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide but it’s quite another for states to punish individuals with fines and imprisonment simply for challenging accepted historical fact. Continue reading
Clearly one of the prerequisites to becoming president of the United States is to be a consummate actor. Prior to becoming “leader of the free world,” President Obama was a vociferous critic of the Iraq War. During his campaign for his 2008 presidential bid, he told audiences that he knew the US-led invasion would have “dangerous consequences” and “would not work out well,” while promising to bring US troops home within 16 months of his presidency. It took more than three years for his pledge to manifest which, in the end, wasn’t a decision entirely of his own making. Continue reading
US President Barack Obama may be welcoming the last American troops returning from Iraq as heroes but, in reality, everyone connected with one of history’s dirtiest wars should be hanging their heads in shame. Better still, those who took the political decision to invade this Arab country, this ‘cradle of civilisation’ on falsehoods and fabrications should be indicted for war crimes; they are responsible for the death of more innocents than Slobodan Milosevic and Muammar Gaddafi put together. But they won’t be, simply because the US has the biggest guns and veto over UN Security Council resolutions. Continue reading
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ultra-nationalistic sidekicks must be praying for Barack Obama’s departure next January. It’s not that the US president has exactly been tightening the screws on the intransigent Israeli leader to return to the table, although unfettered by a reliance on the Jewish and Christian Zionist vote he would probably have taken a much more forceful line. Continue reading
Have you ever looked at someone in a high position only to wonder how on earth they got their job, let alone managed to hold onto for so long? The Republican Party’s front-running presidential candidate is a glaring example of such a person. Newt Gingrich is a seasoned politician and former speaker of the US House of Representatives. He has authored 23 books and was named “Man of the Year’ by Time Magazine. He is also no stranger to scandal. Continue reading
It appears that the Obama administration is playing “good cop, bad cop” with the Israeli leadership. While President Barack Obama goes out of his way to prostrate himself before the powerful pro-Israel lobby in the run-up to next November’s election, his minions are sending a different message—a message Obama has no doubt blessed behind the scenes. Publicly, the president is muffled. Continue reading
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and ultra-religious Salafist parties have garnered more than 60 percent of the parliamentary ballot conducted in nine Egyptian governorates last week. That was the first of a series of elections relating to the Lower House and the Upper House from now until January which will be followed by the presidential ballot in June. Continue reading
On Monday millions of Egyptians went home with a purple fingertip. A people who have never experienced free and fair elections in their lives were keen to participate in round one of a 12-round parliamentary electoral process scheduled to last four months. Continue reading
Cairo is once again aflame. The January 25th revolution no longer looks as bright as it once did when people from all sectors of society and faiths flooded Tahrir Square seeking freedom from oppression and corruption. That popular uprising was inspirational and uplifting. Muslims and Coptic Christians prayed together, the faces of children were painted in the colors of the Egyptian flag, young people worked to clean and beautify the streets—and the armed forces were seen as protectors of the people who chanted “the people and the army are one hand.” There was unprecedented national unity that brought with it high expectations for the future. Not so now. Something has gone terribly wrong. Continue reading
War drums against Tehran are beating faster. The noise from Tel Aviv and Western capitals has become so deafening that it could easily reach a tipping point; if Iran sticks to its guns and Israel and its backers are proved to be all bark and no bite, they could lose their deterrence credibility. Continue reading
On the surface of it, the hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is serious about striking Iran’s nuclear facilities regardless of any devastating repercussions. If reports are true, he and his Defense Minister Ehud Barak are attempting to twist the arms of their fellow Cabinet members to back the plan, even though Israel’s intelligence services are against it. Continue reading
When George W. Bush began implementing the neoconservative ‘Project for a New American Century’ manifesto, little did he know that his actions would boomerang leaving the superpower economically, strategically and morally weaker than before. The idea was to use “a new Pearl Harbor” as a catalyst for a show of US military power that would leave the rest of the world in no doubt as to which nation was the planet’s boss. Continue reading
George W. Bush and his band of sinister neoconservatives got it so wrong. They came to office scheming to dominate the Middle East and the surrounding region for all time, using military strength and economic power while dangling the carrot of democracy and freedom before the masses. They envisaged this oil and gas-rich region peppered with US military bases and had ambitions to insert puppet leaders or convert existing ones into virtual bureaucrats taking their orders from Washington. Continue reading
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan may arguably be the most popular leader in the Muslim world for his pro-Palestinian stance, but his foreign policy is turning once friendly countries into foes. Turkey’s relations with Israel has been at an all-time low since the government downgraded diplomatic relations in response to Tel Aviv’s refusal to apologise for the killing of nine Turkish activists on board the Mavi Marmara in international waters. Continue reading
Egyptians still congratulate one another on the success of the people’s “revolution”—which some cynics term “an insurrection” whereas, in reality, they are no nearer achieving so-called freedom and democracy than they ever were. Continue reading
Remember that Greek king Sisyphus who because he upset Zeus was destined to roll a boulder up a hill and watch it roll down again for all eternity. I’m sure the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas can identify with that poor fellow. He doesn’t have to worry about the wrath of the Greek deities; worse, some of the world’s most powerful countries have ganged up with Israel to ensure, try as he might, his aims cannot succeed. Continue reading
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warns that Israel is becoming diplomatically isolated and urges the Israeli leadership to “restart negotiations with the Palestinians and work to restore relations with Egypt and Turkey.” While acknowledging Tel Aviv’s regional military superiority, Panetta says it’s not enough to maintain a military edge “if you’re isolating yourself in the diplomatic arena.” Continue reading
The United Nations, the EU, Russia and the US, as members of “the Quartet,” have stepped into the breach to break the impasse between Israelis and Palestinians before the UN Security Council vote on Palestinian statehood takes place. The US, long ago referred to as an honest broker, is now recognized as unfit because it is inextricably entwined with Israel’s interests. Its decades-long efforts have failed because it has acted like Tel Aviv’s advocate rather than an impartial intermediary. Continue reading
I never imagined that watching leaders address the UN General Assembly would turn out to be gripping when such diplomatic-speak is usually more soporific than counting sheep. But on September 23, the speeches of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu kept me on the edge of my seat. Continue reading
President Barack Obama has already knocked the proposed Palestinian bid to get a unilaterally declared Palestinian State recognized by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) this Friday by declaring the US will use its power of veto. Continue reading
The determination shown by the Obama administration and Congress to ‘persuade’ the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) from attempting to gain UN recognition of statehood is deplorable; their methods even more so. Continue reading
The Turkish President Abdullah Gul was recently quoted as saying his country’s ‘ally,’ Israel, is “an ungrateful burden” adding that Tel Aviv should consider “an honourable peace” with its Arab neighbours and quit behaving as though the world owes it favours. Continue reading
I could barely stand to watch news networks on Sunday. The hoopla over America’s commemorations of Sept. 11, 2001 10 years after the event dominated the news from morning ’til night. The tears of those who lost loved ones on that tragic day were touching but seeing George W. Bush, who has kept a low profile in recent years, visibly in his element as he spoke at Ground Zero and his former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld defending the wars on Afghanistan and Iraq to CNN’s Fareed Zakaria was like a red rag to a bull for me personally. Continue reading
Ankara should be congratulated on standing up to its former ally Israel over Tel Aviv’s refusal to apologize for the killing of nine Turkish activists on a Turkish aid ship attempting to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Adding salt to the wound is a leaked report from the UN-authorized Palmer Commission into the incident that is heavily weighted in Israel’s favor to the point of legalizing its siege of Gaza and confirming Israel’s right to challenge ships in international waters to prevent weapons smuggling. Continue reading
The Turkish government’s fury over Israel’s refusal to apologise for killing nine Turkish activists on the Mavi Marmara is entirely justified. No doubt, adding insult to injury was the haste with which Tel Aviv recently apologised to Egypt—albeit verbally—for the deaths of five Egyptian security personnel tracking militants in Sinai. For Ankara, the final straw was a leak of the UN-authorised Palmer Commission Report into the legality of Israel’s 2010 commando-attack on a Turkish aid ship in international waters. Continue reading
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Israel should be the last to practice racism
Posted on January 26, 2012 by Linda S. Heard
A large chunk of my childhood and early youth was spent in a predominantly Jewish area of London called Stamford Hill. It was pure chance that upon relocating to the English capital, my parents found a small apartment to their liking in that part of town. Our landlord and neighbors were Jews from Russia and Eastern Europe. My school friends came from European and Indian Jewish stock. My mother bought seed-encrusted loaves from a Jewish bakery Grodzinky’s and salt beef sandwiches from our local Jewish deli. It was, therefore, little wonder that I imbibed stories of Jewish suffering in the Holocaust, the horrors of Soviet anti-Jewish pogroms—as well as the Zionist narrative regarding the Jewish state or “poor little Israel surrounded by Arabs intent on its destruction.” Continue reading →