Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Professor Kamel Hawwash
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Israel is pushing its luck with the EU
When it comes to the various stakeholders in the Israeli Palestinian conflict Israel has guaranteed American support in almost whatever it does. Other stakeholders, including the EU, have consistently criticised Israeli government policy but consistently failed to back it up with any action. That is, possibly, until now. The...
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Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes is, in fact, an own goal
Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes is now almost a daily occurrence. The reasons vary but the phenomenon is ultimately a form of collective punishment; the humiliation of the occupied by the occupier and a means to achieve “demographic control” of occupied Palestinian territory. The Zionist state publicises the demolition...
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Palestine must push back against loss of traditional allies
When the PLO asked the United Nations General Assembly for an upgrade in Palestine’s status to “non-member observer state” on 29th November 2012, the motion was passed by a vote of 138 to 9, with 41 abstentions. The vote was met with ecstatic celebrations by the Palestinian delegation and disappointment on...
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Israel is sleepwalking towards tyranny not practising democracy
Let me start by acknowledging that democracy is in short supply in the Middle East. However, only one state claims to be a democratic state. In fact, Israel claims to be “the only democracy in the Middle East,” with the “most moral army in the world”. Increasingly, extremist Israeli...
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Every picture tells a story; can the Palestinians expect any justice from this bunch?
Throughout his first trip abroad as US president, during which he visited Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, Donald Trump expressed his desire to bring peace to the region. It would be, he said, the “ultimate deal.” He promised Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas: “We want to create peace...
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When Congress celebrates the illegal occupation of Jerusalem, it defiles and redefines US values
The American people missed a major incident in the US Congress last week which should have worried them immensely. Their elected representatives celebrated an illegal act on their behalf. Yes, the US Congress celebrated the 50th anniversary of the illegal occupation of East Jerusalem by Israel, and its illegal...
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Israel knows that it only has to bide its time to get everything it wants
Recent commemorations of the 69th anniversary of the Nakba followed the long-awaited meeting at the White House between US President Donald Trump and his Palestinian Authority counterpart Mahmoud Abbas. While Israeli and Palestinian leaders, as well as political commentators and analysts, were busy digesting the public messages emanating from...
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No, it is not unfair to criticise Israel
As Palestinians mark a number of key, painful anniversaries in 2017, Israel is busy with not ending the occupation, but entrenching it and crying wolf claiming to be the victim in the decades-old conflict. The Palestinians recently marked the 69th anniversary of the massacre of Deir Yassin in which...
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The UK is quietly changing its policy on Israel and Palestine
Palestinians were delighted to see 2016 end with the UN Security Council passing resolution 2334 which reaffirmed the illegality of Israel’s settlement enterprise. The passing of the resolution was facilitated by the US abstention in the dying days of Obama’s administration. The UK played a key role in the...
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Richard Falk: People must shame UN for quashing 'apartheid Israel' report
The former UN Special rapporteur for Palestine was speaking at an event hosted by MEMO in London...
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The Palestinian leadership must embrace the Conference for Palestinians Abroad
In my last article for MEMO, I wondered whether the Conference for Palestinians Abroad (CPA) could lead to Palestinian unity of vision. It was a privilege to be with an estimated 6,000 Palestinians from 50 countries in Istanbul for the conference, which took place on 25 and 26 February,...
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Can the Istanbul conference for diaspora Palestinians lead to unity of vision?
The situation continues to get worse for Palestinians as they remain under occupation in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, and the latter has also been under siege for a decade. Those who make-up one-fifth of the Israeli population continue to suffer from official racism, with over...
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Trump’s status quo for Palestine-Israel isn’t so bad, unless you’re a Palestinian
The election of Donald Trump as President of the United States appears to have emboldened Israeli politicians. Many clearly feel that their strongest ally will henceforth provide them with the chance to complete their colonial project and in the process end any hope of freedom or independence for the...
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Only through unity can the Palestinians counter Paris and Trump
Many more air miles have been collected and many more fine dinners have been consumed in five-star Parisian restaurants off the backs of the Palestinian people, to bring together representatives of 70 countries at a conference to regurgitate the “only way forward” — the two-state solution — to solve...
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UN resolution 2334 must be seen as a tool, not just a victory
The Palestinians were set to conclude that their cause had been severely damaged in 2016 when the UN Security Council delivered a timely Christmas gift on 23 December: Resolution 2334. The resolution declared the West Bank and East Jerusalem to be occupied illegally and that Israeli settlements in both areas...
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The Palestinians too should take back control of their destiny
2016 will be remembered for a new phrase that came to characterise popular uprisings against “the establishment” in the West. From the UK to the USA, “taking back control” struck a chord with the voters when it was adopted by Donald Trump in America and the leaders of BREXIT...
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Palestinian Bedouins face Israeli discrimination from the river to the sea
Will they or won’t they and when? This has been the question being raised constantly over the past few weeks about Israel’s intention to expel the Bedouins of Um Al-Hiran village in the Negev. Their expulsion and the demolition of their village were to take place on Tuesday 22...
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Israel’s ban on the Muslim call to prayer in Jerusalem is the tip of the iceberg
Something is in the air in Jerusalem and if Israel has its way it soon won’t be; the Muslim call to prayer – the adhaan – is under threat. The state which is built upon the ethnic cleansing of the majority of the indigenous Palestinian people is inching its...
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Waleed Shaath is the two millionth reason for ending the siege on Gaza
The news that the population of Gaza has reached the 2 million mark was reported widely in the media but has stirred hardly any real action by the international community to ensure that Waleed Shaath — the milestone Palestinian baby — could look forward to a normal life. Waleed...
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Lichfield Cathedral stands strong in the face of bullying by the pro-Israel Lobby
A few months ago I was invited to speak at a conference organised by an ecumenical planning group, to be hosted by Lichfield Cathedral on 7-9 October. The title of the conference was interesting: “Holding Palestine in the light: the context of the conflict”. My talk was titled, “Can...
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Israel trumps Arab and Muslim world’s influence on US presidential candidates
As the United States’ presidential race enters its final stage, with elections due on 8 November, the two candidates have been making their final pitches to woo the voters in their direction. There is general agreement that the two candidates, US businessman and billionaire Donald Trump for the...
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Israel’s attack on democracy for non-Jews from the river to the sea
If Israel is not lauding its army, the Israeli Defence Force, as the self-proclaimed “most moral army in the world”, it is claiming to be the “only democracy in the Middle East”. The IDF’s oppressive treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank and its regular attacks on Gaza, the...
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Netanyahu turns to ‘ethnic cleansing’ and sophistry to justify Israel's criminal acts
Having failed to convince most of the world to accept its colonisation of Palestine, Israel has been busy redefining the long standing meaning of words and phrases in the hope that their new definition becomes the accepted norm. Words and phrases such as terror, anti-Semitism, security, existential threat and,...
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If Israel wants to be treated like a normal state, it should act like one
Israel claims to be a Western-style “democratic” state but only certain inhabitants of the land it has controlled since 1967 - basically all of historic Palestine - have a right to vote in its elections...