“We will not allow any country to interfere in our domestic affairs.”(But see who’s swimming in the fishbowl that is the “Arab world.” . . .) Fahd Bahady is a Syrian cartoonist. This cartoon, first published by Al Jazeera, illustrates an interview with Bahady by eHasakeh (16 March 2010); it is reproduced here for non-profit […]
Geography Archives: Middle East
Empire against Democracy
After the Second World War, from which the Allied forces emerged victorious, the government of the United States sought to make the most of its military victory. It structured the Assembly of the United Nations to be led by a Security Council composed of the seven most powerful countries, with veto power over decisions […]
Palestinian Refugees
The imposition of a Jewish state on Palestine in 1948 created a colossal contingent of refugees (currently estimated by the UN to be over 4.5 million). The Palestinian families who were not simply killed by Zionist terrorist groups like Irgun and Haganah had to flee to neighboring countries such as Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, where […]
We Accuse!
Today is the 21st day since the arrest of Ameer Makhoul at his home in Haifa, Israel, under the cover of darkness, by the International Crimes Investigation Unit and General Security Service (GSS or Shabak) officers. The arrest was conducted in a brutal and terrifying manner. Our house was raided, its contents ransacked, and […]
Israel: Persecuting Ameer Makhoul
A leading human rights activist from Israel’s Palestinian Arab minority was charged yesterday with the most serious security offences on Israel’s statute book, including espionage. Prosecutors indicted Ameer Makhoul, the head of Ittijah, an umbrella organization for Arab human rights groups in Israel, with spying on security facilities on behalf of Hizbollah after an alleged […]
President Obama Should Be Honest about the Iran-Turkey-Brazil Nuclear Deal
Brazilian President Lula, Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan, and their foreign ministers have been too polite in their characterization of President Obama’s role in the nuclear deal they mediated with Iran last week. For we now have documentary evidence that President Obama’s Secretary of State and his White House spokesman are simply not telling the truth […]
A “New World Order” Is Possible — and Needed
The efforts of Brazil and Turkey to find a negotiated solution to the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program, which generated a negotiated agreement with Iran last week, must be seen in the context of a growing challenge to the international political order. That political order has been dominated by the United States, with Europe as […]
Israel: “Iran Is a Threat to Peace”
Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist. See, also, Carlos Latuff, “Iran Is a THREAT to Peace.” | Print
Revisiting Global Imbalances
Until recently, the discussion on global imbalances focused on the current account deficit of the US and the current account surplus of China, making this a bilateral rather than a multilateral problem. As a result, the process of rebalancing was seen as involving adjustments in either or both of these countries, and not so much […]
Obama Steps Up America’s Covert War against Iran
When, in an Op Ed published in the New York Times in May 2009, we first criticized President Obama’s early decision to continue covert anti-Iranian programs he inherited from George W. Bush, some expressed disbelief that Obama would undermine his own rhetoric about engaging Tehran in a climate of mutual respect by conducting a dirty […]
Iran and the United States: Next Steps on the Brazil-Turkey Deal?
On May 24, Iranian representatives, accompanied by Brazilian and Turkish counterparts, met with the IAEA’s Director General, Yukiya Amano. The purpose of the meeting was to present a letter to Amano — as called for in the May 17, 2010 Joint Declaration by Iran, Turkey, and Brazil — formally notifying the IAEA of the Islamic […]
The Unspoken Alliance: Military and Nuclear Ties between Israel and Apartheid South Africa
Amy Goodman: As nuclear nonproliferation talks at the United Nations focus on the Middle East this week, we turn to new revelations about Israel’s nuclear weapons program and its close alliance with apartheid South Africa. Israeli President Shimon Peres has denied reports that he offered to sell nuclear weapons to apartheid South Africa when […]
T.S. Eliot’s Catastrophic Bear Market
Although a financial regulation bill is in the works, our economy continues to tank, and nobody can figure out what to do. Except me, of course. I have discovered that Western literature is a major cause of our economic crisis. You see, most people, as victims of various “liberal” arts programs, fail to notice how […]
Interviewing Ousama Hamdan, Hamas Leader in Lebanon
Ousama Hamdan is the top Hamas leader in Lebanon and a member of the Hamas politburo. Manuela Paraipan: How do you see European engagement in the area and what do you think are the main challenges for the international community in dealing with the region? Ousama Hamdan: Most of the time, Europeans support American […]
ElBaradei: Brazil-Iran-Turkey Nuclear Deal “Quite a Good Agreement”
Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei was the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), an inter-governmental organization under the auspices of the United Nations, from December 1997 to November 2009. Dr. ElBaradei and the IAEA were awarded the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize for “for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for […]
Nuclear Iran and Nuclear Israel
Dimona Reactor Bushehr Reactor Fahd Bahady is a Syrian cartoonist. This cartoon, first published by Al Jazeera, illustrates an interview with Bahady by eHasakeh (16 March 2010); it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes. | Print
South Africa: An Unfinished Revolution?
The Fourth Strini Moodley Annual Memorial Lecture, University of KwaZulu-Natal, 13 May 2010 I In her historical novel, A Place of Greater Safety, which is played out against the backdrop of the Great French Revolution through an illuminating character analysis and synthesis of three of that revolution’s most prominent personalities, viz., Maximilien Robespierre, Georges […]
Israeli Public Sector’s Door Closed to Arab Workers
Unemployed computer engineer Morad Lashin would like to work in Israel’s Electricity Company, a large state utility, but admits his chances of being recruited are slim. The reasons were set out in graphic form this month when a parliamentary committee revealed that only 1.3 per cent of the company’s 12,000 workers are Arab, despite the […]
New York Times Tale on BP Oil Spill: From Bad to Worse
The New York Times ran a story on May 4 that advanced a rather unusual argument: BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill was probably bad, but not that bad. Helping the paper flesh out that line was a group called the Gulf of Mexico Foundation, which the Times dubbed “a conservation group in Corpus Christi, […]
Iran, the Post-American World, and the Security Council’s Looming Legitimacy Crisis
The unfolding drama of the Brazil-Turkey nuclear deal and the Obama Administration’s reactive push to move a draft sanctions resolution in the United Nations Security Council will have profound effects on the character of international relations for years to come. At least two such effects warrant particular attention. First, for those in official Washington or […]
