The world is changing: China launches campaign for superpower status
October 29th, 20200 The outdated notion that China “just wants to do business” should be completely erased from our understanding of the rising global power’s political outlook. Simply put, Beijing has long realized that, in order for it to sustain its economic growth unhindered, it has to develop the necessary tools to protect itself, its allies...
In Beirut port, all of Lebanon’s ills are laid bare
October 28th, 20200 BEIRUT — The first of many warnings about a deadly cargo in Beirut’s port came in February 2014, about three months after its arrival. It was made by Colonel Joseph Skaf, described by his family as a diligent customs official. Skaf, then the head of the anti-narcotics and money laundering division, informed the customs authority...
Israeli delegation travels to Sudan to discuss normalization, Sudanese PM ready for ties with Israel
October 23rd, 20200 KHARTOUM – On Thursday, Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok indicated he was ready to proceed with normalizing relations with Israel once a yet-to-be-formed transitional parliament has approved the step, two Sudanese government sources told Reuters. The comments are the clearest sign that Hamdok, under pressure from the United...
Despite ambiguity in international law, Palestinians are winning the “legitimacy war”
October 14th, 20200 “International law” remains one of the most discussed terms in the context of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. It is almost always present, whether the discussion pertains to the Israeli wars and siege on Gaza, the expansion of illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank or the encroaching apartheid throughout Israel and the...
Biden receives major endorsement from Mid East experts, former ambassadors
October 8th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has gained a prominent endorsement from several diplomatic and policy experts on the Middle East. A substantial list of former ambassadors to Middle East and North African (MENA) nations, foreign policy advisors and Middle East affairs experts have signed on to a letter,...
Lebanon asks Interpol to arrest Russian ship captain, owner over port explosion
October 2nd, 20200 BEIRUT (REUTERS) – Lebanon has asked Interpol to issue arrest warrants for the Russian captain and owner of the ship that brought the explosive material that detonated at Beirut port in August, killing nearly 200 people, state media reported on Thursday. About two months after the explosion that injured thousands and ravaged the...
In lieu of a liberation strategy: Palestinian elections are designed to buy time
October 1st, 20200 It is abundantly clear that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has underestimated the seriousness of the challenges facing Palestine and the Palestinians. The rushed agreement between his party, Fatah, and Hamas in Istanbul on September 24, and the Palestinian leader’s speech at the 75th session of the U.N. General...
How do Democrats and Republicans differ on Palestine and Israel?
September 23rd, 20200 The polarized nature of American politics often makes it difficult to address fundamental differences between the country’s two main political rivals, Republicans and Democrats. As each side is intent on discrediting the other at every opportunity, unbiased information regarding the two parties’ actual stances on internal and...
Local activists react to U.S backed normalization treaties struck between UAE, Bahrain and Israel
September 18th, 20200 DEARBORN — So-called “peace agreements” between two Arab countries, the UAE and Bahrain, with Israel were signed on Tuesday, in a ceremony at the White House hosted by President Trump. The normalization efforts between governments of the two Arab countries and Israel carried little consent from the people of those nations and...
U.S. blacklists Hezbollah official, Lebanon-based companies
September 17th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, the United States imposed sanctions on a Hezbollah official and two Lebanon-based companies as the country experiences a deep economic crisis, accusing them of being linked to the Hezbollah group. The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said it blacklisted Arch Consulting and Meamar Construction,...
Israeli who killed Palestinian baby, parents gets life imprisonment
September 14th, 20200 LOD (REUTERS) — An Israeli court sentenced a Jewish settler to life imprisonment on Monday for killing a Palestinian couple and their baby in a 2015 arson attack in the occupied West Bank. The deaths of 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh and his parents, Saad and Riham, in the village of Duma contributed to a surge of Israeli-Palestinian...
“Dying to Fish”: How Israeli piracy destroyed Gaza’s once thriving fishing industry
September 3rd, 20200 On August 16, the Israeli navy declared the Gaza sea a closed military zone. A few days later, a group of Gaza fishermen decided to take their chances by fishing within a mere two or three nautical miles off the Gaza shore. No sooner had they cast their nets, Israeli navy bullets began whizzing all around them. Soon after the...
Macron presents “concept paper” outlining reforms for crisis-ridden Lebanon
August 31st, 20200 BEIRUT – French President Emmanuel Macron has outlined political and financial reforms Lebanese politicians need to make to unlock foreign aid and rescue the country from multiple crises, including an economic meltdown, according to a document seen by Reuters. The two-page “concept paper” was delivered by the French ambassador...
Two dead, several injured in clashes south of Lebanese capital
August 28th, 20200 BEIRUT – Two people were killed and at least 10 wounded in clashes in a town south of Beirut, the Lebanese capital, on Thursday evening, the state news agency and a security source said, as several political parties urged calm. The Lebanese army said on its Twitter account that it had deployed units to Khaldeh town to “control the...
Gazing over wasteland, Beirutis mourn lost “Lady of the World”
August 27th, 20200 BEIRUT — Over centuries, Beirut built its reputation as a cultural crossroads, a thriving port and a playground known as “the Paris of the Middle East.” In just moments, much of it lay in ruins. Now stunned residents come and stare at the heaps of rubble and twisted steel, contemplating all they have lost. An elevated highway......
“Palestine is still the issue”: U.N. vote exposes, isolates Canada
August 26th, 20200 This article is cowritten by Ramzy Baroud and Romana Rubeo The notion that “Canada is better”, especially when compared with U.S. foreign policy, has persisted for many years. Recent events at the United Nations have, however, exposed the true nature of Canada’s global position, particularly in the matter of its blind and...
Arab and Jewish youths in Brooklyn come together for Palestinian refugees amid COVID-19 pandemic
August 21st, 20200 NEW YORK — A new initiative by nine Muslim, Jewish and Arab youths in Brooklyn, New York seeks to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has deeply affected the already vulnerable 70 million forcibly displaced people...
Children with cancer need immediate help in the wake of Beirut blast
August 21st, 20200 DEARBORN — Jackie Ayoub, a PhD candidate at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, has set up a GoFundMe page to accept donations that will go towards helping patients of the pediatric oncology unit at Saint George Hospital in Beirut. The unit was badly damaged along with the hospital in the Aug. 4 explosion at the city's port. Now...
Lebanon’s grand mufti joins call for international investigation into blast, early parliamentary elections
August 21st, 20200 BEIRUT — On Wednesday, Lebanon’s leading Sunni grand mufti joined calls for early parliamentary elections and an international investigation into the explosion at the Beirut port, which he said deepened the country’s existential crisis. At least 179 people were killed and 300,000 left effectively homeless when massive amounts of......
Sultan of Oman reshuffles government
August 21st, 20200 MUSCAT - The Sultan of Oman issued 28 new royal decrees this week during a reshuffle of government roles and responsibilities. Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said has named Badr bin Hamad bin Hamoud Al Busaidi as foreign minister to replace foreign affairs chief Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah after 23 years of service. When you have...
Dubai changes its alcohol consumption laws to help its economy
August 21st, 20200 DUBAI - While the United Arab Emirates struggles to regain its economic footing during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dubai has once again loosened its alcohol consumption laws. Previously in Dubai, non-Muslim residents were required to carry plastic red cards issued by police in order to purchase alcohol. Otherwise they’d face action from......
Tlaib, Dingell lead effort to urge temporary deportation protections for Lebanese nationals after Beirut blast
August 20th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) and Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) are co-leading an effort to put pressure on the Trump administration to use its powers to defer deportation of Lebanese nationals in light of the Aug. 4 Beirut explosion. The relief effort for the people of Lebanon comes after the Beirut...
Trump expects Saudi Arabia to join UAE-Israel deal
August 20th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Wednesday, President Trump said he expected Saudi Arabia to join the agreement announced last week by Israel and the United Arab Emirates to normalize diplomatic ties and forge a broad new relationship. “I do,” Trump replied when asked at a White House news conference if he expected Saudi Arabia to join......
