U.S. appeals court upholds dismissal of lawsuit linking American Palestinian group to “terrorism”
May 6th, 20230 WASHINGTON D.C. – On May 2, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit charging that a Palestinian rights organization had provided “material support” for terrorism by engaging in advocacy. Brought by the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and several U.S. citizens who live in Israel, the suit targeted First...
Syria, Saudi Arabia move toward restoring embassies, flights
April 14th, 20230 Syria and Saudi Arabia said Thursday they were moving toward reopening embassies and resuming flights between the two countries for the first time in more than a decade. The joint statement followed a visit by Syria’s top diplomat to the kingdom, the first since Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic relations with Syria in 2012. Syria was...
Top Iranian, Saudi envoys meet in China in restoration of diplomatic ties
April 8th, 20230 BEIJING/RIYADH — The foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia met in Beijing on Thursday for the first formal gathering of their top diplomats in more than seven years, after China brokered a deal to restore relations between the top regional powers. After years of hostility that fueled conflicts across the Middle East, Iran and...
Israel strikes target Hamas in Lebanon and Gaza after rocket attack
April 8th, 20230 Israel's military hit sites in Lebanon and Gaza early on Friday, in retaliation for rocket attacks it blamed on the Hamas group, as tensions following Israeli police raids this week on the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem threatened to spiral out of control. Loud blasts rocked different areas of Gaza, as Israel said its jets hit targets...
U.S sanctions Lebanese brothers who sold “compromised fuel”
April 8th, 20230 WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned two Lebanese brothers accused of selling “dangerously compromised fuel” to Lebanon’s state utility company. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control blocked Raymond Zina Rahme and Teddy Zina Rahme from accessing U.S. bank accounts and the larger U.S....
U.S. blocks Security Council statement condemning Israeli raids on the Al Aqsa Mosque
April 8th, 20230 NEW YORK – On Thursday, the U.S. blocked the adoption of a U.N. Security Council press statement condemning recent Israeli police raids on the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, diplomats said. A U.N. official told The National that there was initial widespread agreement among the 15 council members to issue a statement following Israel's...
Senate votes to repeal Iraq War approval many see now as mistake
March 31st, 20230 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Senate voted Wednesday to repeal the resolution that gave a green light for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a bipartisan effort to return a basic war power to Congress 20 years after an authorization many now view as a mistake. Iraqi deaths are estimated in the hundreds of thousands, and nearly 5,000 U.S. troops were...
Syrian air defenses shoot down Israeli missiles over Damascus
March 31st, 20230 DAMASCUS — At least three huge explosions were heard in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Friday, according to a Reuters' report. The Syrian air defenses confronted an "Israeli aggression" over Damascus, Syrian state media reported, without providing details if there were any casualties or damages. Israel conducted air strikes...
No regrets from the Iraqi who threw his shoes at Bush
March 28th, 20230 BAGHDAD — Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi gained fame for hurling his shoes at President George W. Bush in a news conference to show his anger at the corruption and chaos that followed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. He is still furious. "The same people who entered 20 years ago with the occupier are still ruling despite...
Report reveals secret talks between Western officials and Iranian representatives
March 24th, 20230 There have recently been “secret” talks between Western officials and representatives of the establishment ruling Iran. Iranian sources close to the negotiations are saying President Ebrahim Raisi’s government wasn’t informed of the dialogue. There has been a recent trend of seeing a figure close to Supreme Leader Sayyed Ali...
Reassessing the U.S. invasion of Iraq 20 years later: “A big strategic error”
March 23rd, 20230 From an empowered Iran and eroded U.S. influence to the cost of keeping U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria to combat ISIS fighters, the United States still contends with the consequences of invading Iraq 20 years ago, current and former officials say. Then-President George W. Bush's 2003 decision to oust Saddam Hussein by force, the way...
Middle East flashpoints that could be affected by Saudi-Iran deal
March 17th, 20230 Here is a summary of the situation in parts of the Middle East where Iran and Saudi Arabia have been involved in proxy conflicts and which could be affected by a Beijing-brokered deal to re-establish relations between the two regional powers. Yemen In 2015, Riyadh intervened in Yemen at the head of a Western-backed coalition...
China’s role in Saudi, Iran deal a tricky test for the U.S.
March 17th, 20230 The surprise deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore diplomatic ties offers much for the United States to be intrigued about, including a possible path to rein in Tehran's nuclear program and a chance to cement a ceasefire in Yemen. It also contains an element sure to make officials in Washington deeply uneasy — the role of...
Mass protests and false hope: Israel’s supreme court is no friend of the Palestinian people
March 16th, 20230 As hundreds of thousands, throughout Israel, joined anti-government protests, questions began to arise regarding how this movement would affect, or possibly merge, into the wider struggle against the Israeli military occupation and apartheid in Palestine. Pro-Palestine media outlets shared, with obvious excitement, news about...
U.S. rights groups call on the Biden administration to ban Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country
March 10th, 20230 Several advocacy and rights groups throughout the United States are calling for the U.S. government to issue an entry ban on Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, after Smotrich called for Huwwara to be “wiped out” earlier this week. Through multiple statements, several groups, including rabbinical groups and......
Syria condemns U.S. top general’s “illegal” visit to American army base
March 10th, 20230 Syria’s foreign ministry has condemned a surprise visit by the United States’ top military officer to an army base in the Kurdish-held northeast, dubbing it “illegal,” state media reported. In his snap visit last Saturday, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley met U.S. troops stationed in areas of war-torn Syria...Iran and Saudi Arabia agree to resume ties after years of hostility
March 10th, 20230 Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed on Friday to resume ties after years of hostility which had threatened stability and security in the Gulf and helped fuel conflicts in the Middle East from Yemen to Syria. The deal was announced after four days of previously undisclosed talks in Beijing between top security officials from the two rival...
Israeli minister’s call to “erase” Palestinian village an incitement to violence, U.S. says
March 4th, 20230 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's call for a Palestinian village to be "erased" amounted to incitement to violence and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must publicly disavow it, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday. An ultranationalist in Netanyahu's right-wing coalition, Smotrich made the comments...
New Israeli law allows stripping residency of Palestinians convicted of “terrorism”
February 27th, 20230 Israel passed a law on Wednesday that would allow authorities to strip people who have been jailed of citizenship or residency if they receive Palestinian funds for actions deemed as "terrorism", as rising Palestinian resistance has stoked fears of escalation. Israel calls stipends for Palestinians resisting Israeli occupation and their......
Father and son charged for kidnapping, attempting to force daughter/sister to marry in Yemen
February 27th, 20230 BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced on Feb. 16 that Khaled Abughanem, 50, and Waleed Abughanem, 32, both of Lackawanna, NY, were arrested and charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to kidnap persons in a foreign country. The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Charles...
True champions of humanity in Türkiye and Syria: We thank you
February 22nd, 20230 On February 7, a funeral was held in the northern Syrian town of Jinderis. It was one of numerous such funerals to be held on that day across Syria and Türkiye, following a devastating earthquake that killed and injured thousands. Each one of these funerals represented two seemingly opposite notions: Collective grief and collective......
U.N. Security Council denounces Israel in statement to avoid U.S. veto on resolution
February 22nd, 20230 UNITED NATIONS – On Monday, the U.N. Security Council issued a formal statement denouncing Israel's plan to expand settlements on occupied Palestinian territory, the first action the United States has allowed the body to take against its ally Israel in six years. Washington's support for the presidential statement — action the...
Lebanon’s central bank chief says he will not renew his term
February 21st, 20230 Lebanon's embattled central bank chief Riad Salameh said on Sunday he would leave his post once his latest term ends in July even if he is asked to stay longer. "No one has asked me to continue , but even if they do, I think this is enough," he said in a televised interview with Egypt's AlQahera News on Sunday. Salameh, who became the......
