Netanyahu Wins, Justice loses
By pandering to the Israeli right, the USA has caused the ‘peace camp’ to wither Israel just completed its third national election in less than a year. The first two votes in…
How Jewish Republicans went after Sanders
The Repulicans and Likud even share donors Washington Watch A comment by Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders about Israeli policy and Palestinian rights and the resulting condemnation of his remarks by…
Significant changes in Arab public opinion
Attitudes are shifting in the Arab World Across the Middle East and North Africa, 2019 provided an eventful end to a tumultuous decade. There were unsettling developments on multiple fronts; to name…
Angry and Vindicated
Washington Watch In January, the Israeli daily newspaper, Haaretz, ran an article, “Secret Israeli Document Reveals Plan to Keep Arabs Off Their Lands” I found the piece unsettling for several reasons. Given…
Falling out of favour
Lebanese and Iraqi protests confront Iran’s ambitions While popular protests in Iraq and Lebanon have been clearly directed at corruption and worsening economic conditions, there is another factor that should not be…
Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr.
How the struggle for black freedom resonates with Palestinians Thirty-two years ago this month, I was arrested sitting-in and blocking the entrance of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC. The Embassy was…
The USA’s decline continues
The Trump Administration has been a disaster Washington Watch Despite its claims of making the USA more respected and feared in the world, the Trump Administration’s behaviour has only contributed to accelerating…
No good will come of this
Washington Watch Iraqis are tired of both the USA and Iran The US drone attack that assassinated Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force, represents an unsettling…
Overlooked congressional rebuke
Trump’s Position on Israeli settlements does not go unchallenged Washington Watch The most stunning rebuke to the Trump Administration’s unilateral effort to legitimize Israeli settlements didn’t come from Arab and European leaders.…
A second Nakba in the making?
The Trump Administration has created the conditions for another slaughter of Palestinians Two years ago Friday, President Donald Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. We knew then that this was an…
Trump is dismantling the international order
The Middle East peace process has long been dead. Trump’s decision on Israeli settlements impacts not so much that process as the very foundations of international order The Trump Administration’s declaration that Israeli…
Listen to the Lebanese people
The old sectarian basis of representation must go In 2012, I wrote an article about Lebanon that still rings true today. It ended with a quote from one of my favourite pieces…
In the wake of Trump’s broken promises
Washington Watch The need for an Arab strategy When Donald Trump was first elected, I warned Arab friends to be careful not to put their all of their eggs in a basket…
Addressing those who have been fooled
Liar-in-chief It was more than a century and a half ago that Abraham Lincoln told us, “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people…
Forgettable candidates and irritating format
US democrat presidential debates I’ve just returned from Detroit, Michigan, where I attended the second set of Democratic Party presidential primary debates. For many reasons, the debates were a frustrating experience. In…
Abusing religion for extremism is universal
All religions can be exploited, not just Islam When Americans express concern about religious extremism and violence, they almost always are thinking about Islam. The problems posed by the politicization and weaponization…
What if Palestinians ‘take the money and run?’
What will the dynamic be if Palestinians become prosperous? I wasn’t at the “Peace to Prosperity” Summit, but I listened to some of the speeches and read the documents the White House…