Middle East Watch

476 Article

• Falk: Israel’s Attacks on Gaza Illegal

  United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Professor Richard Falk said that the Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip represent "severe and massive violations of international humanitarian law as defined in the Geneva Conventions, both in regard to the obligations of an Occupying Power and in the requirements of the laws of war."
  In his statement, Prof. Falk said that Israeli has committed multiple violations which include collective (…)

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• La question majeure des responsabilités dans la situation actuelle à Gaza

  par Association France-Palestine Solidarité

  La question de savoir qui porte la responsabilité centrale de la situation actuelle à Gaza est absolument essentielle pour agir utilement aujourd’hui. Pour Georges W. Bush la question ne se pose tout simplement pas : Israël est, comme toujours, en « état de légitime défense ». Point. Pour l’Union européenne c’est l’affirmation d’un renvoi dos à dos apparent. Elle demande « l’arrêt des actions israéliennes contre Gaza et l’arrêt des tirs de roquettes ». Ce sont ces derniers qui seraient (…)

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• من عروة بن الورد إلى محمد فارح عيديد...ولن ننتهي!

  بقلم د. عادل سمارة

  في الأجل القريب لن يأتي للعالم عبقري كمحمد الذي أتى لقريش وجعل من الصعاليك والفقراء قوة تغيير للعالم. لم يحن الوقت بعد ليعود محمد في ثوب اشتراكي هذه المرة.
  وهكذا، تعود الصومال إلى واجهة الإعلام العالمي بحجم قمة العشرين مجتمعة. أليست هذه مفارقة تاريخية؟ فأي عالم هذا؟ وتُعيد لنا الصومال فرصة استحضار التاريخ العربي القديم بل امجاد الصعاليك. فقبل مجيىء الرسول، كانت الفوارق الطبقية في قريش هائلة. كانت أرباح طبقة التجار، التجارة بعيدة المدى التي أسست للإمبراطورية العربية قد راكمت في مكة اموالا (…)

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• Manifest Destiny and Israel

  by Uri Avnery

  NEXT MONTH, Israel will celebrate its 60th anniversary. The government is working feverishly to make this day into an occasion of joy and jubilation. While serious problems are crying out for funds, some 40 million dollars have been allocated to this aim.
  Bur the nation is in no mood for celebrations. It is gloomy. From all directions the government is blamed for this gloom. "They have no agenda" is the refrain, "Their only concern is their own survival." (The word "agenda", with its (…)

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• George Habash’s contribution to the Palestinian Struggle

  by As’ad AbuKhalil

  I lived more than half of my life in the US and I never felt the alienation that I felt on the day I read George Habash, the Palestinian revolutionary who passed away last week, labeled as a "terrorism tactician" in a front page obituary in The New York Times. What do you do when they want to convince you that a kind and gentle man you met and respected as a person is a terrorist when you know otherwise? Do you quibble with their definitions to no avail? Do you go back and see how they wrote (…)

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• «الهجرة» اليهودية المعاكسة ومستقبل الوجود الكولونيالي في فلسطين

  بقلم جورج كرزم

  لا يوجد تعريف متفق عليه، إسرائيليا، حول المصطلح العبري «yored» («النازح» أو «المهاجر» من إسرائيل). إلا أن المراجع الإسرائيلية الرسمية تقول بأن عدد اليهود الذين «هجروا» إسرائيل، منذ إنشائها وحتى عام ٢٠٠٣، ولم يعودوا إليها (بعد طرح عدد المتوفين)، بلغ نحو نصف مليون (وهذا لا يشمل أبنائهم الذين ولدوا في الخارج). وقد بلغ عدد اليهود الذين «هجروا» إسرائيل خلال التسعينيات، نحو ١٥ – ١٧ ألف نسمة سنويا، وهو يعادل حوالي ٣ «مهاجرين» لكل ١٠٠٠ «مواطن» إسرائيلي. ولو أخذنا بالاعتبار أن مصطلح "مواطن (…)

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• Arab Rulers and MERCOSUR Trade Agreement with Israel

  by Adel Samara

  A whole year went by between the visit of the elected Brazilian President Lula De Silva’s to some Arab countries, that are governed by unelected rulers, and the signing of an economic agreement between the Zionist regime and MERCOSUR, the common market for Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
  Lula’s visit was motivated by his sentiment, and that of his people, that the Arab nation is closer to Brazil than the Zionist entity.
  My argument stems from the fact that when the US-British (…)

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• The Joke in Annapolis

  November 2007, by Uri Avnery

  The Annapolis conference is a joke. Though not in the least funny. Like quite a lot of political initiatives, this one too, according to all the indications, started more or less by accident. George Bush was due to make a speech. He was looking for a theme that would give it some substance. Something that would divert attention away from his fiascos in Iraq and Afghanistan. Something simple, optimistic, easy to swallow. Somehow, the idea of a "meeting" of leaders to promote the (…)

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• Le lobby pro-israélien et la politique étrangère américaine

  novembre 2007, par John Mearsheimer, Stephen Walt

  Le pouvoir politique du lobby ne vient pas de son poids sur les déclarations des candidats à la présidentielle pendant la campagne, mais de son influence considérable sur la politique étrangère américaine, en particulier au Moyen-orient. Les interventions américaines dans cette zone hypersensible ont d’importantes conséquences sur les habitants des quatre coins de la planète, et surtout ceux de cette région. Voyez seulement à quel point la guerre en Irak de l’administration Bush a affecté le (…)

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• Peace now settlement watch - Periodic Report May-October 2007

  October 2007, by Peace Now

  Declarations of "freezing the settlements"
  In recent months the government of Israel has declared in different contexts its intention to freeze construction in settlements. It was recently published that the defense minister froze approval of construction plans as part of "applying pressure" on the settlers in the negotiations over evacuating the outposts. However, the defense minister’s office did not confirm there really was such an order. It appears to be an attempt by the settlers to (…)

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