– Alray RT – The first-ever Palestinian embassy in Western Europe has opened in Sweden on Tuesday evening, the Swedish prime minister’s press service said. President Mahmoud Abbas has arrived in Stockholm for the event. “Your recognition…should push forward negotiations in the peace process,” Abbas said. Prime Minister Lofven has vowed aid to Palestine, but has also called on reforms. …
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Dear Syria: From One Refugee to Another
By Ramzy Baroud Whenever the word ‘refugee’ is uttered, I think of my mother. When Zionist militias began their systematic onslaught and ‘cleansing’ of the Palestinian Arab population of historic Palestine in 1948, she, along with her family, ran away from the once peaceful village of Beit Daras. Back then, Zarefah was six. Her father died in a refugee camp …
أكمل القراءة »The Mockingjay of Palestine: “If we burn, you burn with us”
By Ramzy Baroud Raed Mu’anis was my best friend. The small scar on top of his left eyebrow was my doing at the age of five. I urged him to quit hanging on a rope where my mother was drying our laundry. He wouldn’t listen, so I threw a rock at him. I didn’t mean for the rock hit him, …
أكمل القراءة »France: Parliament votes in favor of Palestine state
French lawmakers on Tuesday voted in favor of recognizing the state of Palestine, following similar moves made by Spanish and British parliaments, as European nations try and restart the stalled peace process in the Middle East. The vote in the lower house of France’s national assembly is a non-binding resolution and can’t effect French government policy, but is likely to …
أكمل القراءة »PFLP soul-searching: the rise and fall of Palestine’s socialists
By Ramzy Baroud When news reports alleged that the two cousins behind the Jerusalem synagogue attack on 18 November were affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a level of confusion reigned. Why the PFLP? Why now? The attack killed five Israelis and wounded others. It was, to a degree, an expected addition to a violent episode …
أكمل القراءة »South African President says Israel “defying world” with settlement policy
South African President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday said that Israel is defying global powers and “undermining” the prospects of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by continuing with its settlement policy on occupied territory. “The reality is that the overwhelming majority in the world agrees with the position of two states living side by side in peace, but we …
أكمل القراءة »Netanyahu advises against “grave mistake” of recognizing state of Palestine
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the French parliament would be making a “grave mistake” if it chooses to recognize the state of Palestine when it votes on the matter on December 2nd. “Do they have nothing better to do at a time of beheadings across the Middle East, including that of a French citizen?” he said, …
أكمل القراءة »UN supremo urges Palestinians, Israelis to step back and negotiate peacefully
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday urged the Israelis and the Palestinians to take a step back and return to negotiating terms before time runs out. “The Israeli and Palestinian people face a shared fate on shared land. There is no erasing the other”, he told a UN committee on Palestinian rights. Ban also called “on the parties to …
أكمل القراءة »Talk of a Third Intifada: Where to from Here, Palestine?
By Ramzy Baroud When a journalist tries to do a historian’s job, the outcome can be quite interesting. Using history as a side note in a brief news report or political analysis oftentimes does more harm than good. Now imagine if that journalist was not dependable to begin with, even more than it being “interesting”, the outcome runs the risk …
أكمل القراءة »France planning to vote on recognition of Palestinian state
French lawmakers are planning to submit a motion to their parliament, asking their government to recognize the state of Palestine, weeks after British parliamentarians successfully passed a similar vote. The move follows the collapse of the peace process between Palestine and Israel after the conflict in Gaza, in which over 2,000 Palestinians were killed. “The (lower house National) Assembly asks …
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