By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | TUNIS, 27 Feb 2023 (IDN) — Tunisian President Kais Saied sparked controversy last week when he complained that sub-Saharan migrants arriving in Tunisia were changing the complexion of the North African country from “Arab” to Black. The President complained that “the undeclared goal of the successive […]
A Blacklisted Syria Makes a Come-Back—on the Ruins of an Earthquake
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, 23 Feb 2023 (IDN) — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, accused of human rights abuses, war crimes and use of chemical weapons—is one of several authoritarian Middle Eastern leaders who never addressed the UN General Assembly or stepped into the United Nations.
How Israel Lost Its Way
By Alon Ben-Meir* This article is one of a series of three; the second one will address how the Palestinians lost their way as well; the third article recommends an urgently needed reality check by both sides to avert catastrophic developments. NEW YORK (IDN) — Seventy-five years after its creation, Israel is now raising the […]
Russia Mediates Turkish-Syrian Reconciliation Process
Erdogan Avenges the American Betrayal Viewpoint by M.K. Bhadrakumar* This article was produced in partnership with Indian Punchline and Globetrotter. NEW DELHI (IDN) — The curtain is coming down on the brutal 11-year-old Syrian conflict, which former US President and Nobel Laureate Barack Obama initiated as the Arab Spring swept through West Asia two decades […]
The Absurdity of the Israel-Hamas Relationship
Viewpoint by Alon Ben-Meir Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University (NYU). He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies for over 20 years. NEW YORK (IDN) — Given that Israel and Hamas collaborate both publicly and tacitly on multiple […]
Iraq’s Drought Crisis Destroys Income and Crops Countrywide
By Ahmed Bayram The writer is an Amman-based Middle East Media Adviser of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). AMMAN, Jordan (IDN) — Farming communities in Iraq have seen their wheat, vegetable, and fruit harvests decline for the second year in a row because of severe drought conditions. Households throughout the country will be increasingly vulnerable […]
Israel Reaches Out to China, Again
This article was issued by the Indian Punchline. Viewpoint by M. K. Bhadrakumar* NEW DELHI (IDN) — The phone call to the Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on April 6 by Israel’s alternate Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid adds to the tectonic shifts in the geopolitics of the Middle East […]
First-Ever Summit on Israeli Soil Dismissed as A “Summit of Shame”
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — When the United States joined hands with Israel, Egypt, Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to hold “the first ever multilateral Arab-Israeli summit on Israeli soil”, there was one potential participant described as MIA—the Palestinians, missing in action. One of the Palestinian demonstrators outside the hotel, […]
Pandemic Pushes SDGs Further Out of Reach of Asia and The Pacific
Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana BANGKOK (IDN) — 2022 marks the second anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, and while an end to the pandemic is in sight, it is far from over and the consequences will be felt for decades to come. At the same time, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is becoming increasingly […]
Will a Holy Land Confederation Help Resolve the Long Simmering Palestinian-Israeli Dispute?
Only a political solution will end the “senseless and costly cycles of violence” between Israelis and Palestinians, UN Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland said at a briefing to the Security Council in 2021. By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which dates back to 1948, is one of the longstanding disputes which has […]