Posts tagged : "Israeli-Palestinian conflict"

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Iran’s hatred for Israel isn’t helping Palestinians

Iran’s hatred for Israel isn’t helping Palestinians

Kourosh Ziabari - The National Interest: The latest flare-up of violence between Israel and the Palestinians was extinguished on May 21 after eleven days of exchanging rockets and missiles, leaving behind a trail of casualties and destruction and further compounding what is an intractable dilemma that has demonstrated its resistance to resolution throughout decades. The conversation about the complexity of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can go on infinitely, and there are always questions that remain unanswered. But the less-meditated aspect of this multi-pronged, byzantine feud is the role external powers have been playing since 1948 in lengthening and exacerbating what is no longer a fracas over territory, but a scene of...

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More American Jews are critical of Israeli policies today: Rachad Antonius

More American Jews are critical of Israeli policies today: Rachad Antonius

Kourosh Ziabari - ODVV: The novel agreements on the normalization of diplomatic relations between Israel and the governments of United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan have unveiled evolving paradigms in the geopolitical landscape of Middle East and North Africa. The accords expose how pan-Arab, pan-Islamic ambitions are being discarded by the regional states in favor of economic, technological and military incentives that initiating relations with the Jewish state might bring about. The majority of Palestinians feel they are abandoned following the signing of the Abraham Accords, brokered by the outgoing Trump administration. A September poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research has found an overwhelming...

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US cannot mediate Palestine-Israel conflict impartially: Dr. Greg Shupak

US cannot mediate Palestine-Israel conflict impartially: Dr. Greg Shupak

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: Nearly 73 years after it began to unleash havoc on the Middle East, little has changed in the dynamics of the intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict. World powers and international organizations seem to have thrown in the towel, conceding that they are incapable of remedying the impasse, and as time goes by, diplomacy and fence-mending prove more evasive. In the final days of the US administration of Donald Trump, the dawning of the Abraham Accords, through which a handful of Arab countries initiated diplomatic relations with Israel, offered solace to the Jewish state, boosting its foothold at the doorstep of its arch-nemesis, Iran. To the Palestinians scrambling for sovereignty, though, the...

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How Iran has helped Israel’s growing foothold in the Middle East

How Iran has helped Israel’s growing foothold in the Middle East

Kourosh Ziabari - Responsible Statecraft: It might not be good news for Iran, but Israel is solidifying its foothold in the Middle East, cozying up to more Muslim, Arab nations that have long stopped thinking of the Jewish state as an existential threat. The surprise announcement on the normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates in August, followed by a similar deal between Israel and Bahrain in September, lifted the veil on the new realities of the region, ushering in fresh alliances and shifting paradigms. It’s out in the open that Iran and Israel are sworn enemies, and although they never engaged in any direct confrontation, they have been the two belligerents of a full-blown proxy conflict and...

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Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: An Interview with Prof. Ian Lustick

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: An Interview with Prof. Ian Lustick

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been raging for over seven decades, and the prospects for peace have never seemed more distant than today. The two-state solution, which was once the most widely-accepted remedy for the impasse, has lost traction, and efforts by the United Nations and other intermediaries to resolve the dispute have got nowhere. In 2018, a survey by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research and the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research at Tel Aviv University found that only 43% of Palestinians and Israeli Jews support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. This was down from 52% of Palestinians and 47% of Israeli Jews who favored a...

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Antony Loewenstein Speaks: What the “Deal of the Century” Means for Israel and Palestine

Antony Loewenstein Speaks: What the “Deal of the Century” Means for Israel and Palestine

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: On January 28, US President Donald Trump unveiled his long-awaited peace plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which he hailed as the “deal of the century.” This is the latest attempt by the US to mediate between the Israelis and Palestinians and end the seven-decade-old dispute. The deal sparked outrage by the Palestinians but was praised by the Israelis. Even though the plan addresses controversial issues such as Israeli settlements, Palestinian refugees and the status of Jerusalem, many observers have rebuffed it as one-sided. The plan sets out both political and economic steps for peace. For the Israelis, Jerusalem would be the undivided capital of Israel. They would also have full...

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Israel maintains a cost-free occupation over the Palestinian territories: Prof. Michael Lynk

Israel maintains a cost-free occupation over the Palestinian territories: Prof. Michael Lynk

Kourosh Ziabari - ODVV: One of the world’s most enduring and tragic wars, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict appears to be at an impasse well into its 71st year, and the dream of a two-state solution seems to be in retreat with Israel refusing to suspend its controversial settlement enterprise and fulfill its obligations as the occupying power. According to Israel-Palestine Timeline, at least 9,940 Palestinians, including 2,172 children, have been killed by Israeli forces since 2000. As reported by the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, 4,787 Palestinian security detainees and prisoners are being held in Israel Prison Service (IPS) facilities. Many of these captives are behind bars for entering...

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The people of Palestine feel the international community has abandoned them: Ciaran Tierney

The people of Palestine feel the international community has abandoned them: Ciaran Tierney

Kourosh Ziabari - ODVV: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the world’s longest-running and most divisive conflicts. Rooted in a violent quest for territory, it has affected the Middle East landscape for decades since the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, when the Holy Land was divided into three parts. Efforts by consecutive US governments and other international actors to settle the disputes have so far proved ineffective. The Madrid Peace Conference of 1991, when the Israelis and Palestinians had the opportunity to engage and negotiate directly for the first time after years of confrontation, was a point in time when several sticking points between the two sides, including the actual borders of the two states, the Israeli...

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US Policies Have Been Destructive for the Two-State Solution: Anthony Tirado Chase

US Policies Have Been Destructive for the Two-State Solution: Anthony Tirado Chase

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: In the run-up to this year’s general election, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged that he would annex large areas of the West Bank if he secured victory. The fulfillment of his promise — assuming Netanyahu wins the re-run scheduled for September after failing to form a government earlier this year — is considered by many to be yet another nail in the coffin of the elusive two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The United States has played a mediating role between the two warring parties, but its strong alignment with Israel has stripped it of credibility in the eyes of the Palestinians. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the US government has...

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US Policies Have Been Destructive for the Two-State Solution: Prof. Anthony Tirado Chase

US Policies Have Been Destructive for the Two-State Solution: Prof. Anthony Tirado Chase

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: In the run-up to this year’s general election, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged that he would annex large areas of the West Bank if he secured victory. The fulfillment of his promise — assuming Netanyahu wins the re-run scheduled for September after failing to form a government earlier this year — is considered by many to be yet another nail in the coffin of the elusive two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The United States has played a mediating role between the two warring parties, but its strong alignment with Israel has stripped it of credibility in the eyes of the Palestinians. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the US government has...

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Israel Continues to Exclude and Erase Palestinians

Israel Continues to Exclude and Erase Palestinians

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: Since 1948, thousands of news articles, hundreds of hours of TV and radio programs, tens of books and countless research papers have been produced about the root causes, ramifications and human cost of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, several questions remain unanswered and, as time goes by, it becomes more evident that the international community is either unable or not determined to find a solution to the crisis. Noam Chomsky, a distinguished American linguist and political commentator, once said that Israel’s actions in Palestine are “much worse than apartheid” in South Africa. Desmond Tutu, the South African cleric and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has also said that Israel’s...

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Justice would be served if Israel and Egypt provided freedom of movement for the people of Gaza: Judith Blau

Justice would be served if Israel and Egypt provided freedom of movement for the people of Gaza: Judith Blau

Kourosh Ziabari - ODVV: While more countries across the world gear up to recognize the historic city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict appears to be as insoluble and intractable as ever. After the United States moved its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, countries such as Australia, Czech Republic, Honduras, Romania and Paraguay also signaled their willingness to follow the U.S. example. Guatemala has already opened its new embassy in Jerusalem in May. The relations between Israel and the United States warmed up significantly under President Trump and there's no trace of sporadic skirmishes between the two governments that would come to surface from time to time when Barack Obama was in...

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