Author: ALJAZEERA

Protests took place in major world cities, including London, Madrid and Istanbul.Thousands of people have taken to the streets around the world to protest against the war in Gaza as Israel pledges to go forward with its offensive in Rafah in southern Gaza. Waving pro-Palestinian flags and banners, thousands marched through the streets of Madrid, Spain to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The crowd snaked through closed-off streets in the Spanish capital from Atocha train station to the central Plaza del Sol square behind a large banner that read: Freedom for Palestine. Many carried signs that read “Peace for…

Beirut/Tripoli, Lebanon — The entrance to the Burj Barajneh refugee camp is covered in the small yellow flags of the Palestinian group Fatah displaying the faces of the late Yasser Arafat and his successor, current Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas. But these are not the men of the hour. That honour is for a man whose face is unknown because he covers it with a red keffiyeh: Abu Obaida, the spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades. Fatah and Hamas are opponents with presences in Lebanon, although they often have competing agendas politically or even militarily, but that does not…

There are few American journalists who so transparently embody the United States’ pompous and demeaning approach to Arab and Muslim lands and peoples as Thomas Friedman, the foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times since 1995. Prior to tormenting humanity with his biweekly opinions (such as that McDonald’s is the key to world peace), Friedman served in the 1980s as the Times bureau chief in Beirut and then Jerusalem. His time in the Middle East permitted him to hone his Orientalist arrogance, which earned him the starring role in a 1989 essay by none other than Edward Said, who remarked on…

The co-founder of the band Pink Floyd joins us for a conversation about activism, rock and resistance.Roger Waters, the bassist, singer-songwriter and co-founder of Pink Floyd, has been an outspoken voice for Palestine for years. Often wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf when he performs in front of thousands around the world, Waters doesn’t hold back his criticism of Israeli government policies. But his activism has come at a cost. His political opponents have hit back with accusations of anti-Semitism and documentaries trying to vilify his beliefs. Presenter: Anelise Borges Source link

The Iran-linked group has warned of more attacks on shipping despite sustained US, UK air strikes on Yemen.Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group has claimed a new missile attack on Western interests amid Israel’s war on Gaza, this time on a British oil tanker that the United States identified as a Panamanian-flagged vessel carrying crude oil bound for India. Yahya Saree, the group’s military spokesperson, said in a televised statement on Saturday that a “large number of appropriate naval missiles” were used to target the Pollux tanker in the Red Sea in “accurate and direct” hits. “The Yemeni armed forces will not hesitate…

Is the horror of Rafah being downplayed or do we not have the words to describe it?More than a million Palestinians have been crammed into the city of Rafah –  which is being bombed by Israel with the imminent threat of a ground invasion. Western media, however, has once again failed to communicate the severity of this moment. Contributors:Laura Albast – Media Analyst, Institute for Palestine Studies-USANabih Bulos – Middle East Bureau Chief, LA TimesAdel Iskandar – Professor of Global Communication, Simon Fraser UniversityJacob Magid – US Bureau Chief, The Times of Israel On our radar: Haaretz newspaper published an article…

Planned delivery of bombs and other munitions comes as President Biden pushes for truce in Israel’s war on Gaza.The United States is preparing to send more bombs and other weapons to Israel even as it pushes for a ceasefire in the war on Gaza and has said it opposes Tel Aviv’s plans for a ground invasion in southern Rafah where more than half the enclave’s displaced population is trapped. The proposed arms delivery includes about a thousand each of MK-82 500-pound (227kg) bombs and KMU-572 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) that turn unguided munitions into precision-guided bombs, The Wall Street…

NewsFeedThe UN and international aid groups have warned of a ‘slaughter’ if Israel launches a ground attack in Rafah, where more than one million displaced Palestinians currently are sheltering.Published On 16 Feb 202416 Feb 2024 Source link

PodcastPodcast, The TakeEgypt could soon face more hard decisions along its crossing with Gaza as Israel’s offensive nears its border. Will Israel invade Rafah? At Gaza’s southernmost point, 1.5 million Palestinians are trapped after being pushed there during months of relentless Israeli attacks. That’s put the spotlight on Egypt, which shares a border and complicated history with Gaza. In this episode:  Mirette F Mabrouk (@mmabrouk), Middle East Institute senior fellow Youmna ElSayed (@YoumnaElSayed17), Al Jazeera correspondent Reem, Family member of Palestinians trapped in Gaza Episode credits: This episode was produced by Miranda Lin, Ashish Malhotra and Zaina Badr with our…

‘Israel operates under a climate of absolute impunity,’ says Craig Mokhiber, former top UN official.Since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza the United Nations has been under pressure. More than 85 percent of the Gazan population is currently homeless and living in dire conditions, while the UN remains in political gridlock. Three weeks after the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, the former director of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Craig Mokibher, resigned from his post, protesting that the UN was “failing” in its duty to prevent what he called a “textbook case of genocide” against Palestinians…