BOOK REVIEW: Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza

Meticulously researched, Hamas and Civil Society: Engaging the Islamist Social Sector (Princeton University Press, 2011) is a significant study of Hamas and Gaza’s social institutions. The evolution of Hamas brought about radical change in Gaza’s society – bolstered and hindered by Israel’s illegal occupation. Established in 1987, Hamas was largely regarded as a terrorist organisation…

While America Sends Troops To Fight Ebola, Cuba Sends An Army Of Doctors

Jean Marie Le Pen, founder of France’s right-wing Front National party, stated in May that Europe’s immigration problem would be solved if the Ebola virus were to resurface. Rising xenophobic attitudes in Europe, fuelled by political agendas, have resulted in the detachment of immigration from the ramifications of colonial and imperialist violence in Africa and…

Does The UN Prevent Violence Or Promote It? Ask Cuba

At a time when the United Nations is rapidly expanding its imperialist agenda, opposition to the organization’s duplicitous role is rarely reported in mainstream media. In his address to the U.N. Security Council on Aug. 21, Cuban Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the U.N. Rodolfo Reyes reserved harsh criticism for the organization’s role in manipulation….

USAID: An Imperialist Snare Under The Guise Of Humanitarian Aid

Merging historical timelines offers an interesting perspective into imperialism and its snares: April 17, 1961 saw the Bay of Pigs invasion — one of the counter-revolutionary activities against Cuba that was planned during Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidency and carried out during John F. Kennedy’s years in the White House. The attempt failed, with Cuba’s mobilized…

In Chile, dismissing Mapuche resistance as terrorism

Saturday marked the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People. In the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s futile rhetoric, “The interests of the indigenous people must be part of the new development agenda in order for it to succeed … Together, let us recognize and celebrate the valuable and distinctive identities of indigenous people around the…

Impressions of Palestinian Memory in Watercolour

The initial idea for a series of paintings related to Palestine occurred after finishing “The narration of burnt olive trees”, which is the first in the series themed “Impressions of Palestinian memory in watercolor.” However, it is the last painting which I believe defines this collection, or contribution, as a writer and artist, to Palestinian…

BOOK REVIEW: Unfree in Palestine. Registration, documentation and movement restriction

Denationalisation is the fundamental problem of Palestinians. The systematic annihilation of fundamental freedoms for Palestinians has resulted in an ongoing process of changes in demography, geography and social structure. “Unfree in Palestine: Registration, Documentation and Movement Restriction” (Pluto Press, 2013) delves into the historical processes of population repression, demonstrating how the concept of denationalisation is…

BOOK REVIEW: Beyond Occupation. Apartheid, Colonialism and International Law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

  Flouting international human rights law and international humanitarian law, Israel’s occupation of Palestine veers towards the illegal and illegitimate. Beyond Occupation: Apartheid, Colonialism and International law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (Pluto Press, 2012) evaluates Israel’s belligerent occupation and violation of international law, with particular reference to colonialism and apartheid practices, as well as…

Human Remains May Stir Memories Of Chile’s Dictatorship Past

Chile’s struggle for memory against a dictatorship-imposed oblivion has braced itself for another sliver of discovery. On July 28, water works-related excavations in Las Brisas led to the discovery of human bone fragments. Buried just 10 kilometers south of the town of Santo Domingo, the location corresponds to the vicinities of the first dictatorship era torture…

Abbas’s Collaborative Efforts Against Palestinian Resistance

Despite the atrocities inflicted upon Palestinians in Gaza since Israel’s genocidal Operation Protective Edge started on July 8, and despite Israel’s deadliest assault on Gaza over the weekend, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is steadfast in upholding his history of collaborative efforts with settler-colonialist and imperialist dictates. The earliest plans for a Zionist colonization of…