Reactions to the 2014 Gaza war in Europe and the US are more polarised than hitherto. A radical solution that places Hamas at the centre of negotiations is worth consideration, if only to escape further time wasting on already defunct or moribund formulations.
While the Israeli motivation has been reduced to nothing more than an aggressive hunger for more Palestinian land or a desire to kill Palestinians, what both the Hamas and the Israeli leaderships are saying and actually doing, is being ignored.
International attention is focused on Gaza thanks to the brutal Israeli offensive, but the real problem has always been daily life under occupation.
Contrary to appearances, the embrace by some Egyptian liberals of anti-democratic practices may not be in contradiction with their liberal principles. This goes to show that the ‘goods’ of liberty and democracy are not identifiably the same or always harmonious, and it is mistaken to think so.
A call for political leadership.
On 29 June, after the spectacular takeover of Mosul and other Iraqi cities, the Islamic State (IS) declared a caliphate in Iraq and Syria. How can the sudden rise to power of IS be explained? What is the future of the caliphate, and of the region as a whole? Romain Caillet provides an assessment.
There are abundant signs of the weakening of Palestinian and Israeli willingness to engage with one another. The temptation to resort only to violence must not be allowed to take hold on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides. This conflict will only be resolved when each sees the other and is wil
How should we interpret or reinterpret this rhetoric of suffering which has become such a constant point of reference in the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict?
Desistance from violence can be to withdraw from a stance of violence through an act of violence, to leave off one form of violence by taking on another. Each Israeli attack on Gaza is simultaneously and implicitly recast by state subtext as a desistance from genocide.
Inspired by the 1960s Russell tribunal on Vietnam the ITC aims to document, clarify and publicise the treatment of political dissenters and members of religious and ethnic minorities by the Iranian government between 1981 and 1989.
US strikes against Islamic State fighters heading towards Erbil will not make a significant impact against a group that can fight across multiple fronts in multiple countries.
These options distract people from the real priority: to find (or strengthen) practical forms of pressure in support of international consensus.
