JERUSALEM: Every few years, the idea of establishing one state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea rises and falls like a phoenix; a dream of a state where both Palestinians and Israelis live in peace with no borders, no barriers, cultural autonomy and equal citizenship for all. In the 1940’s this idea was [...]
OTTAWA: Over the past few months, the issue of Jerusalem has once again risen as a matter of dangerous contention between Israel and Palestine. Claims to the city and, above all, the question of control continue to make the holy city a battleground. Today, the issue is primarily over Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem. The [...]
JERUSALEM: We are all accountable for the common reality that we as politicians, fighters, pacifists, activists, observers, media and citizens are creating together in the Palestinian Israeli conflict. This is once again evident in the global mobilization around the flotilla incident—a symptom of our collective engagement in the Middle East situation. Whatever role we choose, [...]
Today, I will talk about some of the problems facing human rights in Egypt and the best methods that should be followed to solve them. First; the Egyptian authorities lack the understanding of the concept of free speech. Bloggers, such as Ahmed Mustafa, Hani Nazer, Abdel-Karim Nabil Suleiman and Rami Siyam criticizing Egypt’s contemporary social, [...]
In this series I’ve attempted to present a critique of the theory and practice of human rights work, even against the common minimalist defense presented by Michael Ignatieff. I’ve argued that even a worker who defends their work on the grounds of “solely providing food to people who need it, and what could be wrong [...]
WASHINGTON, DC: Increasingly, you hear them at public events and symposia. You read their analysis in the press and on blogs. They are the “no-solutionistsâ€. Ultra-skeptical, hyper-cynical, often giddy about their political nihilism, they typically argue something along these lines: “As a realist, I realize that there are problems in this world that simply can’t [...]
World hunger and food insecurity is a recurring problem in most parts of the developing world. Among the many potential biotechnologies that are available, and the different ways in which they can be applied, genetic modification (GM) of crops demands particular attention. Genetically modified crops possessing genes from different species, could possibly relieve global food [...]
WASHINGTON DC: US President Barack Obama is currently being attacked by friend and foe alike for his willingness to seek common ground on issues ranging from healthcare to North Korea. “The common ground is not always the high ground”, writes Leon Wieseltier in the New Republic. “It informs the other side that what you most [...]
