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1 month ago | 
middleeasteye.net | Mitchell Plitnick |Mohammad Abu Rumman |Soumaya Ghannoushi
Israel recently lifted its diplomatic ban on three far-right European political parties: France’s National Rally, the Sweden Democrats, and Spain’s Vox. This marks a significant shift in Israel’s foreign policy, as it engages with parties previously shunned due to concerns over antisemitic and extremist ideologies.
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1 month ago | 
middleeasteye.net | Alex MacDonald |David Hearst |Mohammad Abu Rumman
Israel said it was taking action following clashes in the city of Jaramana near the capital Damascus People celebrate the lighting of a Christmas tree in the Druze-majority area of Jaramana in the Damascus countryside on 22 December 2024 (Anwar Amro/AFP) 2 March 2025 16:04 GMT ago The Israeli army has been ordered to prepare to "defend" a Druze-majority city in southern Syria close to the capital, Damascus, after violence broke out between locals and security services.
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1 month ago | 
middleeasteye.net | Wladimir van Wilgenburg |David Hearst |Mohammad Abu Rumman
Thousands of Kurds in northeast Syria headed to public squares on Thursday to listen to a long awaited message from Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Turkey. In a historic statement, Ocalan called on the group he founded to lay down its arms and disband. "All groups must lay down their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself," he said. Ocalan's call for "all groups" indicates that he likely means all PKK offshoots in Syria and Iran.
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1 month ago | 
middleeasteye.net | Mohammad Abu Rumman |David Hearst
For three months, the new regime in Damascus has used every opportunity to say it does not want a fight with Israel. It has done this is in private messages, through proxies and in multiple interviews. The governor of Damascus, Maher Marwan, told the US broadcaster National Public Radio: “We have no fear toward Israel, and our problem is not with Israel. There exists a people who want coexistence. They want peace.
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2 months ago | 
middleeasteye.net | Mohammad Abu Rumman |Mitchell Plitnick
When Donald Trump returned to the White House last week, he immediately revived his habit of bombarding the public and media with a torrent of comments and actions, making it difficult for each one to be fully scrutinised. But when it came to the Middle East, it was easy enough to extract the few statements he made. They offered some clues as to how the new Trump administration might handle the issue - and it isn't promising.
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Aug 14, 2024 | 
middleeasteye.net | Christopher Phillips |Mohammad Abu Rumman
Jordanian authorities are using the country’s new cybercrimes law to stifle expression, particularly pro-Palestine sentiment, leading human rights organisation Amnesty International has found. At least 15 individuals have been prosecuted under the law after criticising authorities online, Amnesty’s report says.
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May 27, 2024 | 
middleeasteye.net | Mohammad Abu Rumman |Christopher Phillips
The Hashemite monarchs of Jordan are the Middle East’s perennial survivors. Sandwiched between states that have seen horrendous wars, revolutions and civil unrest in recent decades, the Jordanian government has appeared remarkably durable and, by regional standards, stable. But times might be changing. The ongoing war in Gaza has exacerbated what was already a tense domestic situation, prompting regular protests and government crackdowns.
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Apr 8, 2024 | 
middleeasteye.net | Mohammad Abu Rumman
The US indicated that Israel was keeping it in the dark over its planned invasion of Rafah, the southern city in the Gaza Strip, saying it had not been informed of Israel’s planned offensive despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announcing that a date was set. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a press briefing that the US has not been briefed on a date for Israel's invasion of Rafah.
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Apr 8, 2024 | 
middleeasteye.net | Mohammad Abu Rumman
Columbia University indefinitely suspended four students and evicted them from university housing after they attended an “unauthorised” pro-Palestinian event on campus. The event, called “Resistance 101”, featured Khaled Barakat, who some allege is a former senior official from the Popular Front For The Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
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Apr 8, 2024 | 
middleeasteye.net | Daniel Hilton |Lubna Masarwa |Mohammad Abu Rumman
Above the throng of bodies packed on the sloping streets outside Israel’s parliament, Yoav Benjamini holds up an image of his daughter’s missing friend, Carmel Gat. Six months have passed since Gat, 39, was taken captive along with 240 others in the Hamas-led attack on Israeli communities surrounding the Gaza Strip. In that time, Gaza has been turned into a wasteland. More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed.
