Arab Writers Group Syndicate

Hamas kills civilians, but not as many as Israel
By Ray Hanania — Reuters, which is slightly more objective in covering the Palestinian-Israeli conflict than most of its other Western counterparts, conservatively estimates that Israel’s military has killed “more than 100″ Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip during the past four months of this year. Palestinians put the number higher, at more than 250. B’tselem, the besieged Israeli human rights organization ostracized by fellow Jews, reports that Israeli soldiers have killed a total of 323 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the year. When it comes to counting Palestinian lives, the numbers are always fast and loose, often dictated by Israeli control and a pro-Israel Western news media that hesitates to criticize Israeli policies too harshly. Read more »

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Taybeh School  Reflects Steadfastness of  Palestinians
Maria C. Khoury, Ed. D., – (Taybeh, Palestine) Thursday was simply a magnificent day in Taybeh with the Latin Patriarchate School celebrating their Open Day activities which included many “Dabkeh” dance groups, sports, poetry and even a special skit ironically reflecting life with the “Apartheid” Wall between Israelis and Palestinians.  Children, who have been deprived from every normal activity of childhood that others around the world take for granted finding the hope to laugh, sing, and dream of a better future but stuck in the misery of occupation.  Most of the performances encompassed holding the Palestinian flag in the highest position as a symbol of the strong yearning for a free Palestine.

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At 60, Palestinians and Israelis must apologize and speak against their extremists as one voice
By Ray Hanania– The Hebrews fled Egyptian persecution more than 5,000 years ago, and yet their modern day ancestors continue to live in “da-nile.” Palestinians are often described as the most educated people in the Arab world, and yet they allow reason and common sense to be occupied by emotion. Israeli denial and Palestinian emotions stand in the way of peace and fuel the extremists on both sides. Neither side will acknowledge the pain they bring to the other nor will they stand up and silence the loud but small minority of extremists among their own people who exploit the conflict and have helped work against peace. What else is new after more than 60 years of conflict? Read more »

The struggle for power in the Desert Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Will the rest of us pay for it?

By Aladdin Elaasar – (New York City, NY) Saudi Crown Prince Sultan’s has been rushed abruptly for urgent medical care last week. It was an alarming signal for a possible power struggle in the world’s biggest oil exporter, and a sign of a serious problem that may disturb the succession line in the absolute monarchy and create the possibility for internal instability, analysts and diplomats say.

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Mother’s Day gift from Hillary Clinton—Obliterate Iran?
By Saffiya Shillo – As a woman I was thrilled to see, in my lifetime, a woman run for president.  A woman that actually had a good chance at winning.  On the heals of the primary in Indiana and a Mother’s Day weekend, the race for Democratic Party nominee ends.  As it does, Mother’s across America need to seriously reconsider their support for Hillary Clinton.  She has crossed the line of motherhood by vowing to “obliterate” Iran this past week.  Threatening to kill mothers and children does not reflect well on American mothers.  She has revealed that she does not have the compassion and wisdom to be president.  The very thing people are looking for in a woman president. 

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Can we “obliterate” the emotion-filled election pandering, please?
By Ray Hanania – I think I actually now prefer a president who can’t properly pronounce the word “nuclear” over someone who keeps using it like the theme in a “Get Out the Vote” election strategy. Hillary Clinton said she would “obliterate” Iran if the Persian nation were to use a nuclear weapon against Israel. My guess is Israel can take care of itself. But vowing to “obliterate” Iran sure doesn’t hurt when you face the very likely possibility that the only way to win the Democratic Party nomination is to steal it.

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Mistrial in war related corruption case proves there is more to it
By Ray Hanania – A jury in Rock Island, Illinois said they were deadlocked on the Bush Administration’s prosecution of a former middle-level sub-contractor for Halliburton that the federal government has targeted for more than three years. The jury was split evenly over charges that Jeff Mazon, a manager for Kellogg, Brown & Root, (KBR), a construction and engineering company that had received a contract from the U.S. Army Sustainment Command at the Rock Island Arsenal to provide services to troops in the Middle East, had accepted a bribe to increase the contract for a Kuwaiti contractors. U.S. District Court Judge Joe B. McDade, who muzzled the trial by refusing to allow Mazon’s defense team to address the larger issues of the Iraq War and the widespread contract corruption involving politically connected Halliburton, the parent company of KBR, had no choice but to declare a mistrial. But what are the real issues behind why the jurors could not convict Mazon, who the Bush Administration has targeted for more than three years in a politically-motivated campaign that cost taxpayers millions of dollars? Read more »

Obama “controversies” bring out America’s underlying race problems
By Ray Hanania – Some people say the controversy surrounding presidential nominee Barack Obama is about his policies and his controversial associates. But the real issues underlying everything in this presidential election is race and the failure of America’s to really get past the racial divide that up until the late 1960s was characterized by hatred, violence and a Black-White divide. Read more »

Hamas peace is an oxymoron
By Ray Hanania – Former President Jimmy Carter was sincere in his efforts to bridge the current conflict by bringing Hamas into a role as a participant in peace negotiations. But he is naïve is believing Hamas wants peace. Hamas is an extremist Islamist group that has succeeded in outdoing Israel’s government in committing violent acts and that has one goal, the creation of an Islamic Republic in Palestine. Hamas doesn’t want peace. It wants Israel’s defeat, something it will probably never have, at least not before wreaking a holocaust on its own people through escalating violence and conflict. Read more »