Arab World

When Muslims ruled the civilised world

Beyond the paradox of celebrating a bygone Islamic civilization at the height of Islamophobia in the United States. Scene from the manuscript of the poem, the Romance of Varqa and Gulshah, paintings by Khuwayyi. c 1250AD Konya, Turkey [Getty] by Hamid Dabashi @HamidDabashi Hamid Dabashi is the Hagop Kevorkian Professor […]

Palestine will remain Palestine

May 14,2016 – JORDAN TIMES EDITORIAL Today marks the 68th year of Nakbeh, or Palestinian catastrophe. In 1948, Israel was created on Palestinian land, starting decades of Palestinian suffering, sacrifice, dispossession and displacement. Palestinians, both Muslim and Christian, who were a majority in their homeland before the start of the […]

Nakbeh — never again?

  May 14,2016 -JORDAN TIMES – Mahmoud N. Zidan On May 11 and 12, many Israelis marked the 68th anniversary of their so-called Independence Day, Yom Ha’atzmaut, according to the Hebrew calendar. That day laid the groundwork for implementing the myth of a greater — only in size — Israel, a […]

Mataf bridge removed

ARAB NEWS | Published — Saturday 14 May 2016 EASE OF PRAYER: The mataf around the Kaaba is now completely free of the temporary bridge, providing more space for worshippers to perform tawaf (circumambulate around the House of God) and say their prayers. (SPA)   MAKKAH: The temporary mataf has […]

Book review: The Mirage

The Mirage by Jamal Sanad Dr. Al-Suwaidi The Mirage is an expression of His Excellency Dr. Jamal Sanad Al-Suwaidi’s perspective that the struggle in which many Arab and Muslim countries are currently engaged against extremist groups and organizations is not limited to the realm of military and security operations; it […]

Europe sells out

May 12,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – Guy Verhofstadt Europe’s refugee crisis is far from solved, but there are signs that the agreement finalised by the European Union and Turkey on March 18 is reducing the flow of refugees and migrants from Turkey to Greece. According to Frontex, the European border-management agency, […]

Time to recognise the state of Palestine

May 12,2016 -JORDAN TIMES – George S. Hishmeh This time around, presidential candidates from both parties in the US seem to attach as much importance to foreign policy as to local. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the presumptive Democratic and Republican nominees respectively, have demonstrated their discredited positions on the […]

Remembering forgotten Gaza

  Remembering forgotten Gaza May 10,2016 -OSAMA AL SHARIF It has been almost two years since Israel waged another war on Gaza, one that remains the centre of controversy until today, even within Israeli security and military circles. The 51-day aggression in the sweltering summer of 2014 against one of […]

Anti-Semitism vs. anti-Zionism

  May 10,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – Hasan Abu Nimah Anti-Semitism is generally defined as hostility, prejudice or discrimination against Jews, for no other reason than being Jews. Any such attitude should be condemned. No individual or community should be the target of any form of prejudice or discrimination for what […]

After splitting with Al-Qaeda, Al-Nusra is being presented to the West as a moderate force. It’s nothing of the sort

The jihadist force’s reputation is being cleaned up, to suggest it is deserving of CIA support Robert Fisk @indyvoices   So ol‘ Doc Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden’s chief executive successor, has told the Syrian Jabhat al-Nusra that it can dissociate itself from Al-Qaeda. Good public relations: Nusra doesn’t like the Isis “caliphate” […]