Al Mayadeen: Global Community and Shared Future

By Bouthaina Shaaban. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Europe was a strong, timely, and wise statement amid the current world and regional chaos, a statement in favor of all of the people in the world who are looking for an alternative order in a global community, which at the moment stands orderless. The entire

Asharq Al-Awsat: On ‘Colonialism’ as an ‘Original Sin’

By Hazem Saghieh. While colonialism, including the settler variant, is obviously an acute and vicious problem in Palestine and for Palestinians, this does not mean that decolonization is a universal issue that all of humanity must contend with. In fact, this assumption goes against the popular claim that Palestinians are suffering at the hands of

History Today: ‘The Emperor and the Elephant’ by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby review

By Carine van Rhijn. The Emperor and the Elephant: Christians and Muslims in the Age of Charlemagne by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby surfaces Umayyad and Abbasid perspectives on their Frankish frenemies. The elephant in the title of Sam Ottewill-Soulsby’s study of diplomatic relations between Christians and Muslims in the Carolingian period (800-887) is Abul-Abbas, who having arrived

Orient XXI: Egypt: The Shawarma Dispute

By Dalia Chams. The huge shawarma spit is here, all by itself. Rotating slowly, letting the fat drip and the meat grill gently. Just two hours before the breaking of the fast, the personnel of a famous Levantine fast-food chain are preparing the meals they will soon be serving. They chat among themselves in a

The Jordan Times: The ideological coup: How disciples of Kahane became the new face of Israel

By Ramzy Baroud. Throughout history, fringe religious Zionist parties have had limited success in achieving the kind of electoral victories that would allow them an actual share in the country’s political decision-making. The impressive number of 17 seats won by Israel’s extremist religious party, Shas, in the 1999 elections, was a watershed moment in the

History.com: This Day In History (April 25-1859): Ground broken for Suez Canal

By History.com Editors. At Port Said, Egypt, ground is broken for the Suez Canal, an artificial waterway intended to stretch 101 miles across the isthmus of Suez and connect the Mediterranean and the Red seas. Ferdinand de Lesseps, the French diplomat who organized the colossal undertaking, delivered the pickax blow that inaugurated construction. Canals have

The Jordan Times: When Namibia stands up to Germany: How Gaza revolutionised the Global South

By Ramzy Baroud. The distance between Gaza and Namibia is measured in the thousands of kilometres. But the historical distance is much closer. This is precisely why Namibia was one of the first countries to take a strong stance against the Israeli genocide in Gaza. Namibia was colonised by the Germans in 1884, while the

History.com: This Day In History (April 13-1928): First nonstop flight from Europe to North America

By History.com Editors. German pilot Hermann Köhl, Irish aviator James Fitzmaurice and Baron Ehrenfried Günther Freiherr von Hünefeld, the expedition’s financier, complete the first Europe-to-North-America transatlantic flight, taking off from Ireland and landing safely on a small Canadian island. The prevailing winds in the North Atlantic blow from North America towards Europe, hastening Eastbound airplanes

History.com: This Day In History (1814 – April 11): Napoleon abdicates the throne and is exiled to Elba

By History.com Editors. On April 11, 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France and one of the greatest military leaders in history, abdicates the throne, and, in the Treaty of Fontainebleau, is banished to the Mediterranean island of Elba. The future emperor was born in Ajaccio, Corsica, on August 15, 1769. After attending military school, he

Al Mayadeen: Russia’s victory in struggle with collective West will be achieved in Middle East, not Eastern Europe

By Jamal Wakim. Gamal Abdel Nasser announced in 1969 that the battle on the banks of the Suez Canal would decide the fate of the world. This piece explains how. This article discusses the importance of what is happening in the Middle East and the battle taking place there specifically in the region extending from