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With the odds stacked so strongly in Israel's favour, Palestinians rightly view the US talks with dread, writes Arab Media Watch adviser Dr Ghada Karmi.
2 September 2010
The Guardian
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By Michiko Kakutani
1 September 2010
New York Times
“A man without a shadow”; a “pleasant man with a pleasant family living in a pleasant North London house”; a bright, telegenic, yet elusive politician with a “smooth facade.” This is how a newspaper article in The Guardian famously described Tony Blair long before he became prime minister of Britain in 1997.
Mr. Blair’s decade in office would be marked by his momentous — and divisive — decision to go to war in Iraq alongside George W. Bush, and by his remaking of the Labour Party in a more centrist, Clintonian incarnation. Yet all these years and political miles later, the man — hailed by The Observer as “one of the most electorally successful and effective party leaders of all time” — remains a curiously opaque figure. And the self-portrait that emerges from his new memoir, “A Journey: My Political Life,” is very much that of a man without a shadow.
Much of this book is fluently written, and the production as a whole seems meant to ratify Mr. Blair’s belief that he “was a big player, was a world and not just a national leader.” At the same time the book sheds little light on what drives Mr. Blair or shaped his political vision, and even less new light on how he came to take Britain to war against Iraq.
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By Rami Khouri, Arab Media Watch adviser, director of the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut, editor-at-large of the Beirut-based Daily Star, and co-laureate of the 2006 Pax Christi International Peace Award.
1 September 2010
Conventional wisdom says that US President Barack Obama would not make serious moves to pressure Israelis and Palestinians in their peace negotiations before the US mid-term congressional elections in November, for fear of the pro-Israel lobby’s wrath that could hurt the Democrats in the elections and perhaps give the Republicans control of the House of Representatives. Well, conventional wisdom is being put to the test in a serious way this week, as Obama personally participates in the first session of the Israeli-Palestinian direct negotiations in Washington this week.
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By Rami Khouri, Arab Media Watch adviser, director of the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut, editor-at-large of the Beirut-based Daily Star, and co-laureate of the 2006 Pax Christi International Peace Award.
30 August 2010
Looking around the Arab world this week, it is difficult to know what are our real priority challenges, because multiple issues stand out as problems, vulnerabilities, weaknesses or threats. Most of the problems in our region can be traced to local incompetence, or, in the worst cases, criminality and irresponsibility in the seats of power -- though everywhere there is also an element of foreign involvement or manipulation that should not be ignored. The regional picture is not pretty.
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By Raymond Deane, cultural boycott officer of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign
30 August 2010
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During the week of 23-29 August 2010, Sky News requested a meeting with Arab Media Watch; and AMW met with the UAE Embassy.
AMW adviser Tahrir Swift wrote to the BBC about its coverage of Iraq.
AMW helped Press TV find an interviewee on Fox News coverage of the proposed mosque near Ground Zero in New York.
Al-Kawthar TV requested an interview with AMW chairman Sharif Hikmat Nashashibi about Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
AMW liaised with the BBC, Guardian, Sky News, Daily Telegraph, Arab News Broadcasting, the Global Arab Network, Libya's JANA news agency, and the Sudanese Embassy.
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27 August 2010
At BBC Arabic, we are continually reviewing our programme offerings and trying to assess their effectiveness. In an effort to evaluate and improve the schedule, we are conducting a discussion session for Arabic-speaking students living in the UK. The session is to be held on the 16th of September at 6:00pm, in Bush House.
You are invited to participate in this Audience discussion regarding the scheduling and programming of BBC Arabic.
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During the week of 16-22 August 2010, the Daily Express published a letter by Arab Media Watch chairman Sharif Hikmat Nashashibi correcting a glaring factual inaccuracy by columnist Frederick Forsyth about Israel's blockade of Gaza. The newspaper initially did not publish the letter, which was written on 11 June, but did so after the Press Complaints Commission upheld a complaint by Nashashibi.
AMW adviser Tahrir Swift wrote to the Guardian and BBC about their coverage of Iraq; and AMW adviser Guy Gabriel wrote to the Express in response to Forsyth criticising the level of donations from the Muslim world for victims of the Pakistan floods. Gabriel highlighted the huge sums given by Saudi Arabia.
AMW liaised with the BBC, Sky News, Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Financial Times, the Press Complaints Commission, ABC News, Al Jazeera English, the Global Arab Network, Arab News Broadcasting, Libya's JANA news agency, Press TV, Saqi Books, IB Tauris Publishers, and the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office.
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On 20 August 2010, Arab Media Watch adviser Guy Gabriel wrote to the Daily Express in response to a column by Frederick Forsyth about the alleged lack of aid from the Muslim world for the Pakistan flood victims.
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By Rachel Shabi and Jemima Kiss
19 August 2010
The Guardian
Since the earliest days of the worldwide web, the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has seen its rhetorical counterpart fought out on the talkboards and chatrooms of the internet.
Now two Israeli groups seeking to gain the upper hand in the online debate have launched a course in "Zionist editing" for Wikipedia, the online reference site.
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