Opinion Archives - Page 15 of 44

Palestinian State and The Poker Game

Dr Khairi Janbek
September 1, 2025

By Dr Khairi Janbek

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a politician above all else. He is dogmatist in rejecting a Palestinian state, and a pragmatist when he talks about it, but all that depends on the position taken by the United States.

Ever since one can remember from the days of the Oslo Agreements, a Palestinian state, as a term swung between two conceptions: A future project on the ground, and a slogan up-in-the-air to pander on, and as many from my generation remember the rather acerbic comment: Gaza-Jericho First of 1993 which came to be the first and the last.

The Israeli government of that time, believed that it would bring the Palestinians to independenance as interlocutors in determining the occupied West Bank of Jordan that came about by discussing the issue through a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation.

However, the little that was agreed upon started to be eroded by the first Netanyahu government, which at times implicitly and at times explicitly acted in the way so as to negate the Oslo agreements with impunity.

One would like to say that since then plenty of water has passed under the bridge, but when it comes to the Palestinian issue, it’s always the same water and the same bridge.

At this point one must say that everywhere in the media there are supposedly leaks and plans about the day after with regards to the Gaza Strip. However, the only consensus between the international community at large and officialdom of the Arab world, is that Hamas should surrender its weapons. But really what happens next?

Silence in the Arab world rules the scene which is in a way saying what cannot be said, which is in other words don’t involve us directly but we shall try to do what we can. This is habitually the Arab position in always being reactive rather than active.

And now on the international scene is the big drive to recognize a Palestinian state, which is for the time being affirming a point of principle, and towards which Israel is actually debating the annexation of the West Bank, as if to say, if the West Bank is reoccupied by Israel, where is this Palestine you want to recognize?

And adding insult to injury, the Washington administration has refused entry to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the PNA leadership to attend the UN General Assembly meetings. This indicates that it does not recognize that there is a leadership of the Palestinians.

However, and despite saying this, one wishes to be able to say that we might be jumping the proverbial gun, in the sense that, the issue is just a matter of tit-for-tat telling states: You recognize Palestine we take measures to counter that, but alas the Israeli annexation was contemplated long before the international recognition of a Palestinian state.

Now, what will it mean if Israel does go ahead and annexes the West Bank and cancels the Palestinian authority? Well, once again the international community, to the exclusion of the USA, will have to consider the West Bank as and Israeli occupied territory, and once again, the world will have to go back to the Security Council for an attempt to resolve the issue.

Dr Khairi Janbek is a Jordanian columnist living in Paris, France.

Analyses Opinion

Israel: A Bad Brand in World Markets

CrossFireArabia
August 27, 2025

By Ramzy Baroud

In an important step toward the economic isolation of Israel due to its genocide in Gaza, Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global has decided to divest from yet more Israeli companies.

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is the world’s largest, with total investments in Israel once estimated at $1.9 billion. The decision to divest was taken gradually but is consistent with the Norwegian government’s growing solidarity with Palestine and rising criticism of Israel.

Taking a leading role along with Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia, Norway has been a vocal European critic of the Israeli genocide and man-made famine in Gaza, actively contributing to the International Court of Justice’s investigation into the genocide, and formally recognizing the state of Palestine in May 2024. This diplomatic and legal stance, coupled with its financial divestment, represents a coherent and escalating effort to hold Israel accountable for the ongoing extermination of Palestinians.

The Israeli economy was already in a state of free-fall even before the genocide. The initial collapse was related to the deep political instability in the country, a result of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist government’s attempt to co-opt the judicial system, thus compromising any semblance of “democracy” remaining in that country. This resulted in a significant lowering of investor confidence.

The war and genocide, beginning on October 7, 2023, only accelerated the crisis, pushing an already fragile economy to the brink. According to reports from the Israel Ministry of Finance, foreign direct investments in Israel fell by an estimated 28 per cent in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.

Any supposed recovery in foreign investments, however, was deceptive. It was not the outcome of a global rallying to save Israel, but rather a consequence of a torrent of US funds pouring in to help Israel sustain both its economy and the genocide in Gaza, along with its other war fronts.

Israel’s Gross Domestic Product was estimated by the World Bank to be around $540 billion by the end of 2024. The war on Gaza has already taken a considerable bite out of Israel’s entire GDP. Estimates from Israel itself are complex, but all data points to the fact that the Israeli economy is suffering and will continue to suffer in the foreseeable future. Citing reports from the Bank of Israel and the Ministry of Finance, the Israeli business newspaper Calcalist reported in January 2025 that the cost of the Israeli war on Gaza had already reached more than $67.5 billion. That figure represented the costs of the war up to the end of 2024.

Keeping in mind that the ongoing war costs continue to rise exponentially, and with other consequences of the war, including divestments from the Israeli market by Norway and other countries, future projections for the Israeli economy look very grim. The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reported that the Israeli economy, already in a constant state of contraction, shrunk by another 3.5 per cent in the period between April and June 2025.

This collapse is projected to continue, even with the unprecedented US financial backing of Tel Aviv. Indeed, without US help, the precarious Israeli economy would be in a much worse state. Though the US has always propped up Israel, with nearly $4 billion in aid annually, the US help for Israel in the last two years was the most generous and critical yet.

Israel is the recipient of $3.8 billion of US taxpayer money per year, according to the latest 10-year Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2016. Equally, if not more valuable than this large sum are the loan guarantees, which allow Israel to borrow money at a much lower interest rate on the global market. The backing of the US has, therefore, enabled investors to view the Israeli market as a safe haven for their funds, often guaranteeing high returns. This applies to the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund as it did to numerous other entities and companies.

Now that Israel has become a bad brand, affiliated with unethical investments due to the genocide in Gaza and growing illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank, the US, as Israel’s main benefactor, has stepped in to fill the gaps.

The US emergency supplemental appropriations act of April 2024 allocated a total of $26.4 billion for Israel. While much of the money was earmarked for defense expenditures, in reality, most of it will percolate into the Israeli economy. This amount, in addition to the annual military aid, allows the Israeli government to minimize spending on defense and allocate more money to keep the economy from shrinking at an even faster rate.

Additionally, it will free the Israeli military industry to continue producing new, sophisticated military technology that will ensure Israel’s continued competitiveness in the arms market. The military-industrial complex, a significant part of the Israeli economy, is thus not only sustained but given a fresh impetus by American aid, ensuring the war machine continues to function with minimal financial disruption.

All of this should not diminish the importance of divestment from the Israeli financial system. On the contrary, it means that divestment efforts must increase significantly to balance out the US push to keep the Israeli economy from imploding.

Moreover, this should also make US citizens, who object to their government’s role in the genocide in Gaza, more aware of the extent of Washington’s collaboration to save Israel, even at the price of exterminating the Palestinians. Indeed, the flow of funds from the US is not a passive action; it is an active collaboration that directly enables the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of six books. His forthcoming book, ‘Before the Flood,’ will be published by Seven Stories Press. His other books include ‘Our Vision for Liberation’, ‘My Father was a Freedom Fighter’ and ‘The Last Earth’. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA). His website is www.ramzybaroud.net

Jordan Times

Opinion

Trump’s Pipe Dream

CrossFireArabia
August 21, 2025

By Michael Jansen

Donald Trump and his aides are campaigning hard to win the Nobel Peace Prize. As his second term in office reached six months, Trump claimed, “I’ve stopped six wars—I’m averaging about a war a month.” He and aides have cited his efforts to end disputes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Cambodia and Thailand, and Ruanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo and halt hostilities between Iran and Israel. Trump did the last by bombing Iranian nuclear reactors rather than negotiating a ceasefire.

So far, he has failed to secure ceasefires in Russia’s war on Ukraine or Israel’s war on Gaza. He has imposed sanctions on Russia but instead of exerting pressure on Israel to halt its deadly and devastating offensive in Gaza, he has provided Israel with the weapons to pursue it.

In June he complained bitterly on his website, Truth Social, “No, I won’t get a Nobel Prize no matter what I do, including Russia/Ukraine, and Israel/Iran, whatever their outcomes may be, but the people know, and that’s all that matter to me.” At present, however, his domestic approval rating stands at 38 per cent down from 47 per cent in January when he took office for the second time.

During his visit to the White House in April, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre was asked about Trump’s chances of securing the award, which his predecessor Barack Obama won as his first term began. “On that prize, there is a committee taking care of that which is completely working on its own terms, and I cannot comment on that,” Støre replied. Trump’s name is not even up for consideration by the Nobel Committee which resists political pressure and cannot be bought. The list of nominees remains secret. The award will be announced on October 10th.

Four US presidents have received Nobel Peace Prizes: Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 for mediating an end to the Russo-Japanese War, Woodrow Wilson in 1919 for founding the League of Nations, ex-President Jimmy Carter in 2002 for humanitarian and diplomatic work through the Carter Centre, and Obama in 2009 for his early-term diplomacy and coalition-building oefforts. Among other US officials who have been awarded the prize was former Vice President Al Gore for his work on climate change.

In his will, Norwegian industrialist and inventor of dynamite Alfred Nobel stated that the prize should be conferred on those “who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations.” Trump has done the opposite. On the foreign and domestic fronts Trump has undermined US democracy by excluding Congress by imposing policy changes with edicts. He has alienated neighbours Canada and Mexico and key allies by imposing stiff tariffs on imported goods. He shaken the longstanding world order by proposing US annexation of Greenland, Canada, and the Panama Canal.

Trump’s hankering for awards has turned to nominations for the John F. Kennedy Centre awards for 2025. He remarked, “I wanted one. I was never able to get one. It’s true, I would have taken it if they would’ve called me. I waited and waited and waited, and I said to hell with it, I’ll become chairman, and I’ll give myself an honour. Next year we’ll honour Trump, OK?” In the event, instead of proposing high-brow cultural icons who are meant to be honoured, he has gone for low-brow pop. He chose rock band Kiss, Gloria Gaynor who sang “I will survive,” Rambo actor Sylvester Stallone, country music star George and actor/singer Michael Crawford.

Throughout his life Trump his been motivated by his father, Fred Trump’s command never to be a “loser.” In marriage, business, golf, television, and politics, Trump has striven to be a winner and has been braggart. Uncertain of his ability to avoid becoming a loser, he is assertive, aggressive, angry, unprepared to take advice on issues he has not mastered, uncaring of less fortunate folk and sycophantic when meeting confident leaders like Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again,” is driving policies which he believes will reflect well on him while not necessarily serve US interests. His imposition of tariffs caused chaos at a time world commerce was characterised by low or no tariffs and free trade. Although US the unemployment rate is a low 4.2 per cent, he claimed his tariffs would provide jobs for the US workforce in sectors where imports dominated. This would take time. To make the switch firms would have to be formed, equipment installed, and workers trained. Domestic production could eventually penalise consumers by raising prices for clothing, computers, smart phones, spare parts, vehicles, household appliances and other items manufactured abroad. “America First” is not necessarily “American is best.”

Michael Jansen writes for The Jordan Times

Opinion

Greater Israel – A Confused Concept

Dr Khairi Janbek
August 21, 2025

Dr Khairi Janbek

The question of Greater Israel had always been there, swinging between Jewish religion and Zionist politics. Essentially it is a vague concept and interpreted according to the inclination of different groups inside Israel.

When Theodore Herzl talked about the land of Israel he defined it as being between the brook of the Nile and the Euphrates, with the debate being at the time, whether and area between the two rivers or actually all the way to both rivers.

Even when the state of Israel was established, its borders were not defined. It was the 1967 war which ignited the Greater Israel concept among the various Jewish groups with Israel occupying the West Bank, Sinai and the Golan Heights.

However, the recent pronouncements made by the Israeli government regarding this issue, started to ring bells of danger and awakened Arab fears especially, when the world sees Israeli military operations to retake Gaza, putting plans to annex the West Bank of Jordan and occupying territories in South Lebanon, annexing the Golan Heights and moving the Golan Heights and moving further into Syrian territories.

But where did the notion of Greater Israel originally came from, the idea which the father of Zionism Herzl defined? In fact it was taken from the book of Genesis in the Hebrew bible the Tanakh, where God grants Abraham and his descendants a vast expanse of land stretching from the brook of Egypt to the Euphrates.

Some Israelis refer to a narrower vision mentioned in the Book of Deutronomy, where God instructs Moses to lead the Israelites in taking possession of Palestine, Lebanon, and parts of Egypt, Jordan and Syria.

Others invoke the Book of Samuel which describes lands secured by Kings Saul and David, including Palestine, Lebanon, and sections of Jordan and Syria. In fact those whom hold those beliefs, the pursuit of Greater Israel, is not merely political, it is the fulfillment of divine mandate, a reclamation of land they see as rightfully theirs.

At the same time, some Zionist currents have used the concept of Greater Israel to advocate for political territorial expansion of the state of Israel maintaining control over the West Bank, claim Gaza and the Golan Heights, parts of south Lebanon as being part of Israel and so on.

Essentially the term Greater Israel can refer to several different concepts depending on the ideological, religious or political context.

Dr Janbek is a Jordanian writer based in Paris, France

Opinion

Israel’s War on Truth

CrossFireArabia
August 20, 2025

By Ramzy Baroud

The killing of seven Palestinian journalists and media workers in Gaza on August 10 has prompted verbal condemnations, yet has inspired little to no substantive action. This has become the predictable and horrifying trajectory of the international community’s response to the ongoing Israeli genocide.

By eliminating Palestinian journalists like Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qraiqeh, Israel has made a sinister statement that the genocide will spare no one. According to the monitoring website Shireen.ps, Israel has killed nearly 270 journalists since October 2023.

More journalists are likely to die covering the genocide of their own people in Gaza, especially since Israel has manufactured a convenient and easily deployed narrative that every Gazan journalist is simply a “terrorist”. This is the same cruel logic offered by numerous Israeli officials in the past, including Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who declared that “an entire nation” in Gaza “is responsible” for not having rebelled against Hamas, effectively stating that there are no innocent people in Gaza.

This Israeli discourse, which dehumanizes entire populations based on a vicious logic, is frequently repeated by officials who fear no accountability. Even Israeli diplomats, whose job in theory is to improve their country’s image internationally, frequently engage in this brutal ritual. In comments made in January 2024, Israeli ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, callously argued that “every school, every mosque, every second house has access to tunnels,” implying that all of Gaza is a valid military target.

This cruelty of language would be easily dismissed as mere rhetoric, except that Israel has, in fact, according to Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reports, destroyed over 70 per cent of Gaza’s infrastructure.

While extremist language is often used by politicians around the world, it is rare for the extremism of the language to so precisely mirror the extremism of the action itself. This makes Israeli political discourse a uniquely dangerous phenomenon.

There can be no military justification for the wholesale annihilation of an entire region. Yet again, the Israelis are not shying away from providing the political discourse that explains this unprecedented destruction. Former Knesset member Moshe Feiglin chillingly said, last May, that “Every child, every baby in Gaza is an enemy… not a single Gazan child will be left there.

But for the systematic destruction of a whole nation to succeed, it must include the deliberate targeting of its scientists, doctors, intellectuals, journalists, artists and poets. While children and women remain the largest categories of victims, many of those killed in deliberate assassinations appear to be targeted specifically to disorient Palestinian society, deprive it of societal leadership, and render the process of rebuilding Gaza impossible.

These figures powerfully illustrate this point: according to a report released by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, based on the latest satellite damage assessment conducted in July, 97 per cent of Gaza’s educational facilities have been affected, with 91 per cent in need of major repairs or full reconstruction. Additionally, hundreds of teachers and thousands of students have been killed.

But why is Israel so intent on killing those responsible for intellectual production? The answer is twofold: one unique to Gaza, and the other unique to the nature of Israel’s founding ideology, Zionism.

First, regarding Gaza: Since the Nakba in 1948, Palestinian society in Gaza has invested heavily in education, seeing it as a crucial tool for liberation and self-determination. Early footage shows classrooms being held in tents and open spaces, a testament to this community’s tenacious pursuit of knowledge. This focus on education transformed the Strip into a regional hub for intellectual and cultural production, despite poorly funded UNRWA schools. Israel’s campaign of destruction is a deliberate attempt to erase this generational achievement, a practice known as scholasticide, and Gaza is the most deliberate example of this horrific act.

Second, regarding Zionism: For many years, we were led to believe that Zionism was winning the intellectual war due to the cleverness and refinement of Israeli propaganda, or hasbara. The prevailing narrative, particularly in the Arab world, was that Palestinians and Arabs were simply no match for the savvy Israeli and pro-Israeli public relations machine in Western media. This created a sense of intellectual inferiority, masking the true reason for the imbalance.

Israel was able to “win” in mainstream media discourse due to the intentional marginalisation and demonisation of Palestinian and pro-Palestinian voices. The latter had no chance of fighting back simply because they were not allowed to, and were instead labeled as “terrorist sympathizers” and the like. Even the late, world-renowned Palestinian scholar Edward Said was called a “Nazi” by the extremist, now-banned Jewish Defense League, who went so far as to set the beloved professor’s university office on fire.

Gaza, however, represented a major problem. With foreign media forbidden from operating in the Strip per Israeli orders, the Gazan intellectual rose to the occasion and, in the course of two years, managed to reverse most of Zionism’s gains over the past century. This forced Israel into a desperate race against time to remove as many Palestinian journalists, intellectuals, academics, and even social media influencers from the scene as quickly as possible—thus, the war on the Palestinian thinker.

The Israeli logic, however, is destined to fail, as ideas are not tied to specific individuals, and resilience and resistance are a culture, not a job title. Gaza shall once more emerge, not only as the culturally thriving place it has always been, but as the cornerstone of a new liberation discourse that is set to inspire the globe regarding the power of intellect to stand firm, to fight for what is right, and to live with purpose for a higher cause.

Jordan Times