Articles by Al Jazeera
We found 980 results.
Waging Peace [Part 1] (VIDEO OF THE WEEK)
Riz Khan – Al Jazeera,
4 Jul 2011
Must there be security in order to make peace? In a world fueled by war, could peace initiatives be the way forward? Prof. Johan Galtung and Amb. Alvaro de Soto give their expert views.
→ read full article
Waging Peace [Part 2] (VIDEO OF THE WEEK)
Riz Khan – Al Jazeera,
4 Jul 2011
Prof. Johan Galtung and Amb. Alvaro de Soto: In a world fuelled by war, could peace initiatives be the way forward?
→ read full articleSomali Doctor: ‘If I was sane, I would have fled!’
Mohammed Adow – Al Jazeera,
4 Jul 2011
“The difference between a robot and a human being are feelings,” he observes. “I have grown numb to almost everything that goes on around me. Very few things move me,” he told me as he did his early morning rounds. “If I was normal and had my feelings intact, I would have fled like the thousands fleeing my country every month,” he says. The only thing that keeps him going, he says, is the knowledge that he is saving lives.
→ read full articleThe Flotilla Fascination
Cal Perry – Al Jazeera,
4 Jul 2011
Hundreds of press, activists and what seems to be a strange group of … international groupies have captured the attention of government officials and mass media alike. A strange combination of people who appear to be following in what they hope will be some major moral stand: like that of the Civil Rights movement in the United States to those who simply want their voices to be heard for any cost.
→ read full articleUS Approves $3.4bn Native American Settlement
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Services,
27 Jun 2011
A US federal judge has approved a $3.4bn settlement over “mismanaged” Native American royalties, in a case that represents the largest settlement ever approved against the US government. The 15-year-old suit claimed that for more than a century, US officials systematically stole or squandered billions in royalties intended for Native Americans in exchange for oil, gas, grazing and other leases.
→ read full articleOcean Life ‘Facing Mass Extinction’
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Jun 2011
Pollution, global warming and other man-made problems are pushing the world’s oceans to the brink of a mass extinction of marine life unprecedented in tens of millions of years, a consortium of scientists has warned. Dying coral reefs, biodiversity ravaged by invasive species, expanding open-water “dead zones,” toxic algae blooms, and the massive depletion of big fish stocks are all accelerating, according to the report, which is due to be presented at the United Nations on Tuesday [21 Jun 2011].
→ read full articleLeaked: Mainstream Media’s Dictionary – Letter C (satire)
Imran Garda – Al Jazeera,
27 Jun 2011
caliphate. n.
Future involving Ayman Al-Zawahiri sitting on a throne watching bearded footballers in long shorts contesting the Islamic Cup final in Seville.
Leaked: Mainstream Media’s Dictionary (satire) – Letters A to B
Imran Garda – Al Jazeera,
20 Jun 2011
academic. adj.
Man in bow-tie. Usually represents think-tank or university. Explains the science behind global warming and/or new CERN project while anchor nods pretending to understand.
baggage. n.
Part of travelling entourage left unfondled by the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Fukushima: It’s Much Worse Than You Think
Dahr Jamail – Al Jazeera,
20 Jun 2011
Scientific experts believe Japan’s nuclear disaster to be far worse than governments are revealing to the public. “Fukushima is the biggest industrial catastrophe in the history of mankind,” Arnold Gundersen, a former nuclear industry senior vice president, told Al Jazeera.
→ read full articleDid the Spanish Police Dismantle Anonymous?
Leila Nachawati – Al Jazeera,
20 Jun 2011
There seems to be a fundamental contradiction in announcing the dismantlement of the leadership of a collective that lacks leadership by definition. Is this real ignorance or an intentional attempt to disinform?
→ read full article
New Footage Emerges of ‘Sri Lanka War Crimes’
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Jun 2011
WARNING: Some viewers may find some of the scenes disturbing. 2m:52s clip.
→ read full articleGaza’s Hospital Stock Running on Near Empty
Mohammed Omer – Al Jazeera,
20 Jun 2011
Hospitals in Gaza are forced to cancel operations due to lack of medical supplies as the Israeli blockade continues. Human rights groups in Gaza are urgently requesting that international aid groups and donor groups to intervene and deliver urgent medical aid to Palestinian hospitals in Gaza. Palestinian officials say that Gaza’s medicinal stock is nearly empty and is in crisis. This affects first aid care, in addition to all other levels of medical procedures.
→ read full articleVictims’ Law Enacted in Colombia
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Jun 2011
Colombia has enacted a landmark “Victims’ Law” aimed at redressing the estimated four million victims of the country’s long-running internal conflict. The law creates mechanisms for compensating survivors of the tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, killed since 1985 in Colombia’s civil war. Stolen land is to be returned to hundreds of thousands of displaced.
→ read full articleSudan: Half the Horror Remains Untold
Tendai Marima – Al Jazeera,
13 Jun 2011
As the south prepares to declare independence, western media incorrectly frame current violence as entirely one-sided.
→ read full articleFormula One Race in Bahrain Cancelled
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Jun 2011
Bahrain Grand Prix organisers cancel race amid accusations of human rights abuses in government crackdown on protesters. Last week’s postponement triggered outrage among human rights campaigners, who had organised more than 455,000 people to sign an online petition calling on sponsors to boycott the Bahrain race.
→ read full article‘Sophisticated Cyber Attack’ Targets IMF
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Jun 2011
The International Monetary Fund’s computer system has been targeted in a cyber attack which sought to gain an ‘insider presence’ in the organisation’s network. An IMF spokesperson said on Saturday [11 Jun 2011] that the network was hacked and much information was stolen prior to the May 14 arrest of former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, but would not release more details about what was taken. “This was a very major breach,” a senior official with knowledge of the attack told the New York Times.
→ read full article
Richard Falk on the Golan Clashes
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Jun 2011
5 Jun 2011 – Richard Falk is the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories and a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment.
→ read full articleFIA-Bahrain: Putting Money before Morality?
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Jun 2011
Motorsports world governing body [Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile-FIA] votes to hold Bahrain Grand Prix despite concerns from human rights groups.
→ read full articleWho Does the Preah Vihear Temple Belong To?
Tom Fawthrop – Al Jazeera,
6 Jun 2011
Thailand-Cambodia conflict over ancient temple site sparks debate over borders and historic rights. Aggressive nationalism, a politicised Thai army asserting a stronger role in politics, the current election campaign, and the country’s chronic instability, have effectively derailed plans by Cambodia and UNESCO to move forward with heritage conservation to restore the temple.
→ read full articleWikiLeaks Cables: The Great Equaliser in Peru
Nikolas Kozloff – Al Jazeera,
6 Jun 2011
Choosing between Peruvian presidential candidates Keiko and Humala has been described as opting between cancer and AIDS.
→ read full articleGlobal War on Drugs ‘A Failure’
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Jun 2011
A high-level international commission has declared the global “war on drugs” to be a failure, and has urged countries to consider legalising certain drugs, including cannabis, in a bid to undermine organised crime. The Global Commission on Drug Policy, in its report released on Thursday [2 Jun 2011], called for a new approach to the current strategy of reducing drug abuse by strictly criminalising drugs and incarcerating users.
→ read full articleAre Palestinian Children Less Worthy?
Joseph Massad – Al Jazeera,
6 Jun 2011
Although Palestinian children endure lives of suffering, Obama’s love for their Israeli counterparts knows no limit. What is it about Jewish and Arab children that privileges the first and spurns the second in his speeches? Are Jewish children smarter, prettier, whiter? Are they deserving of sympathy and solidarity, denied to Arab children, because they are innocent, “the children of Israel”? Or, is it that Arab children are dangerous, threatening, guilty, even dark and ugly? Not only are Palestinian children guilty of hating Israeli Jews, but also, Obama insists, they have no reason to hate Jews unless their evil elders indoctrinate them to do so.
→ read full articleArab League Seeks UN Recognition of Palestine
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 May 2011
The Arab League has said it backs seeking UN recognition for a Palestinian state, as Qatar proposed at a meeting that the Middle East peace process be suspended until Israel was “ready” for talks. In a statement it said that it “supports the appeal to the UN asking that Palestine, within the 1967 borders, becomes a full-fledged state” of the international organisation.
→ read full articleEgypt Opens Rafah Border with Gaza
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 May 2011
Egypt has reopened its Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip, allowing the coastal territory’s Palestinian residents to cross freely for the first time in four years – a sharp departure from the policies of Hosni Mubarak, the deposed president. The opening on Saturday morning [28 May 2011] provided long-awaited relief for Palestinians. The move was ushered in by Egypt’s new government in a bid to ease the suffering of the territory’s residents.
→ read full articleThe Battle for Libya: Up in Smoke
Larbi Sadiki – Al Jazeera,
30 May 2011
It was meant to be rapid, unburdened by collateral damage or ethical liability and in support of a worthy cause: Ridding Libya of Gaddafi as a helping hand for the spectacular Arab Spring. In reality, the battle for Libya is everything but that. It is progressing slowly and remaining inconclusive. Worse, its collateral damage has been mounting, and consequently the ethics are beginning to look shaky. The word muddle comes to mind.
→ read full articleUS Military Contractor Attacked by Hackers
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 May 2011
Lockheed Martin Corporation, the world’s largest military contractor, has been attacked by hackers in what officials say is “significant and tenacious” cyber attack. The world’s biggest aerospace company and US government’s top information technology provider said on Saturday [28 May 2011] it thwarted the cyber attack but refused to give further details.
→ read full articleCurbing Foreign Ownership of Farmland
Marcela Valente – Al Jazeera,
23 May 2011
As international food prices continue to soar, land purchases by foreign investors face ban in much of Latin America. The governments of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay are drafting laws to curb acquisition by foreigners of extensive tracts of their fertile agricultural land.
→ read full articleDefiant Spaniards Continue Protests
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 May 2011
Tens of thousands of protesters furious over soaring unemployment keep up their week-long movement on Election Day.
→ read full article
New World in Middle East
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 May 2011
Robert Fisk speaks on the prospect of a Palestinian state after Binyamin Netanyahu’s comments during his US visit. Pres. Obama at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee-AIPAC conference on Sunday, 22 May 2011.
→ read full articleAnonymous and the Arab Uprisings
Yasmine Ryan – Al Jazeera,
23 May 2011
The cyberactivists discuss their work and the broader global push for freedom of speech and freedom from oppression – Anonymous’s rapid rise from the depths of geekdom to becoming a catalyst and nerve centre for real-life revolutionaries is one that has taken even some of its own members by surprise. The loosely-knit hive brings anonymous techies, hackers and, increasingly, activists together under a single appellation, united in their non-violent but often illegal collective action.
→ read full article
Iraq’s Abandoned Children (VIDEO OF THE WEEK)
Jane Arraf reports from Baghdad – Al Jazeera,
23 May 2011
Iraq is full of street kids; children with one or both parents killed, or some who have merely been abandoned. It has been estimated that there are now over a million orphans in the country. But there are just four small orphanages in the capital, Baghdad – none of them filled to capacity. The Iraqi government says that relatives would rather abandon children they are unable to take care of, than bear the shame of bringing them to an orphanage.
→ read full articleOrgan Trafficking: ‘Her Heart Was Missing’
Chris Arsenault – Al Jazeera,
23 May 2011
The stories are grim and often impossible to confirm: illicit clinics, corrupt doctors and global networks dealing in human flesh. International organ trafficking is a big business, with an estimated value of $50m in 2008. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated in 2007 that organ trafficking accounts for between five and 10 per cent of kidney transplants performed annually across the globe.
→ read full article
Dirty Money
Steve Levinson, financial journalist – Al Jazeera,
23 May 2011
There has been an economic undercurrent to the recent uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa. The lavish lifestyles enjoyed by dictators have fuelled widespread anger at the way national assets have been looted for the benefit of the few. Why does the international banking system make it so easy for corruption to flourish?
→ read full articleGlencore: Profiteering From Hunger and Chaos
Chris Arsenault – Al Jazeera,
16 May 2011
The world’s largest commodities trader is issuing a stock sale, and critics say the firm causes spikes in food price.Valued at about $60 billion, Glencore controls 50 per cent of the global copper market, 60 per cent of zinc, 38 per cent in alumina, 28 per cent of thermal coal, 45 per cent of lead, almost 10 per cent of the world’s wheat and about one quarter of the world market in barley, sunflower and rape seed. The firm employs about 57,000 people, generated a turnover of $145 billion in the past year and has assets worth more than $79 billion. Based in Baar, Switzerland, where regulation is minimal, the company’s sprawling interests span Bolivian tin mines, Angolan oil, zinc producers in Kazakhstan, Zambian copper mines and Russian wheat operations.
→ read full articleGlobal Capitalism and 21st Century Fascism
William I. Robinson – Al Jazeera,
16 May 2011
As unprecedented economic and environmental degradation continues, right-wing extremists are increasing their power, particularly in the US, according to a professor of global studies at the University of California.
→ read full articleAl Jazeera: One Organisation, Two Messages
Teymoor Nabili – Al Jazeera,
9 May 2011
A few days ago, an article with the above headline appeared on the website of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Penned by David Pollock, the piece has been a metaphorical pebble in my shoe ever since. So here’s an attempt to add some clarity, by pointing out some of the inconsistencies in Pollock’s article.
→ read full article
Barenboim Conducts Peace Concert in Gaza
Khadija Magardie – Al Jazeera,
9 May 2011
The Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim has given his first concert inside Gaza. Barenboim is a lifelong activist for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. He entered the blockaded strip from Egypt, along with an orchestra of top European musicians.
→ read full articlePalestinian Factions in Reconciliation Bid
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 May 2011
Fatah and Hamas agree to form interim government and fix general election date following talks in Cairo. With the US keeping a distance, Israel not delivering the goods on the peace process and the settlements, it was time for Palestinians to come together and agree on what they basically agreed on almost a year and a half ago. Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, said on Wednesday [27 Apr 2011] that “the Palestinian Authority must choose either peace with Israel or peace with Hamas. There is no possibility for peace with both.”
→ read full articleIsrael Withholds Palestinian Cash Transfer
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 May 2011
Israel will hold up an $89 million cash transfer to the Palestinian Authority [PA] planned for this week because of a new unity deal between rival Palestinian factions. “Israel wants assurances that any money transferred to the Palestinians will not reach the militant Hamas organisation, which is set to become part of the Palestinian government,” Yuval Steinitz, the Israeli finance minister, said on Sunday [1 May 2011].
→ read full articleThe Middle East’s Oldest Dictatorship
Marwan Bishara – Al Jazeera,
2 May 2011
As the conventional wisdom goes – especially in the West – Israel is the “only democracy” in the Middle East. However, Israel has been anything but democratic for the indigenous people of the land, the Palestinian Arabs. By nature and precedence, foreign military occupation is temporary. Colonialism on the other hand, and more precisely civilian colonisation, is a socio-political system of ruling over another people.
→ read full articleBoxed In
Andrew Thomas – Al Jazeera,
2 May 2011
Now Australia’s Federal government is demanding cigarettes are sold in ‘plain packaging’. Regardless of brand, those elements of the box not covered by off-putting pictures will have to be olive green – research suggests that’s the colour least appealing to consumers. The name of the brand, and product name, will have to be in a uniform font, in tiny writing at the base of the box. For tobacco companies, this is a big deal. Worldwide, they already operate an ostracised industry.
→ read full article
Bahrain: Below the Radar
Listening Post - Al Jazeera,
25 Apr 2011
Bahrain – a small kingdom cracking down on the media in a big way. Plus, a look at state media in post-revolution Egypt.
→ read full articleBP Anniversary: Toxicity, Suffering and Death
Dahr Jamail – Al Jazeera,
25 Apr 2011
April 20, 2011 marks the one-year anniversary of BP’s catastrophic oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. At least 4.9 million barrels of BP’s oil would eventually be released into the Gulf of Mexico before the well was capped 87 days later. BP has used at least 1.9 million gallons of toxic dispersants to [try unsuccessfully to] sink the oil. Marine and wildlife biologists, toxicologists, and medical doctors have described the impact of the disaster upon the environment and human health as “catastrophic.” This is only the beginning of that what they expect to be an environmental and human health crisis that will likely span decades.
→ read full article
News Media: Rupert Murdoch’s Watergate
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Apr 2011
When a reporter with the British tabloid News of the World was jailed for illegally tapping into the phones of high profile names back in 2007, the newspaper insisted it was the work of a rogue reporter. But as more cases of phone hacking were brought to light and senior News of the World staff members implicated, the company finally conceded that the practice of phone tapping had been widely used within the organisation. It has since publicly apologised to all the victims and has reportedly put around $33mn into a compensation fund. Rupert Murdoch’s Watergate – the phone hacking scandal, the extent of the crime and the implications for News Corp.
→ read full articleRights Groups Slam Bahraini Crackdown
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Apr 2011
“North American and European governments, so vocal recently in espousing the cause of human rights in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt, need also to speak out loudly about what is going on in Bahrain,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s director for the Middle East and North Africa. “To avoid the charge of double standards, they must be much more robust in pressing the Bahraini authorities to uphold their international human rights obligations.”
→ read full articleJapan: Lives under Pressure
D. Parvaz – Al Jazeera,
18 Apr 2011
With its nuclear crisis deemed on par with Chernobyl, Japan is dealing with multiple emergencies.
→ read full articleHooked On Drugs, Medical World Needs Change
Kanya D'Almeida – Al Jazeera,
18 Apr 2011
Although resistant bacteria and viruses may be killed by innovative methods, the focus remains on pharmaceuticals.
→ read full article
American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Apr 2011
American Radical is the probing, definitive documentary about Jewish-American political scientist Norman Finkelstein. A devoted son of holocaust survivors, an ardent critic of Israel and US Middle East policy, Finkelstein has been steadfast at the centre of many intractable controversies, including his denial of tenure at DePaul University. Called a lunatic and self-hating Jew by some and an inspirational street-fighting revolutionary by others, Finkelstein is a deeply polarising figure.
→ read full articlePalestinian PM Hails UN ‘Birth Certificate’
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Apr 2011
Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister, has said that a United Nations endorsement of his administration’s readiness to govern amounts to “a birth certificate” for Palestinian statehood. Fayyad’s comments on Wednesday [13 Apr 2011] came as diplomats and donors met in Brussels to discuss Palestinian state-building efforts and follow a UN report that assessed the Palestinian Authority as “sufficient for a functioning government of a state”.
→ read full articleBrazil: Tensions Escalate Over Amazon Mega Dam
Benjamin Dangl – Al Jazeera,
18 Apr 2011
Indigenous communities say $10bn reservoir in Brazil’s largest rainforest will destroy their way of life.
→ read full articleWikiLeaks: Great Power Rivalry at the UN
Nikolas Kozloff – Al Jazeera,
18 Apr 2011
The UN Security Council is in desperate need for reform, and Brazil is leading the charge – Few would argue that the United Nations Security Council, which has long been dominated by five powers including the United States, China, France, the United Kingdom and Russia, would not benefit from some degree of democratic reform. Indeed, it can hardly be said that the United Nations, which was originally set up in 1945, truly reflects a more diverse 21st century world.
→ read full articleFukushima: A ‘Nuclear Sacrifice Zone’
Dahr Jamail – Al Jazeera,
11 Apr 2011
Some experts believe Japan’s nuclear disaster could become worse than Chernobyl. Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that was heavily damaged by the tsunami from the massive March 11 magnitude 9.0 earthquake continues to spread extremely high levels of radiation into the ocean, ground, and air.
→ read full article
Jesse Ventura: Clandestine US Missions
Riz Khan – Al Jazeera,
11 Apr 2011
Has the US secretly started wars and assassinated leaders? We talk to Jesse Ventura, the former governor of the US state of Minnesota, about his controversial new book, ’63 Documents the Government Doesn’t Want You to Read’. In the book, Ventura has published dozens of previously classified US government papers that seem to suggest Washington may have secretly provoked the Vietnam War, lied to the American people about the actual threat of terrorism and experimented on its own soldiers.
→ read full article
The Arab Uprisings: Intervention, Double Standards and the Affect on Democracy (VIDEO OF THE WEEK)
Riz Khan – Al Jazeera,
4 Apr 2011
Aired on Tue, March 29, 2011 – Panel with Prof. Johan Galtung, ex Israeli ambassador to the US Itamar Rabinovich, and foreign affairs analyst, author Mark Perry. Why are Western nations so keen to intervene in Libya and why are they not coming to the aid of other Arabs facing similar violence?
→ read full article‘I Cried When I Saw Them Marching’
Phil Cain – Al Jazeera,
4 Apr 2011
Roma residents of a Hungarian village describe the far-right vigilante group that has been patrolling their streets – For A Better Future, a paramilitary organisation deriving its name from a Nazi youth movement slogan, entered the village at the start of the month. It conducted foot and car patrols, followed Roma around and stopped them from entering shops. On March 10, the intimidation reached its peak when 1,000 black-uniformed neo-Nazis marched through the village, some reportedly armed with dogs, whips and chains.
→ read full articleCote d’Ivoire: The Forgotten War?
Azad Essa – Al Jazeera,
4 Apr 2011
It reads like a poorly conceived Hollywood film: A national election in some West African nation goes horribly wrong when the sitting president refuses to vacate his position despite losing at the polls. A bloody standoff between forces loyal to the two politicians ensues, catching hundreds in the crossfire and forcing thousands to flee. The incumbent is supported by the army, the internationally recognised new president by a troop of former rebels.
→ read full articleBoycotting Israel … From Within
Mya Guarnieri – Al Jazeera,
4 Apr 2011
Israelis explain why they joined the Boycott Divestment Sanctions movement.
→ read full articleHaiti’s Movement from Below Endures
Jeb Sprague – Al Jazeera,
4 Apr 2011
As twice ousted former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his family were escorted out from the airport tarmac in Port-au-Prince, loud chants of “Titid, Titid, Titid” rose from an ecstatic gathering that filled every space of a causeway leading out from the airport.
→ read full articleRevolutions: What Went Wrong In The West?
Prof. Hayrettin Yucesoy – Al Jazeera,
4 Apr 2011
The fact that various components of the civil society staged the revolutions has been a matter of grief for some. Had “Islamic fundamentalism”, as a scholarly as well as media construct, played a major role in these revolutions, they would have affirmed the forecast, fit the existing paradigm, and therefore validated the traditional analyses. However, the paradigm utterly failed.
→ read full articlePalestine Comes to Hollywood
Sandy Tolan – Al Jazeera,
28 Mar 2011
Despite its flaws, ‘Miral’ marks the first time anyone has tried to tell just a Palestinian story in Hollywood.
→ read full articleHuge Payout over US Priests Sex-Scandals
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Mar 2011
The Pacific Northwest chapter of the Roman Catholic Church’s Jesuit order has agreed to pay $166 million to settle more than 500 child sexual abuse claims against priests in five states, attorneys have said.
→ read full articleLibya Intervention Threatens the Arab Spring
Phyllis Bennis – Al Jazeera,
28 Mar 2011
Ironically, one of the reasons many people supported the call for a no-fly zone was the fear that if Gaddafi managed to crush the Libyan people”s uprising and remain in power, it would send a devastating message to other Arab dictators: Use enough military force and you will keep your job. Instead, it turns out that just the opposite may be the result: It was after the UN passed its no-fly zone and use-of-force resolution, and just as US, British, French and other warplanes and warships launched their attacks against Libya, that other Arab regimes escalated their crack-down on their own democratic movements.
→ read full articleFresh Blast at Japan Nuclear Plant
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Mar 2011
Mon 14 Mar 2011 – A second explosion rocked Japan’s stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex, sending a plume of smoke into the air and touching off fresh concerns of radioactive leak in the quake and tsunami-hit country. The International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] said on Monday the reactor has not been damaged. Tokyo Electric Power Co [TEPCO], the plant operator, in a press release said, it was believed to be a hydrogen explosion at the plant’s No.3 reactor and that 11 workers were injured.
→ read full articleIndia ‘World’s Biggest Arms Buyer’
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Mar 2011
India has overtaken China to become the world’s largest importer of weapons, according to a Swedish think-tank that monitors global arms sales. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute report said India was pushing ahead with plans to modernise its military in an effort to counter China’s influence and gain international clout.
→ read full articleLivni’s Guidance on Arab Democracy
Robert Grenier – Al Jazeera,
14 Mar 2011
Tzipi Livni’s disingeuous calls for a “code” on all democracies.
→ read full articleA Middle East without Borders?
Mohammed Khan - Al Jazeera,
7 Mar 2011
The modern geography of the Middle East was carved out by British and French colonialists whose sole interest was in sharing the spoils of war between themselves and in maintaining their supremacy over the region in the early part of the 20th century. The contours of the region, with its immaculately straight lines (see maps of Algeria, Libya, Egypt and Sudan) are much the same today as when they were first drawn up, despite decades of cross-border encroachment and conflict.
→ read full articleHistory’s Shifting Sands
Mark LeVine – Al Jazeera,
7 Mar 2011
The revolutions sweeping the Arab world indicate a tectonic shift in the global balance of people power. For decades, even centuries, the peoples of the Arab world have been told by Europeans and, later, Americans that their societies were stagnant and backward. According to Lord Cromer, author of the 1908 pseudo-history Modern Egypt, their progress was “arrested” by the very fact of their being Muslim, by virtue of which their minds were as “strange” to that of a modern Western man “as would be the mind of an inhabitant of Saturn”.
→ read full articleBrazil’s ‘Lessons’ For Arab Rebels
Chris Arsenault – Al Jazeera,
7 Mar 2011
Countries transitioning to democracy need to reduce economic inequality, says Brazil’s former foreign minister. During Brazil’s two decades of military dictatorship, it would have been unthinkable that a female former revolutionary would lead the country in the 21st century. And, while he refused to directly give advice to Egyptians, Bahrainis, Tunisians or Libyans, Brazil’s experiences appear to have some parallels with the developments underway in the region today.
→ read full articleDemocracy Is No Panacea
Lev Grinberg – Al Jazeera,
7 Mar 2011
It will be harder for the people of the Arab world to uproot a corrupt economic regime than to topple a dictator.
→ read full articleThe Project for a New Arab Century
Mohammed Khan – Al Jazeera,
28 Feb 2011
The birth pangs of a new Middle East are being felt, but not in the way many outsiders envisioned.
→ read full articleThe South African Scourge
Jonah Hull – Al Jazeera,
28 Feb 2011
Sexual attacks against lesbians, ostensibly to cure them of their ‘unAfrican’ predilection, are on the rise.
→ read full articleAnonymous and the Global Correction
Anonymous – Al Jazeera,
21 Feb 2011
A loosely organised group of hackers has been targeting oppressive regimes and has said this is just the beginning.
→ read full articleClimate: Putting People over Money
Dahr Jamail – Al Jazeera,
21 Feb 2011
Facing climate change, a social movement in El Salvador fights mass flooding and the toxic burning of cane fields. While debate about whether climate change is real or not continues in the US, the world’s leading producer of CO2 emissions per capita, those already living with the effects, like Jose Domingo Cruz in El Salvador, don’t have time to debate.
→ read full article
Islamaphobia ‘on the rise’ in Australia
Andrew Thomas – Al Jazeera,
21 Feb 2011
Australia often bills itself as a multicultural country – but the relationship between new and old residents is not always a smooth one. Al Jazeera’s Andrew Thomas takes a look at how the latest immigration debate is affecting the country’s Muslim community.
→ read full articleUS Vetoes UN Draft on Settlements
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
21 Feb 2011
The US has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have condemned Israeli settlements as “illegal” and called for an immediate halt to all settlement building. All 14 other Security Council members voted in favour of the resolution, which was backed by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), on Friday [18 Feb 2011].
→ read full articleMexican Media’s Balancing Act
John Holman – Al Jazeera,
21 Feb 2011
Experts say the Mexican press walk a fine line between censoring their reporting and balancing their revenues.
→ read full article
Lies That Launched a War
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
21 Feb 2011
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was sanctioned largely because of claims the country had weapons of mass destruction. The source of some of the alleged intelligence behind the claims was an Iraqi defector living in Germany, someone who has now admitted the evidence he submitted was false.
→ read full article
UK Firms Blamed for Food Price Hike
Laurence Lee – Al Jazeera,
21 Feb 2011
Banks and hedge funds in London are coming under increasing scrutiny over their practice of speculating on food prices. The allegation is that financial institutions are buying up vast stocks of food, thereby forcing prices to rise. This comes as food costs are increasing the world over.
→ read full articleUS Economics: One Big Ponzi Scheme
Danny Schechter – Al Jazeera,
21 Feb 2011
While Bernie Madoff languishes in jail, bankers continue to profit as the poor lose their homes and hope. What is clear is that ripping off the rich is punished far more severely than ripping off the poor.
→ read full articleHaiti Issues Passport for Aristide
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Feb 2011
Move paves the way for the ousted president to return from exile ahead of a March 20 presidential runoff election.
→ read full articleFAQ: The Palestine Papers
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
7 Feb 2011
What are these papers? Why are they in English? We answer the most common questions.
→ read full articleA Tale of Two Protests
Mohammed Khan – Al Jazeera,
7 Feb 2011
The subdued US reaction to events in Egypt sits in sharp contrast to its previous support for Iranian protesters. Cast your minds back to June 2009 and the aftermath of Iran’s disputed presidential elections. Months of unrest following the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and severe crackdowns meted out by the state security apparatus captured the airwaves not only in the Middle East but across the globe.
→ read full articleHaiti Allows Ex-President’s Return
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
7 Feb 2011
Haiti’s government has said it was ready to issue a new passport to Jean-Bertrand Aristide, former president, to would allow him to return to his country after almost seven years in exile in South Africa. “The government will give assurances that as soon as it receives such a request, it will be swiftly granted,” the information ministry said in a statement on Monday [31 Jan 2011].
→ read full articleMisunderstanding Israeli Motives
Alistair Crooke – Al Jazeera,
31 Jan 2011
Why is there no Palestinian state? Because the Israeli government’s objective is not a Jewish state, but a Zionist one.
→ read full articlePalestine Papers Stir Global Reaction
Laila Al-Arian – Al Jazeera,
31 Jan 2011
Al Jazeera’s release on Sunday [23 Jan 2011] of the Palestine Papers, a trove of documents related to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, has led to reaction throughout the world.
→ read full articleVatican Abuse Cover-Up Bid Revealed
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Jan 2011
Irish broadcaster RTE have uncovered a 1997 letter from the Vatican discouraging Ireland’s Catholic bishops from reporting on all suspected child-abuse cases to police. The letter, revealed on Wednesday [19 Jan 2011], documents the church’s emphasis to handle in-house all child-abuse allegations and determine punishments instead of delegating that responsibility over to civil authorities.
→ read full articleUS Should Recognise Palestine
MJ Rosenberg – Al Jazeera,
24 Jan 2011
If the US is serious about peace, it should follow the current trend and recognise Palestinian statehood in 2011.
→ read full articleCIA-Trained ‘Terrorist’ in US Court
Chris Arsenault – Al Jazeera,
24 Jan 2011
Accused of killing 73 in an airline bombing, Luis Posada Carriles charged with immigration violations, not terrorism.
→ read full articleGuyana Recognises Palestinian State
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Jan 2011
Guyana is latest Latin American country to state a commitment to the “legitimate aspirations” of Palestinians.
→ read full articleAn Insider’s Critique of What Went Wrong in Haiti
Gabriel Elizondo – Al Jazeera,
17 Jan 2011
You will be hard pressed to find a man anywhere more passionate about the plight of the Haitian people than Ricardo Seitenfus. The Brazilian professor of international affairs first went to Haiti in 1993 and the warmth of the Haitian people – combined with their immense struggle – has been drawing Seitenfus back to the island nation like a magnet ever since his first trip. Seitenfus has authored a book about the country, as well over a dozen other publications about international affairs. Seitenfus feels so connected to Haiti, he often doesn’t even realise he refers to the country as “we,” not as “they” or “it.”
→ read full articleIllnesses Linked to BP Oil Disaster
Dahr Jamail – Al Jazeera,
10 Jan 2011
Doctor attributes widespread sickness to toxic chemicals from the Gulf of Mexico catastrophe.
→ read full article
One on One – Johan Galtung
Riz Khan – Al Jazeera,
10 Jan 2011
Johan Galtung, considered the father of peace studies, discusses why he dedicated his life to waging peace in the world.
→ read full articleHopes of Gaza Cast in Lead
Richard Falk – Al Jazeera,
10 Jan 2011
Israel is gearing up for another major offensive into Gaza, yet the world community still remains bafflingly silent. The influential Israeli journalist, Ron Ren-Yishai, writes on December 29, 2010, of the likely prospect of a new major IDF attack, quoting senior Israeli military officers as saying “It’s not a question of if, but rather of when,” a view that that is shared, according to Ren-Yishai, by “government ministers, Knesset members and municipal heads in the Gaza region”.
→ read full articlePalestine: Recognising the State
John V. Whitbeck – Al Jazeera,
3 Jan 2011
International lawyer and author analyses the quality as well quantity of the states that recognise Palestine.
→ read full articleDrug Gang ‘Threatens Guatemala War’
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
3 Jan 2011
Group claiming to belong to Zetas cartel issues warning on radio broadcasts after Guatemalan forces launch crackdown.
→ read full articleZapatistas: The War with no Breath?
Chris Arsenault – Al Jazeera,
3 Jan 2011
The poverty-stricken people of Chiapas are still marginalised and experiencing great hardship, 17 years after rebellion.
→ read full article
Israel’s Unequal Policy Slammed
Nour Odeh - Al Jazeera,
27 Dec 2010
A new report by Human Rights Watch has slammed Israel’s treatment of Palestinian communities in the West Bank. It says Israel is using a two-tier system to promote illegal settlements, while deliberately stifling Palestinian development.
→ read full article
Hollywood and the War Machine
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Dec 2010
Empire examines the symbiotic relationship between the movie industry and the military-industrial complex.
→ read full articleThe Palestinian ‘Legitimacy War’
Prof. Richard Falk – Al Jazeera,
27 Dec 2010
These ideas [Nuremberg Principles] underlie the recent prosecution of geopolitical pariahs such as Saddam Hussein or Slobodan Milosevic, and several African tyrannical figures. But when it comes to the lead political actors, as understood by the American-led hegemonic hierarchy, the leadership of the rest of the world enjoys impunity, in effect, an exemption from accountability to international criminal law.
→ read full articleDon’t Go, Don’t Kill!
Cindy Sheehan – Al Jazeera,
27 Dec 2010
The recent repeal of the US military policy of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” is far from being the human rights advancement some are touting it to be. I find it intellectually dishonest, in fact, illogical on any level to associate human rights with any military, let alone one that is currently dehumanising two populations as well as numerous other victims of it’s clandestine “security” policies.
→ read full article