Ali Abunimah

Palestinians on Abbas: Taking a wait and see approach

Ali Abunimah 29 April 2003

The appointment of Mahmoud Abbas as Palestinian prime minister has been welcomed in the United States as a boost to prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Despite Palestinians’ doubts about Abbas and the ‘road map,’ many are willing to give the process a chance. There are serious questions, however, about whether the Bush administration is willing to expend the political capital to face down the vigorous campaign by Israel and its supporters in the U.S. to derail the road map and any chance of peace it may contain. EI’s Ali Abunimah takes a look at the issues. 

Leaked document exposes pro-Israel lobby's manipulation of US public

Ali Abunimah 25 April 2003


The Electronic Intifada has obtained, and today publishes in full, a document prepared for pro-Israel activists by the public relations firm The Luntz Research Companies and The Israel Project. The document spells out the tactics that Israel and its US advocates should use to maintain support for Israel and its hardline policies. Introduction by EI’s Ali Abunimah. 

NPR ignores Israeli attack on school, killing of two

Ali Abunimah 24 April 2003

On 24 April, Israeli occupation forces opened fire on school children near Ramallah, killing a student and a taxi driver, and injuring several others. Also, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up and an Israeli security guard. National Public Radio reported only on the latter, demonstrating an incredible double standard, as EI’s Ali Abunimah writes. 

The men who are selling Palestine

Ali Abunimah 23 April 2003

Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli and US-backed Palestinian “prime minister” is locked in a dispute with Yasser Arafat over the formation of a cabinet. The key sticking point is Abbas’ insistence that Muhammad Dahlan be placed in charge of security. Abbas and Dahlan have been enjoying a positive press in the United States recently as well as the support of George W. Bush. What is forgotten is that Abbas and Dahlan are steeped in the very corruption which they are supposedly expected to fight. Abbas has been chosen, writes EI’s Ali Abunimah, not to bring a better future, but because he represents a past in which Palestine’s rights are traded for private profit. 

Armed with principles

Ali Abunimah 22 April 2003


At the beginning of Israel’s crackdown on the Palestinians, we could anguish at the deaths of strangers, like 12-year-old Muhammad al-Durra, or the innocent Israeli teenagers murdered in 2001 by a Palestinian suicide bomber at a Tel Aviv discotheque. Almost two years later, with victims mounting, no one has the emotional capacity to mourn for so many. But the killing of Corrie, and the shooting of Avery and Hurndall, renew for me the sense of personal anguish at the fate of strangers. EI founder Ali Abunimah comments on recent events. 

War in Iraq and Israeli occupation: A devastating resonance

Ali Abunimah and Hussein Ibish 28 March 2003


For almost three years Arabs have been subjected to daily images of Palestinians being killed by Israeli occupation forces in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. They see the United States not only doing nothing to stop this, but continuing to supply Israel with high-tech weapons, particularly Apache attack helicopters. Now they see those same Apache helicopters bringing war to Iraq. The spectacle of an American occupation of Iraq may dovetail in the minds of many with the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, and be seen as an American extension in Iraq of what Israel is doing to the Palestinians. EI’s Ali Abunimah and ADC Communications Director Hussein Ibish ask what it will take to mitigate the damage. 

Why Israel is so excited about "prime minister" Abu Mazen

Ali Abunimah 15 March 2003


Mahmoud Abbas (“Abu Mazen”) Under intense pressure, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has appointed a Palestinian “prime minister.” EI’s Ali Abunimah writes that popular objections to this move stem both from the notion of introducing a “prime minister” in the context of an endless foreign military occupation, and the notoriously corrupt character of the person Arafat chose for the job. 

AIPAC, ADL refuse to condemn inclusion of ethnic cleansers in new Israel government

Ali Abunimah 3 March 2003

Leading pro-Israeli organizations in the United States have pointedly refused to condemn Ariel Sharon’s inclusion in his new government of the National Union alliance parties whose members ran for election on a platform openly advocating the “transfer” – or ethnic cleansing – of the Palestinians. EI’s Ali Abunimah phoned up the leading US pro-israel groups, AIPAC and ADL to find out why they were remaining silent about policies that fit the international legal definition of genocide. 

US media ignore Sharon's embrace of ethnic cleansers in new Israeli cabinet

Ali Abunimah, Michael F. Brown and Nigel Parry 3 March 2003


The inclusion in the new Israeli government of the racist National Union, which openly calls for the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians, received muted coverage in the US media and passed largely without comment. EI co-founders Ali Abunimah and Nigel Parry, and regular EI contributor Michael Brown analyse how the US media mishandled the story in this coverage trend.