USA
March 2021 – The Republicans have become the party of anger and grievance. Their rage is amplified by the conservative media and gun rights associations. This is bad news for society.
How not to fight extremist in America
March 2021 – A sudden lurch from ignoring or underplaying the threat of right-wing extremism in America to treating white crusaders like jihadis and QAnon like al-Qaeda will set off the insurgency timebomb rather than defuse it.
The heroes fighting online hate speech
February 2021 – Donald Trump’s latest impeachment throws a spotlight on the politics of grievance, the role of social media and the dangers of hate speech spilling over into real life. Fortunately, the pushback has started.
January 2021 – There was a certain poetic justice to Donald Trump’s undoing. I’d even call it Shakespearean.
Ancient Egypt: A pyramid scheme that worked
January 2021 – Spanning some three millennia of recorded history, Ancient Egyptians built a state to last. What was behind this success and what can we learn from it? Quite a few surprising lessons, in fact.
November 2020 – With Biden elected, Rebekah Crawford, like much of America, is waking up from being in an abusive relationship. Sadly, millions of Americans did not mind Trump’s racism, corruption and abuse of power.
Trump is terrible but Europe and the Middle East have racism too
November 2020 – Outside America, Donald Trump has provoked near universal outrage and dismay. However, Europeans and Middle Easterners must not forget the racism closer to home.
My fellow Americans, socialism is not an insult
October 2020 – I may never be able to convince a Trump voter not to vote for Trump, but I can tell them what it’s like for an American to live with “socialist” healthcare and education in Europe.
Billionaires and the welfare of nations
June 2020 – The super rich are leaving only the scraps for everyone else to fight over, which is fuelling a mounting wave of intolerance as minorities and migrants are scapegoated for falling wellbeing. For the welfare of all, we must end these stark wealth inequalities before it leads to unmanageable social unrest.
The shocking similarities between white supremacy and Islamist extremism
March 2019 – Despite their conviction that they are polar opposites, white supremacists and Islamist extremists share much in common, including a hatred of minorities and the enemies within, a persecution complex, and nostalgia for past glories.
Ending America’s arms race with… America
December 2018 – America’s addiction to weapons is destructive abroad and at home. Time to end this devastating arms race.
Steve Bannon is being amplified, not silenced
December 2018 – By providing Steve Bannon with an uncritical solo platform, the Oxford Union has failed in its mission as a forum of free and fair debate, succumbing instead to tabloid sensationalism.
October 2018 – Western inaction against Saudi Arabia is emboldening the region’s regimes to clamp down harder on dissent. But by silencing peaceful and constructive change, Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern regimes are paving the way to violent and destructive rage.
America’s got 99 problems… but Russia ain’t the main one
July 2018 – The assault on American democracy and its global standing originated not in Moscow but in Washington, and across the length and breadth of the United States. Like the Soviet Empire before it, America is crumbling under the weight of its own contradictions.
Did Obama navigate Israeli-Palestinian negotiations without a map?
July 2018 – The Obama administration was reportedly unaware of the true extent of Israeli settlement activity. This reveals either a monumental level of ignorance or a post-facto attempt to justify the failure of the Kerry peace initiative.
Bernard Lewis and the non-existent clash of civilisations
May 2018 – Bernard Lewis was the orientalist scholar of choice for American neo-conservatives. His dangerous ‘clash of civilisations‘ theory was not only wrong but caused enormous damage in the Middle East.
Alt-jihad – Part II: Delusions of grandeur and persecution
April 2018 – In the second in a series of articles exploring the disturbing parallels between radical Islamic and White/Christian extremism, Khaled Diab examines the far-right’s dual sense of superiority and inferiority, as well as its persecution complex.
Alt-jihad – Part I: Dying to kill
March 2018 – In the first of a series of articles exploring the disturbing parallels between radical Islamic and White/Christian extremism, Khaled Diab examines whether far-right suicide attackers could become a phenomenon.
December 2017 – In their reactions to Donald Trump’s hypocritical Jerusalem declaration, many Arab and Muslims leaders have exhibited their own grotesque double standards.
Donald Trump: Universal scapegoat
December 2017 – Donald Trump is possibly the worst American president in history, but that does not give the rest of the political establishment a get-out-of-jail-free card when it comes to taking responsibility for the mess the world is in.
Post-ISIS Mosul, pt 1: The final death of a city?
December 2017 – Its building turned to dust, its citizens traumatised and impoverished, Mosul may have been ‘liberated’ from ISIS but it has become a graveyard. Can this razed and devastated city ever be free again?
A US embassy in Jerusalem changes nothing and everything
December 2017 – Donald Trump’s announcement on Jerusalem changes nothing on the ground but everything on the horizon. It is the final death certificate of the peace process. Now it’s time for something completely different.
Foreign tourists vote to thump Trump’s America
October 2017 – Left without a say in the election of Donald Trump, a new breed of conscientious objectors are making their mark on the USA. Foreign tourists are voting with their feet and going elsewhere.
Give Donald Trump a Nobel prize
October 2017 – It is outrageous that the fake news media is not outraged that Donald Trump has been left empty handed at this year’s Nobel awards. This oversight must be rectified next year.
Muslim women in short skirts and the Tunisia paradox
September 2017 – Bombing Afghanistan will not bring back women in short skirts, rather it will only empower men in short skirts (beards and long trousers). The path to gender equality lies in internal reform, as Tunisia demonstrates.
Donald Trump’s terrifying Middle East playbook
January 2017 – America’s decision to democratically elect a dictator has Middle Eastern reformers bewildered, but the region’s despots are celebrating Donald Trump’s victory – a sure sign of troubling times ahead.
White supremacy’s inferiority complex
December 2016 – For an ideology which claims to stand at the pinnacle of humanity, white supremacy exhibits a paranoid sense of inferiority and persecution.
What happens when science fiction crosses into science fact?
November 2016 – Cloaking devices are the stuff of magic realms and deep-space exploration, not real life. Think again! Making photonic chips invisible to one another could pave the way to computing at the speed of light.
The generous of the earth in the most wretched of places
September 2016 – If you’re feeling dejected by the troubled times we live in, remember that human generosity lives on, even in the most wretched of places.
The mirage of the meek Muslim woman
August 2016 – Incurable misogynist Donald Trump has Muslim women all wrong. They are not silent and submissive.
March 2016 – Despite Donald Trump and Ted Cruz’s aversion to Islam, their own beloved Bible contains troubling “Christian values” of war, misogyny and homophobia.
January 2016 – Despite all the hype, white supremacists and anti-government extremists are the main homegrown terror threat in the United States.
Yassin al-Haj Saleh: “Syria is a unique symbol of injustice, apathy and amnesia”
January 2016 – In an exclusive interview, prominent Syrian writer and dissident Yassin al-Haj Saleh talks about Syria’s past, tragic present and uncertain future.
Western Muslims: The neglected link
January 2016 – Despite their under-utilisation and the suspicion they elicit, European and American Muslims can help bridge the chasm between “West” and “East”.
November 2015 – The UN Security Council has a long track record of failing to resolve conflicts. Now it is also in danger of bringing the major powers to blows.
October 2015 – The “peace of the brave” has given way to the peace of the grave. It’s time to abandon Oslo in favour of a civil rights struggle for equality.
Circassian beauties and the ugly face of race
July 2015 – The curious cases of Rachel Dolezal and the Circassian ladies show just how meaningless race is, while Dylann Roof underlines the dangers of racism.
A ‘War on Error’ against radical anti-Islam
May 2015 – Given how many New Atheists, Christian fundamentalists and neo-cons share a distorted view of Islam and Muslims, it’s high time for a War on Error.
May 2015 – Failing to acknowledge the legacy of slavery on all our modern societies makes the present an unnecessary slave to history.
Netanyahu and the Middle East: The risky business of “business as usual”
March 2015 – Netanyahu’s re-election promises “business as usual”. But this is an extremely risky venture on the Iranian-Israeli and Israeli-Palestinian fronts.
Promised lands and chosen peoples
July 2014 – Protestants are the chosen people and Western Europe and America their Promised Lands, according to Israelism and Christian Zionism.
Bush, Blair en de blitzkrieg in Irak
Juni 2014 – Gezien de verreikende gevolgen van de Amerikaanse invasie van Irak, laten we het idee om Bush en Blair voor het gerecht te brengen nieuw leven inblazen.
June 2014 – The US invasion and occupation caused Iraq to implode into anarchy and then explode into civil war. For that reason, its architects must be prosecuted.
Gunship diplomacy, rockets and Gaza’s forgotten tragedy
March 2014 – The other tragedies make it is easy to forget Gaza. But with a humanitarian crisis and rising tensions, it’s time to end the Israeli-Egyptian blockade.
March 2014 – In just a single decade, Egypt has lost more than $20 billion in trade mispricing alone, not to mention other forms of tax evasion.
Egypt’s return of the “noble” outlaws
February 2014 – Three years after a revolution against Mubarak-era cronyism, fugitive tycoons are scrambling to buy back their freedom… at knock-down prices.
January 2014 – As John Kerry’s efforts appear doomed, Palestinian and Israeli peace activists are left with an impossible challenge: peace how? Ask the people.
January 2014 – In Egypt, both the military and the Muslim Brotherhood accuse each other of being American stooges while discreetly courting Washington.
A peace of the people, by the people, for the people
December 2013 – Palestinians and Israelis don’t need more US diplomacy but a people’s peace process… and this requires mutual understanding and humanisation.
Egypt’s revolution in the breaking
October 2013 – Although Egypt has been eclipsed on the Western media radar, it remains caught in a deadly bind between popular jingoism and religious demagoguery.
Angela’s angels and the political patriarchy
October 2013 – Despite the “Merkel miracle”, the political patriarchy remains strong. However, more women are exploiting and even defying it to lead their countries.
Syria needs joint Arab action to end violence
September 2013 – It is up to the Arab world to stop the bloodshed in Syria – unlikely as this may sound, and despite Arab League failure so far.
US intervention in Syria: Not kind, but cruel
September 2013 – Punishing a dictator for killing his own people by killing yet more of them is not the answer. It didn’t work in Iraq, and it won’t work in Syria.
Egypt’s rebels who lost their cause
September 2013 – Can the political alliance between Tamarod and the Egyptian military last, especially as the movement turns on the army’s benefactor, Washington?
Israel, the puppet master with no strings
August 2013 – Why is Israel, despite being a minor player, is seen by so many Egyptians and others in the region as the master puppeteer behind the crisis in Egypt?
May 2013 – Those who fear Muslim influence should raise a glass to the Sultan of Style when they freshen up, don the latest fashions or enjoy dining out.
May 2013 – A shop called Hitler in Egypt raises some uncomfortable questions about Arab perceptions of the Nazi dictator.
America and Europe’s real “homegrown terrorism” threat
The Boston marathon bombings have refocused attention on the threat of “homegrown terrorism”. But there is a much more dangerous domestic threat.
The clash within civilisations
March 2013 – This year marks the 20th anniversary of the clash of civilizations theory, but Samuel P Huntington was wrong.
Obama, enough listening, it’s time to act
March 2013 – Barack Obama’s plan to “listen” when he visits Israel and Palestine is not enough, the US president must take act to launch a people’s peace process.
Gay pride (and prejudice) through the ages
February 2013 – Historic examples of homosexuality being tolerated by Judaism, Christianity and Islam can help overcome homophobia and reinvent these faiths.
Half-baked rules undermine community spirit
January 2013 – A little story about itsy-bitsy rules has big ramifications on the sort of society we live in, our attitudes to authority and how a home-baked biscuit can make all the difference!
December 2012 – Sinterklaas (Santa Claus) brings joy to millions in the Low Countries. But his dark-faced helpers, Zwarte Pieten, are racist and a colonial throwback.
September 2012 – There is no conflict between Islam and the West – only clashes of interests between and within them. But there is a very real mash of civilisations.
Aanslag op Amerikaans consulaat in Benghazi valt niet uit de lucht
September 2012 – De aanslag op het consulaat in Benghazi was geen verrassing. De voortekens waren al lang zichtbaar.
Sex and the citizen in Egypt and America
January 2012 – Fundamentalists in America and Egypt are obsessed with “virtue “and “vice”. But the rise of Islamists threatens to bind Egyptian women in a moral vice.
November 2011 – Palestinian ‘freedom riders’ defiantly boarded a bus to Jerusalem. So is the next stop for the Palestinian struggle a mass civil rights movement?
9/12: Turning over a new leaf in the Middle East
September 2011 – On the 10th anniversary of the day after 9/11, it is high time to trash the ‘clash of civilisations’ theory and the ‘war on terror‘ and start a new chapter in the West’s relationship with the new Middle East.
America’s missed opportunity in Egypt
1 February 2011 – There’s no reason to believe that the uprising will bring radical Islamists to power – so why isn’t the US supporting it?
December 2010 – Animal rights activists are calling for global vegetarianism, but the Middle East is not ready to sacrifice its meat-eating lifestyle.
November 2010 – Islamophobia is common in western society, so the classroom is a good place to start combating it.
The rise of far-right politics on both sides of the Atlantic
November 2010 – On KALW’s weekly media round table, Khaled Diab took part in a radio debate on the rise of far-right politics on both sides of the Atlantic.
November 2010 – Some in the west are more likely to believe in elves in Middle Earth than in Arab men in the Middle East who are secular and do not oppress women.
October 2010 – Should organisations raising money for foreign militaries or to perpetuate occupations enjoy charitable status?
August 2010 – Most journalists dread crunching data. But finding narratives among the numbers is part of journalism’s mandate. Luckily, there are tools to help.
July 2010 – A return to an ancestral homeland is a dream that’s long inspired diasporas – often with troubling results.
May 2010 – An Arab-American Miss USA may have put Muslim beauty on the western map, but let’s also recall all those women of courage and talent.
Miss USA 2010 and an Islamic cover-up
May 2010 – Rima Fakih’s Miss USA win is welcomed by many Arab-Americans, but some neocons denounce it as a sinister Islamic plot.
May 2010 – Fancy a beer company with your pint? For a few painful minutes, the value of many major US companies hit zero. And computers may share the blame.
May 2010 – The chair of a leading multinational claims that Europeans do not work hard enough and do not value work enough. I beg to differ.
سبيل للخروج من فوضى الشرق الأوسط
يناقش خالد دياب بأن انتشار الأسلحة النووية سوف يستمر طالما استمرّينا في التعامل مع ترسانة إسرائيل النووية
A way out of the Middle East’s critical mess
May 2010 – As Barack Obama seeks to tackle the proliferation of nuclear weapons, it is high time for Israel to dismantle its nuclear arsenal.
March 2010 – In South Dakota, everyone knows that the climate is just right – and that global warming is just the hot air of science.
The naked truth about body scanners
February 2010 – Airport body scanners are being touted as the latest anti-terroism wizadry. But do they actually work and are they worth the invasion in privacy?
February 2010 – Big corporations are using the banking crisis as an excuse for exploiting cheap labour. Is it time for a global minimum wage?
January 2010 – From ‘gay girls’ to ‘shagging flies’, the changing meaning of English words causes no end of confusion.
Should America fear a democratic Egypt?
January 2010 – The depiction of Egypt as a country of religious fanatics who await a breeze of freedom to turn Egypt into a radical regime is far from accurate.
November 2009 – As the singer prepares to visit Egypt, Christian and Muslim fundamentalists agree: Beyoncé is the root of all evil.
التسوية الفلسطينية عبر الصندوق الانتخابي
قد حان الوقت لمحمود عباس أن يذهب بكرامته وفتح المجال للشعب لكي يقررعبر صندوق الاقتراع
Palestinian reconciliation through the ballot box
October 2009 – To break the destructive deadlock between Fatah and Hamas, Mahmoud Abbas should step down as Palestinian president, call immediate elections and organise referenda on the future course of the Palestinian struggle.
Middle East: a Belgian solution?
October 2009 – Northern Ireland offers one model for Israeli-Palestinian peace. But a dose of Belgian pragmatism wouldn’t go amiss either.
Huff and puff brought the economic house down
October 2009 – How the Mr Bigs and their biglettes unwittingly brought down the world’s economies – and the hotly contested prize for ‘America’s worst investor’.
Is Mubarak really a force of stability?
September 2009 – Providing more legitimate access to power should be the way to guarantee security and stability in Egypt.
Who’s responsible for the Arab world’s mess?
August 2009 – A UN report has reignited the controversy over who is to blame for the sorry state of the Arab world: Arabs or the West?
July 2009- Wacky conspiracy theories cause damage by drawing attention away from the real plots being hatched by our governments.
Is Obama’s change simply cosmetic?
June 2009 – Obama may gain some trust, but America’s deceptive belief that it is not an empire condemns its leader to repeating old mistakes.
Grassroots change we CAN believe in
June 2009 – One of Barack Obama’s winning campaign slogans was “change we can believe in”. And with his presidency, everything has changed and nothing has changed when it comes to US foreign policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
تغيير على مستوى الجذور نستطيع أن نؤمن به
كان أحد شعارات حملة باراك أوباما الناجحة “تغيير نستطيع أن نؤمن به”. ومع توليه الرئاسة، تغير كل شيء، إلا أن شيئاً لم يتغير بالنسبة لسياسة الولايات المتحدة الخارجية تجاه النزاع الإسرائيلي الفلسطيني
January 2009 – Governments need to rethink their economy policies to make them more equitable and responsive to citizens’ needs.
January 2009 – Is there any chance that George W Bush will ever face indictment for his alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity?
December 2008 – An Iraqi journalist expressed his contempt for President Bush in a manner familiar in the Arab world: by throwing his shoes.
November 2008 – If we suspend scepticism and take up Barack Obama’s invitation to dream of change, what Middle East can the audacity of hope help to forge?
What’s the difference between Obama and an Arab?
October 2008 – John McCain has furnished compelling proof that Barack Obama is not an Arab: the Democrat is a family man.
August 2008 – Does Obama’s choice of running mate mean he’s shaping up to be just another establishment candidate for the White House?
August 2008 – If Barack Obama were a pop star, he would be a jazz musician or a rapper, not a Britney Spears. And to prove it, BaRock should release an election rap, UnPrezidented.
