President Barack Obama, looked terribly distressed at the vigil to commemorate the victims, twenty of whom were children. Obama's words, as well as his emotions, were sincere. He said The majority of those who died today were children, beautiful little kids between the ages of five and ten years old..They had their entire lives ahead of... Continue Reading →
UN resolutions, Palestine, Israel and trimming the tree: when fear of demography matters
Today many Palestinians and people believing in justice and the right to self-determination are celebrating the overwhelming vote to recognise Palestine as a non-member state. This was a clear message that the world (or at least the UN represented world) sent to the US, Israel and allies that enough is enough. Indeed, had the UN been a real... Continue Reading →
From anthropology to politics: the myth of the fundamentalist Arab Muslim mind
Many would have noticed that western leaders and countries seem to shift from one position to another about the wave of revolts in the Middle East and Arab world. One prime example: Tony Blair, who incidentally is the official envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East, shifted from praising Mubarak on Wednesday 2 February... Continue Reading →
British Prisons and terrorism: the foretold failure
A few days ago, the head of MI5 Jonathan Evans has undertaken the unusual step of revealing, among other aspects linked to the security of the UK, his own concerns that a number of soon-to-be-freed inmates are still 'committed extremists and likely to return to terrorist activities.' As an anthropologist who has conducted one of... Continue Reading →
Gaza: bad politics needs blood
Palestinians in Gaza are again living another nightmare. The world, however, appears less interested than usual. Dead Palestinians are common products on the international political markets at least last since 1967. As many may have observed, I have rarely commented or written about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. I am not a political scientist and I think that too much has been said... Continue Reading →