Chris Doyle
Arab News
United Kingdom
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Past articles by Chris:
Defending Al-Aqsa against injustice
For months, even passing observers of the Israel-Palestine conflict have been able to predict the next escalation. The conjunction of Ramadan and Passover, the anniversary of last year’s conflagration in East Jerusalem and then Gaza and the heightened tensions of the past few months made this a racing certainty. Clashes at Al-Aqsa, therefore, were neither unpredicted nor → Read More
Expose of Israeli apartheid systems that cannot be dismissed as antisemitic smear
Even before the 280-page report was published, the screams of fury, the smears and the lies deluged the online world. It was the overblown outrage at a report from Amnesty International that adds the global human rights organization to a lengthening list of those who have determined that Israel operates a system of apartheid and has perpetrated the crime of apartheid on → Read More
An imperfect deal that is far better than no deal
A Christmas Eve deal many thought might never come. European and British negotiators have, after nine months, agreed on a mammoth free-trade deal covering a value of £660 billion ($894.76 billion). “The clock is no longer ticking,” declared Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator who has labored for four years on these deals, and waded through all the psychodramas and bitter → Read More
A vaccine in Palestine? Sorry, Israeli settlers only
Gaza in December can be gritty at the best of times. Rain and wind play havoc with the shacks of the crowded refugees camps. Flooding is frequent, leading to impassable streets and alleyways, the air scented with the stench of overflowing raw sewage decorated with floating debris. As with nearly every piece of infrastructure in this tiny strip of occupied land, the drainage → Read More
Syrian regime will remain sidelined if it fails to change
Bashar Assad has little room for maneuver internally, given that the economy is smashed and his allies under sanctions. (Reuters) → Read More
Message for Arab leaders: Fix the economy, stem corruption, create jobs
Opinion polls that contribute meaningfully to our collective understanding of the Middle East and opinions of Arabs across the region are vital. For too long, commentators and analysts, many in the West but elsewhere too, have presumed to know what Arabs think, to discuss the mind of the Arabs, or to buy into the group-think mirage of the region. It is ludicrous, of course, → Read More
Europe lacks the backbone to challenge Israeli annexation
The West Bank Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim, foreground, and the Palestinian village of Al-Eizariya. (Reuters) → Read More
Britain’s Contempt For Brexit Shambles Growing – OpEd
By Chris Doyle Fancy playing Brexit bingo? Pundits, political sages and seasoned observers are all guessing blindly in the dark as to the next chapter of the Brexit tragicomedy. Put on a blindfold … → Read More
UK’s single-sentence Islamophobia definition feels inadequate
Even the most hard-nosed, empathetically challenged Brits must have been shocked and mortified at seeing the video of a refugee child being physically abused and bullied at a school in Yorkshire. Jamal from Homs is just 15, but the racial abuse he and his sister received is a stain on British society. → Read More
Has Putin miscalculated with brazen Skripal assassination attempt?
Death in a perfume bottle. But this attempted murder was hardly a difficult puzzle to solve, even if its implications will resound across security establishments worldwide. The lethal contents of a counterfeit Nina Ricci vessel coated on to a door knob were as potent as any poison yet made, whose use potentially imperiled the lives of up to 4,000 people, killed one and had → Read More
Gaza treated with contempt by international community
What chance Israeli authorities will ever be held accountable for the killings in Gaza? Will there be a proper, independent investigation of what has transpired since March 30, with Israeli soldiers killing 104 Palestinians and injuring 12,600, many with live fire? One Israeli soldier was injured by a stone, but no doubt accountability was already dished out to the perpetrator with a bullet. We… → Read More
There are thousands of Ahed Tamimis
Every now and again, a Palestinian story rises out of the humdrum coverage and quotidian violence of the Israeli occupation to attract genuine international interest. It is currently the turn of Ahed Tamimi, from the West Bank village of Nabi Salih, whose slapping of an armed Israeli soldier captured attention worldwide. → Read More
Iranian regime’s fundamental shortcomings behind protests
Not since 2009 have Iranian citizens challenged the regime with such widespread, extended protests. Whatever the end result of these demonstrations, which in all likelihood the Iranian regime will crush, it is a salient reminder that the issues that underpinned earlier demonstrations and mass protests have not evaporated but rather are ever potent. → Read More
Lack of trust could scupper Brexit trade talks in 2018
No doubt 2017 cannot end fast enough for Theresa May. Terrorist attacks in Britain, a humbling election in June, followed by never-ending speculation about whether she would survive even this far, and a humiliating defeat in the Commons on Brexit. But it was all capped off by a round of applause from EU leaders on agreement of the first phase of Brexit. No doubt a welcome relief for the… → Read More
EU must wake from its slumber to save Jerusalem
The us’ Jerusalem recognition and embassy saga poses a huge challenge to the rest of the world — of course for Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims, even Israel, and very definitely to the European powers. The gauntlet has been thrown down. This US administration has shown definitively that it will not be bound at all by historical international norms, conventions and arguably even laws. Moreover,… → Read More
Far-right’s anti-Islam agenda boosted by Trump’s retweets
Just how one of the most vile, racist and extremist groups in Britain appeared on the Twitter radar of the president of the world’s most powerful state may remain a mystery. President Donald Trump last week three times retweeted the deputy leader of Britain First — a poisonous collection of “losers” in Trump-speak. → Read More
Putin is leading but may not have it all his way
Not for the first time, Russia has announced it is pulling back troops in Syria. President Vladimir Putin made much the same announcement in March 2016, yet it was soon reversed. One should not doubt that the Russian leader does desire a pull-out, but wants to keep the military bases and influence that his forces have gained. The timetable is no doubt dictated by Russian elections scheduled for… → Read More
Of bots and trolls — and can they bring down a government?
Were the two biggest political shocks of 2016 — the election of Donald Trump in the US, and the British decision to leave the EU — influenced by nefarious online activity by Russia? Could automated bots and troll farms be a serious and credible threat to governments worldwide? Can social media be a tool to bring down governments, create social discord, encourage racism and destabilize even an… → Read More
Disorder in the British foreign policy establishment
US President Donald Trump may have trashed all previous records in losing or firing key members of his administration, but British Prime Minister Theresa May is playing an impressive catchup. Her minority government already on the ropes, May has lost both her defense and international development secretaries within a week. Many think Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson would be a deserved addition… → Read More
Stepping up: Israel’s increasing anxiety about Syria
Syria is very popular in the Middle East. Practically every regional power has sent forces, intervened, sponsored proxies or affected this conflict in some way. Yet perhaps one actor that has received less attention than most is Israel. Thus far, Israel has carried out, according to the Israeli military in August, more than 100 strikes within Syria during the past five years. The frequency has… → Read More