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Sam Bahour
For Sam Bahour's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2010
Myth of Palestine's economic development
AL-BIREH, West Bank — A serious misconception is being propagated by the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah. Media, international organizations, foreign governments and Palestinians at large are being coaxed into believing that the flurry of economic activity in the West Bank is economic development toward statehood.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2008
McCain aims to win by pandering to bigotry
NEW YORK — At a time when the Beijing Olympics have increased America's apprehension of China's rising power, Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee for president, has chosen Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate. Biden is the influential chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee and an established leader in Washington.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2002
Flawed peace plan reflects U.S. illusions
AL-BIREH, West Bank -- Monday's long-awaited speech by U.S. President George W. Bush was to set the pace for the Palestinians and Israelis to step back from the vicious and bloody cycle of violence that has gripped them for nearly two years. Instead, Bush and his administration have publicly adopted the Israeli agenda of battering the Palestinians into submission.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 4, 2002
The Palestinian intifada: a very American struggle
AL-BIREH, West Bank -- The Palestinian people have no grudge against the American public. We never did. As a matter of fact, if one resists the media spin and takes a closer look at what the Palestinians have been struggling for, it will be revealed that the Palestinian intifada is a very American struggle. After all, it is a struggle for national independence, civil liberties, human rights, as well as a struggle to establish an open market in an independent economy, free to market forces and free from Israeli domination.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2002
International community must pressure Sharon
AL-BIREH, West Bank -- The first Palestinian refugee camps were a product of the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. When Israel militarily occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in 1967, a second wave of Palestinian refugees was created. Today, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his government are creating a third wave of Palestinian refugees by attacking those very refugees that, decades ago, fled for their lives and have been living under illegal Israeli occupation ever since.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 6, 2001
Israeli occupation spawns cycle of death
AL-BIREH, West Bank -- In the 48 hours following the horrific suicide bombings in Israel, hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon addressed the nation while simultaneously increasing, by yet another step, Israel's part of the violence in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Sadly, no end to the violence is in sight, and it is likely to get worse -- much worse. If this statement sounds like a broken record, it's because it is.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 26, 2001
U.S. is key to ending Israel's occupation
AL-BIREH, West Bank -- The mirage of positive movement in the deadly gridlock between Israelis and Palestinians continued last week, uninterrupted by reality. Following U.S. President George Bush's footsteps, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, during a major Middle East policy address at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, finally confirmed the addition of the word "Palestine" to the U.S. political lexicon.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 13, 2001
'Peace initiative' offers nothing new
The new Israeli "peace initiative" drafted by Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is nothing more than a placebo. It is designed for internal Israeli consumption and consumption by the United States and Europe in response to their pressuring Israel for positive movement toward ending the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 9, 2000
Palestinians fight decades of injustice
AL-BIREH, West Bank -- Areen, my 6-year-old daughter, has been unusually quiet. This normally energetic, very talkative child could not fully understand why school was canceled on Saturday after she was dressed and ready to go. On Sunday, during the news broadcast of the death of 12-year-old Mohammed Aldura, who was murdered in cold blood by Israeli occupation forces, she burst out with watery eyes questioning, "How did they reach us?" In her innocence, she actually believed that we had rid ourselves of the Israeli military occupation.

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