AboutArticles by Michael Jansen

A grave injustice

02 Jun 2022

In life Shireen Abu Akleh was a highly respected reporter and courageous role model for Palestinians resisting the Israeli occupation; in death she has become an icon for journalists and...

32 years of provocation led to Ukraine ‘invasion’

29 May 2022

News has been transformed by the Ukraine war into propaganda. All but a tiny minority of marginal Western media have become captive to events in Ukraine and since Western news...

Food for thought

26 May 2022

“Doing well by doing good,” has become the motto of Souk El-Tayeb and Beit El-Baraka, two recently founded multi-purpose operations among scores of non-governmental organisations doing jobs Lebanon’s dysfunctional state...

Political deadlock in Lebanon could continue

22 May 2022

Lebanese greeted the May15th parliamentary election results with “a little satisfaction and a little sadness,” a veteran observer of the scene stated. Lebanese traditionalists were satisfied that the competing core...

Elimination globally

19 May 2022

In response to the Ukraine war, Western powers and public opinion have compelled international sporting organisations, orchestras, operas, film festivals and other cultural bodies to ban Russian teams and individuals...

A clarion call to address the soil crisis

15 May 2022

April was a cruel month for this region. Fine dust from the Sahara and Sahel enveloped us all, causing eyes to water, coughing, sneezing, and driving delicate souls indoors. Fine...

To the polls

12 May 2022

Lebanese are set to go to the polls on Sunday 15th to choose 128 members of their national assembly from among 718 candidates, including 155 women and 88 between the...

80% of Lebanese live below poverty line

08 May 2022

Few Lebanese believe next Sunday’s parliamentary election will install enough reformers in the 128-member national assembly to effect change and save the country from the downward slide which began nearly...

Comparable to none

05 May 2022

My friends, Caroline and Peter, had urged me to brave covid on flights and visit them in Milan, Italy’s fashion and financial hub. As their seven-week stay in this metropolis...

Conflict is good for American business

01 May 2022

During his January 17th, 1961, farewell address US President Dwight Eisenhower warned against the threat posed to democratic government by the “military industrial complex,” formed by the military and the...

Michael Jansen

The author, a well-respected observer of Middle East affairs, has three books on the Arab-Israeli conflict.