Documents & Memoirs | Al Majalla

This day in history: The UN decrees the partition of Palestine

UN Resolution 181 was never implemented, and instead of getting half of their ancestral homeland, the Palestinians got nothing; 77 years later, the situation remains as bleak as ever.

Sami Moubayed 29 November 2024

Dr. Oswaldo Aranha, President of the UN General Assembly, announces the assembly's official adoption of the plan to partition Palestine into independent Arab and Jewish states.

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A movement based on Arab nationalism took control of Syria in 1963 and went on to shape the politics of the region for decades after.

Andrei Cojocaru

This day in history: The Ba’ath Party comes to power in Syria

A movement based on Arab nationalism took control of Syria in 1963 and went on to shape the politics of the region for decades after

Sami Moubayed 09 March 2023

President Nixon meets with Communist Party Chairman Mao Tse-Tung in Peking, during his 1972 visit to China.

Getty Images

51 years after Nixon’s groundbreaking visit, China-US relations at an all-time low

The Chinese spy balloon incident, as well as Beijing's cosy relationship with Moscow, have soured already tense relations

Sami Moubayed 01 March 2023

The architects of the 1913 coup were officers from the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP)

Jamie Wignall

The coup that brought down the Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman coups inspired similar coups against leaders in Iran, Iraq and Syria

Sami Moubayed 28 February 2023

Members of Lebanon's movement Hezbollah on March 1, 2016, in the southern town of Kfour in the Nabatiyeh district, during the funeral of a Hezbollah fighter, who was killed while fighting a longside Syrian government forces in Syria

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Damascus Documents reveal story behind creation of Hezbollah

Al Majalla obtains Damascus Documents which reveal how Iran founded Hezbollah in Lebanon in the 1980s

Ibrahim Hamidi 26 February 2023

British wartime Prime Minister Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, left, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, center, and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin sit in the grounds of the Livadia Palace, Yalta.

Getty Images

There is hope now for Ukraine in how Yalta helped end World War II

Today’s world needs many things. One of them may well be another Yalta conference. The resort city on the south coast of the Crimea is famous for helping end World War II. It hosted an…

Sami Moubayed 24 February 2023

A member of the Lebanese security forces stands guard in front of a billboard bearing a portrait of slain former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri to mark his assassination on February 14, 2005.

AFP

The legacy of Rafik Hariri and the collapse of the Lebanese state

Although it has been 18 years since Hariri's brutal assassination, the pain of his loss is being felt now more than ever

Mohamed abi Samra 16 February 2023

In a tale of generals and presidents, Al Majalla illustrates how Lebanese politics overlapped with its army.

Andrei Cojocaru

When generals become presidents: A history of Lebanese military leaders

In a tale of generals and presidents, Al Majalla illustrates how Lebanese politics overlapped with its army

Sami Moubayed 07 February 2023

“Abu Nidal, Abu Shmidal… we will screw the PLO”

During the 17th and 18th century, European philosophers and political scientists used the ancient Latin term casus belli to define a case for waging war. Modern international law recognises three…

Sami Moubayed 02 February 2023

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A man gestures as he stands in a damaged building in Beirut's southern suburbs, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, Lebanon November 27, 2024.

REUTERS/Mohammed Yassin

Politics

Cracks already begin to emerge in Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire

28 November 2024

While the US-brokered truce garnered international praise, there are serious reservations about its ability to be enforced and implemented

Con Coughlin

Opinion

Amid a distant peace, Trump eyes a Nobel Prize

26 November 2024

The Nobel Peace Prize is not yet in Donald Trump's trophy cabinet, but Barack Obama is a recipient, as were three other US presidents. By ending several wars, Trump hopes to join them.

Ibrahim Hamidi

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Defence Minister Israel Katz (R) during a briefing in the Netzarim Corridor on November 19, 2024.

AFP

Politics

With Hezbollah on the back burner, Netanyahu shifts focus back to Gaza

28 November 2024

Netanyahu will not let Hamas rule post-war Gaza. In parts of the Strip, his army seems to be digging in for what could be a longer stay from the 'day after' the war ends.

Amr Emam