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The former hostage recounts the story of the Palestinians' 1948 trauma

Robert Fisk: John McCarthy knows the value of history

How come people like historical memory holes?

People at a field hospital in the city

Robert Fisk: From Washington this looks like Syria's 'Benghazi moment'. But not from here

Look east and what does Bashar see? Iran standing with him and Iraq refusing to impose sanctions

Go east, young man: Thomas Asbridge presenting ‘The Crusades’ for BBC2

Robert Fisk: History keeps repeating itself – as do clichés

Same Old Story. Journalists shouldn't use the phrase, but what else can I say when I prowl through press reports? Take the following. "It is slowly dawning... that the Americans are really going home, that there will be a ceasefire in this country soon, and then a march to the US... planes." Iraq? Nope. Afghanistan? You'd be so lucky.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards parade in Tehran. The Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the West’s threats of war would not ‘divert Iran from its nuclear course’

Robert Fisk: An attack on Tehran would be madness. So don't rule it out

After invading Iraq over weapons of mass destruction, we plan to clap as Israel bombs Iran

Supporters of President Bashar Assad at a rally in Sabe Bahrat square, Damascus

Robert Fisk: Syria is used to the slings and arrows of friends and enemies

Bashar al-Assad is clinging to power despite the slow growth of a civil war. But if the regime should survive, what sort of country will it rule?

Uneasy neighbours: Palestinian and Israeli villages in the West Bank

Robert Fisk: The present stands no chance against the past

The Palestinians are not only, it seems, an "invented people" – courtesy of Newt Gingrich – but the only Arabs on the Mediterranean not to enjoy a Spring or an Awakening or even a Winter.

Robert Fisk: We've been here before – and it suits Israel that we never forget 'Nuclear Iran'

The Ayatollah ordered the entire nuclear project to be closed down because it was the work of the devil

Hurndall shortly after being shot on the same day, in a picture taken by Garth Stead

In the line of fire: Tom Hurndall

The photographs and journal entries of the young activist Tom Hurndall – who was killed at the age of 21 by a sniper – are a visceral portrait of the conflict in the Middle East, says Robert Fisk

Robert Fisk: Fragments of history rescued from oblivion

There are statements on the Bismarck, although contemporary reports got the story wrong

A dead body is pulled from the rubble of the collapsed building
yesterday

Poverty is main culprit as 19 die in slum tragedy

Building collapse highlights rental laws which have left Beirut's poorest tenants living in danger

Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations General Assembly last September

Robert Fisk: The 'invented people' stand little chance

Thank goodness we don't have to hear Newt Gingrich for a while.

Robert Fisk: This is not about 'bad apples'. This is the horror of war

How many other abuses took place off camera? How many Hadithas? How many My Lais?
Supporters of President Assad at a rally in Damascus yesterday

Robert Fisk: Assad faces his people's hatred – but as their anger grows, his excuses are still just the same

It was the Assad Speech of the Year. There was an international conspiracy against Syria. True. Arab states opposed to Syria were under "outside pressure". True, up to a point. Nobody could deny the seriousness of these plots. True. After all, the Syrian government itself registers 2,000 dead soldiers, while the UN estimates civilian dead at 5,000. And when Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan warned that the violence in Syria was "heading towards a sectarian, religious war", there were few supporters of President Assad who would disagree with him.

Dark souvenir: photograph taken by a German soldier, presumably to send back home

Robert Fisk: The shocking truth that killing can be so casual

More horror arrives in the mail.

Career Services

Day In a Page

No secularism please, we're British

No secularism please, we're British

Arguments about the role of religion in national life have recently acquired a new urgency
Harold Tillman: 'Chinese tourists can save the high street – if we let them'

Harold Tillman interview

'Chinese tourists can save the high street – if we let them'
Working as a jail torturer ruined my life

Working as a jail torturer ruined my life

Meet the former soldier who has joined the political prisoners he tortured in Turkey's Mamak prison by suing the generals who led a regime of terror
The local high street jet shop

The local high street jet shop

Got a spare $50m and can't stand the queues at Heathrow? Get yourself down to London's first private plane dealership
Do you like your doctor? It could be the death of you

Do you like your doctor?

It could be the death of you...
The mysterious affair of how Agatha Christie is teaching foreigners English

How Agatha Christie is teaching foreigners English

Twenty of the author's novels have been adapted and presented with learning notes and a CD
Six Grammys, five years off: Adele puts love before career

Six Grammys, five years off

Adele puts love before career
The 10 Best binoculars

The 10 Best binoculars

From no-frills to bins with digital cameras
Milan for £300

Milan for £300?

A cultural family holiday - on a budget - to Italy's most stylish city
'Black-hole' resorts: Turn up, tune out, log off

'Black-hole' resorts

Turn up, tune out, log off
New Arsenal face an old question of credibility in San Siro

New Arsenal face an old question of credibility in San Siro

Remodelled since winning in Milan in 2008, for all their consistency – and prize-money – Wenger's side are yet to claim a European title
James Lawton: This prodigal son deserves no forgiveness

James Lawton: This prodigal son deserves no forgiveness

City would be putting their desire to win title ahead of morals if Tevez plays for them
Mark Cavendish: Is Olympic gold at end of the rainbow?

Mark Cavendish interview

Is Olympic gold at end of the rainbow?
Apple admits it has a human rights problem

Apple admits it has a human rights problem

After years of complaints and workers' suicides in China the technology giant faces up to the human cost of its gadgets
Peter Moore: 'I feel guilty I'm the only one alive'

Peter Moore interview

'I feel guilty I'm the only one alive'