AMMAN -- International law protecting civilians in conflict is not being observed in the relentless Israeli war on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, human rights groups say, which escalated on its 13th day on Thursday, virtually paralyzing local and international humanitarian agencies from providing assistance to Palestinian civilians and threatening the lives of their own staff. UPDATE, Jan.9: Israel, Hamas ignore U.N. resolution for end to conflict.
A constitutional leadership crisis is looming over the Palestinian Authority as Jan. 9 – the date that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' term officially ends – draws near.
EDITORIAL
Beyond the human losses, the tragedy of Gaza is that each side has fulfilled its strategic goals in the latest spasm of violence in the apparently endless dance macabre between Israelis and Palestinians.
OPINION
ANNENBERG, CA, USA -- The much maligned Al-Hurra, the U.S. government's Arabic TV service, is now a "go-to" news channel in Iraq, one of the largest TV markets in the Middle East of more than 28 million population. Because of its growing number of viewers in Iraq, Al-Hurra can now lay claim to its legitimate connection with the mythical "Arab Street,' a term which writer Amir Hamzaway says elites use "in the absence of independent public opinion surveys, in representing their own quite ideological views as those of the Iraqi majority and as those of Arabs generally."
The establishment of the state of Israel was largely due to the dedication and resistance of young Jews who fought vigorously against an outnumbered and hostile local Arab population to establish a Jewish homeland. It was an ideological war of survival and independence.
