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Palestinian political life seems to be unwittingly embracing a distinctive style, contradicting its own traditional political parameters. The last few weeks clearly attest to this political divergence.
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A regularly updated roundup of commentary from Arab newspapers.
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The US House of Congress passed a resolution on December 16 that conditioned future financial aid to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on the exclusion of Hamas from the upcoming legislative elections slated for January 25. On the other side
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Ariel Sharons adviser on polling affairs, Kalman Gayer, told (or didnt tell) Newsweek that Sharon is prepared for a compromise even on Jerusalem and that "theoretically" Sharon would agree to the establishment of a Palestinian
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In his address to the American people last Sunday evening, President George W. Bush said, "Yet now there are only two options before our country: victory or defeat."
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Jews and Muslims have been tied together by culture and history for centuries. For over a thousand years both peoples have contributed to the Middle Eastern civilization.
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US President George W. Bush yet once again blamed Arab media for his countrys image problem.
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It is not clear how much newly elected Labor leader Amir Peretz will battle against the tide, and how much he will drift leeward.
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A regularly updated roundup of commentary from Arab newspapers.
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In Israel and Palestine the two ruling parties have split. First Likud begat Kadima ("forward"), then Fatah begat Mustaqbal ("future").
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Some 721 years ago, the town of Hamelin in Germany was suffering from a plague of rats. A citizen called Bunting offered to get rid of them for an agreed fee.
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The dramatic events that have shaken the Israeli political establishment in the run-up to national elections next March have been called an earthquake by many. First Amir Peretz staged an upset victory over Shimon Peres to take control of the Labor
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The circumstances of my birth and survival as a Jewish infant in the midst of the Second World War in Amsterdam have forever determined my belief in the saving capacity of interfaith dialogue and activities in the face of destruction and hatred. Th
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So, the Bethlehem terminal has been constructed, and the day feared by Bethlehemites has finally arrived; the wall has locked off Bethlehem from the rest of the world. It seems that every effort exerted to try and save Bethlehem, the birthplace of
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Should the world take Irans hardline President Mahmud Ahmadinejad seriously? No, I mean seriously!
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Much has been made of the intelligence failures in assessing Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. These failures pale to insignificance, however, in comparison with the failure of US policy and military planners to accurately assess the overall situa
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Washingtons characterization of Egypts recent parliamentary election as another important step on the road to democracy is trumped only by President Hosni Mubaraks cynical demand for a review of the elections widespread violence and voter disen
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On a US tour, award-winning journalist Robert Fisk spoke about his life work as a veteran journalist reporting about the Middle East.
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This week I was strolling through the streets of Athens, at the foot of the Acropolis, when my eye was caught by a sign bearing one single word in Greek letters: Sisyphus. It was the name of a taverna.
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Why does the US burn all that jet fuel flying detainees around the world from prison to prison? Are they being given sightseeing tours?
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The Senate Foreign Relations Committee conceded that its recent call for a debate on Al Hurras effectiveness should have happened before Americas Arabic television channel went on the air. But the oversight committee is too late.
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Its true. Many Muslims do condemn terrorism - we just dont hear about it in the American news media.
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The November 27 kidnapping of four members of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) - Tom Fox (54), of the United States, Norman Kember (74) of Great Britain, and James Lonely (41) and Hameet Singh Sooden (32) of Canada - who were working in Iraq in sol
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On December 1, 2005, a public hearing, sponsored by the Council for the National Interest, (CNI), was held on Capitol Hill, in Room SC-4 of the Capitol Building. It dealt primarily with how the US should exit from the immoral and unjust Iraqi War,
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In the last few years we have witnessed a series of terrorist acts perpetrated in the name of Islam. It is hard to believe that Indonesian Islam, which was traditionally respected for its tolerance and respect for diversity and plurality, has now b
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Is Iraq still an Arab nation? No longer, according to its new constitution.
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Newspapers across the United States and beyond told readers on November 30 about sensational new statements by a former top assistant to Colin Powell when he was secretary of state.
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A regularly updated roundup of commentary from Arab newspapers.
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Two weeks ahead of yet another democratic landmark in Iraq - voting for a full constitutional government - the kidnapping of Norman Kember, a British peace activist, and of Susanne Osthoff, a German social worker, has reopened an old wound.
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A German poem tells of the giants daughter, who found a peasant plowing his field and brought him home in her handkerchief to show to her father. But the father said gravely: "The peasant is no toy!"
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Most of what has been written or said to depict Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharons departure from the Likud party is comparable to an "earthquake", or the "eruption of a volcano", and has, without a doubt, turned the Israeli political map "topsy
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Unlike any another time, several Middle Eastern countries, including Palestine and Israel, are simultaneously gripped with election fever. They all hold the possibility of a much-needed facelift for the region that could usher in a peaceful era.
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A regularly updated roundup of commentary from Arab newspapers.
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On November 22, Britains Daily Mirror published an explosive story riddled with implications concerning the character and intent of the US president when pursuing his so-called war on terror, and perhaps, shedding light on the b
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Americas newest public diplomacy czarina, Karen Hughes, is in dangerous denial. She believes that how we treat prisoners in the global war on terror is unlikely to have a serious adverse affect on how people think of the United States.
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Al Hurra needs a facelift. The ratings of Americas Arabic TV channel are flat among Iraqi audiences, the administration of US President George W.
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A political earthquake is itself a rare event. When two major political earthquakes follow each other in quick succession, this is almost unheard of.
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Thanksgiving week began with The New York Times noting that "all of Washington is consumed with debate over the direction of the war in Iraq". The debate - long overdue - is a serious blow to the war makers in Washington, but the
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Starting on November 25, Palestinians from the Gaza Strip may, in theory, be able to freely cross the Rafah border into Egypt, according to an agreement brokered by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
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For years, Syrian-Lebanese relations functioned in a distinct dimension: no matter how Syria fared with other countries, Lebanon was an exclusive domain where third party interference was never really efficient.
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The US Congress appears to want to keep US forces in Iraq till the job is done, until "victory" is won. Of course, they have not defined what will constitute victory, except in shifting terms.
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Like a maiden plucking the petals of a daisy and murmuring "he will ... he will not ...
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The French proverb, "The more it changes the more it is the same old thing," comes to mind as we watch the contortions of the Syrian regime of President Bashar Al Assad in the face of repeated requests by UN United Nations investigator Detlev Mehli
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A regularly updated roundup of commentary from Arab newspapers.
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A father yearning for a long-waited reunion with his daughter loses the glitter of her rejoicing eyes to the flames of a triple bombing attack in Amman on November 9. Their hands hadnt even touched.
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Militant Tricks: Battlefield Ruses of the Islamic Insurgent is the title of John Pooles latest book. Poole, a former Marine NCO and officer, is Americas best writer on small unit tactics and techniques.
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Arab Christians have always been an integral part of Arab Society. Yet in the confrontations between the Arab world and the nominally Christian West, Arab Christians have been uniquely situated to play a vital role.
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A regularly updated roundup of commentary from Arab newspapers.
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North African immigrants on the periphery of French cities are torching them. North African immigrants on the periphery of Israel this week carried out a democratic revolution in our country.
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Establishing a role for women in a patriarchal society, one in which they can contribute toward building a culture of peace, is no simple task. Nevertheless, despite restrictions imposed more by cultural traditions than by religious diktat, Muslim
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Despite initial claims that Yasser Arafats absence - as an obstacle to peace - would reinvigorate the Arab-Israel peace process, events on the ground fail to point toward such a reality, one year after the Palestinian leaders death.
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A regularly updated roundup of commentary from Arab newspapers.
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Like a maiden plucking the petals of a daisy and murmuring, "He will... he will not...
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"Clichy-sur-Jungle" was the title of an article in Frances Liberation newspaper referring to the hooliganism, then in its second week, in the Parisian suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, one of the many troubled blue-collar townships th
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The huge gap between Tehran and Washington has widened in recent months. Top officials of Iran and the United States are not even within shouting distance.
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The person who seems to be running France at this moment of extraordinary crisis, with a 12-day state of emergency formally declared by the government on November 8, is the right-wing extremist leader of the Front National, Jean-Marie Le Pen. {/bol
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Eid Al Fitr, or the feast celebrating the breaking of the fast, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan during which time many Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, is traditionally a time for rejoicing and forgiveness. All across the Musli
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A regularly updated roundup of commentary from Arab newspapers.
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In the late 1980s, my family and I left our homeland of Iran and made a new home for ourselves in Sweden. Our knowledge of this northern European country was limited.
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US Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes was sent by President George W. Bush on a three nation tour to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey in September to repair the US image overseas and reinvigorate the campaign for heart
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A long diplomatic campaign to establish the degree of Syrias involvement in the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri on February 14, 2005, and to decide on the punishment for the culprits, has begun.
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The outburst by Irans President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, calling for Israel to be "wiped from the map" during a rally in Tehran last week, could not have come at a better time - for George W. Bush - and at a worse time for Iran.
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When Iraqs most notorious terrorist, Abu Mussab Al Zarqawi, declared a "full-scale war" on Iraqs Shias on September 14, he appeared to be speaking for all or most jihadis. But Zarqawis war on Shias is deeply unpopular in some quarters of his own
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Avian flu is not the only epidemic threatening us. While there are no indications that this particular scourge has reached Israel, there are a couple of other contagious diseases that have already come our way.
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At last, the truth about Judith Miller is out. This anti-Arab White House stenographer can no longer pass herself off as a reporter, with all the ethical criteria that that word implies.
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The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become the prisoner of public opinion polls and their manipulators. Survey results are paraded, alternately, to support inaction, justify questionable policy, defend recalcitrance, or uphold paralysis.
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A regularly updated roundup of commentary from Arab newspapers Syria needs US support, not threats
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What has Douglas Feith, the former No. 3 at the Pentagon, done to deserve so many high-ranking public hoots of derision?
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As I was following the news of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza on various television news networks, I managed to steal a glimpse of a poster written by an ultranationalist Israeli settler which read: "How can you evacuate us from the land God gave
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Some European and Arab intelligence services have now concluded that the late Ghazi Kanaans death on October 12 was homicide made to look like suicide.
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The global oil market environment is becoming a target of opportunity for terrorists and world powers. The terrorists increasingly see disruptions of oil facilities as a valid strategy in their war against governments that they oppose.
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas huddle with President Bush this week appears to be detached from reality. The anarchy widely predicted in the wake of Israels total withdrawal from Gaza quickly became mobocracy.
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So, the US has learned that Syria interfered in the interior affairs of its neighbor, Lebanon. For shame!
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Some years ago I talked with a young Israeli writer. I was struck by the fact that in spite of being very successful and acclaimed by the critics, and that at a relatively early age, she somehow exuded an air of insecurity.
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The Iraqi referendum had been played so cleverly that all types of media, although most British papers were more cautious than others, and all political figures could not but call it an expression of democracy. Yet this "democracy" is being used to
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Communication technology has truly made a small village of our world. The moment President Bush stood up to deliver his speech, Arabic satellite channels were all tuned in for real-time transmission, a privilege hardly ever enjoyed by any Arab pres
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President Bushs national security advisor spelled out precisely why Iraq is now on course for a geopolitical train wreck. In an op-ed published coast-to-coast last weekend, Stephen Hadley makes unmistakably clear that Iraqs new constitution is fe
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A regularly updated roundup of commentary from Arab newspapers.
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A few days ago at a conference in Europe, I met a charming young lady. Intelligent, well-educated, versed in several languages, and, well, very attractive.
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What would have happened if the damage to the wing of the plane that dropped a one-ton bomb, killing 11 sleeping Palestinian children, had forced the Israeli pilot to eject over Gaza? Would his release not have been the first subject on the agenda
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A regularly updated roundup of commentary from Arab newspapers.
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Turkey is not a European country; only part of Istanbul is. Its population stands at some 70 million people, 99 percent of whom are Muslim.
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He is a familiar hero in literature: the compulsive gambler who hits a lucky streak. With every turn of the roulette wheel, the heap of jetons in front of him grows bigger.
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I know that it is almost sacrilegious in the Arab and Muslim world to raise the issue of separation of mosque and state, church and state, tribes and state, clans and state - which is the current dominant formula of governance in Arab and Muslim na
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One must hope for the best, but it is hard not to fear the worst for the cause of controlling nuclear weapons now that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has fallen under the curse that seems to attend so many winners of the Nobel Peace
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Osama Bin Laden did the Muslim world a favor. Yes, I am serious.
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US involvement in the Middle East is a fairly new phenomenon, but has been growing sharply in the past 20 to 30 years. It has now reached a critical point and stands at the brink of spectacular failure.
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Iraq is a deceptive place. Most soldiers ask reporters embedded with them the same question: Why do you guys only report the bad news?
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From Sharons point of view its a done deal. Israel has won its century-old conflict with the Palestinians.
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A regularly updated roundup of commentary from Arab newspapers.
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Just a few months ago a number of observers were ready to pronounce the intifada "over" as it neared the end of its fifth and least violent year. Now it appears that a sixth year of some sort might be in the offing, with the relative quiet of recen
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The contest between Binyamin Netanyahu and Ariel Sharon in the Likud Central Committee resembled a duel between two gladiators in the Roman arena. The more so since many of the Committee members behaved like the Roman rabble who screamed, rioted an
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With the lifting from Lebanon of 29 years of occupation has come hope for the countrys return to democratic life. Such a reemerging democracy in Lebanon, however, has been stumbling through a minefield of turbulence on the security front.
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Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharons recent statement that he would withhold Israeli cooperation from Palestinian legislative elections in January if Hamas candidates take part, flies in the face of his own experience with the moderating influence
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More than any other time in the past few decades, Turkey can play a pivotal role in advancing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and become a major political and economic force in the Middle East.
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There are different opinions, among Palestinians as well as others, as to what has been the nature of the intifada - now just over five years old - and as to its duration and objectives.
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A regularly updated roundup of commentary from Arab newspapers.
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On July 5, 2001, less than one year after the outbreak of the intifada, I wrote the following: If the peace camp in Israel and the peace camp in Palestine are to reengage each other, they must embrace a political platform that
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Its reasonable to estimate that more than one-quarter of a million people demonstrated against the Iraq war on Saturday in Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other US cities. The next day, the Washington Post front-paged
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My good friend Mingo, a chronicler of Afghanistan and a diligent contributor to European and Latin American print and electronic media, found himself a self-appointed, unofficial observer in the September 18 provincial and parliamentary elections o
