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International	Politics
Headlines from the Arab Press Posted by on July 2, 2009 Headlines from the Arab Press – What the Arab papers said on July 2: By Sana Abdallah in Amman Az-Zaman (LONDON/IRAQ): Obama Expects Difficult Days, Assigns Biden for Iraq Reconciliation – U.S. President Barack Obama appointed his vice president Joseph Biden with the task of reviving and supervising the political reconciliation process in Iraq, one day after the U.S. forces withdrew from the cities in accordance with a bilateral security accord. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Obama asked Biden to work with the Iraqis to resolve their disputes until they achieve reconciliation. Meanwhile, Obama saw the withdrawal of American troops from the cities as "important" towards full Iraqi sovereignty, but warned of "difficult days" ahead for the country. read more Al Jazeera's New American Challenge Posted by on July 2, 2009 Al Jazeera's New American Challenge Mohamed Elmenshawy Washington – On July1, 2009, media relations between the Arab world and the United States will take a fascinating turn. For the first time, the Doha-based TV station Al Jazeera will bring its English-language news service to a large cable television audience in America, beginning in Washington, D.C., and then moving to other U.S. cities. read more Burned Christian Homes in Egypt after Death of Muslim Man Posted by on July 2, 2009 Burned Christian Homes in Egypt After Death of Muslim Man By Mary Abdelmassih - Assyrian International News Agency Another incident of a Muslim mob attacking, torching and looting Coptic Christian homes and shops took place today in the village of Meet El-Korashy, Meet Ghamr, after a Muslim young man died following a fight with a Coptic shopkeeper. State Security cordoned off the whole village and placed it under curfew. The shopkeeper and his family were arrested and charged with murder. read more Corruption Helped Fire Protest in Iran Posted by on July 2, 2009 Corruption Helped Fire Protest in Iran By Richard Sale Middle East Times Intelligence Correspondent Public contempt for the pervasive financial corruption of Iran’s clerical elite and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the later controlled by Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is believed to have been a major force driving the recent massive protests in that country’s major cities, according to U.S. analysts and intelligence officials, who added that the rigged presidential election acted only as a “trigger” for the explosion of unrest. read more	A history of (mostly failed) Middle East peace initiatives Posted by on June 30, 2009 A history of (mostly failed) Middle East peace initiatives By Claude Salhani – Editor, Middle East Times Washington - Since the start of the Arab-Israeli conflict in 1947 the United Nations, as well as consecutive U.S. administrations, have tried their hand at peacemaking in the Middle East. While outside mediation has largely been a failure, all things considered, they have probably managed to stave off a war or two. Today, as the peace process seems to be shifting gears it is worth examining the different initiatives and to learn from their shortcomings. read more Religion: an untapped weapon in resolving the Middle East conflict Posted by on June 29, 2009 Religion: an untapped weapon in resolving the Middle East conflict By Claude Salhani – editor, Middle East Times Washington - After more than six decades of unsuccessful attempts at resolving the Middle East dispute through conventional political tracks it has become obvious that there is a dire need for a novel approach – or a new tool – that will help resolve the long-standing dispute. That much is obvious. read more Interview: Ziad Abdelnour Posted by on June 26, 2009 Interview: Ziad Abdelnour By Claude Salhani – Editor Middle East Times Ziad Abdelnour is a maverick businessman who likes to delve into politics. Or is he a nonconformist politician who chose to be a businessman? Either way Abdelnour has a passion for both, making it difficult to tell who the real Abdelnour is; business person or political man? The astute politicized businessman that he is blends the two with the finesse of a well-mixed vodka martini – shaken, not stirred. read more Implications of a new Iranian revolution Posted by on June 25, 2009 Implications of a new Iranian revolution By Claude Salhani Washington - A second revolution in Iran – if it were to happen -- would have tremendous implications on the rest of the region. If the protests that have been unfolding in Iran over the last two weeks are any indication – and if they were to succeed – the geopolitical map of the Middle East could well be redrawn. read more
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Security	Business
Analysis: Iran and the `53 Coup: Seeing through the Murk Posted by on June 26, 2009 Analysis: Iran and the `53 Coup: Seeing through the Murk By Richard Sale, Middle East Times Intelligence Correspondent With the growing unrest in Iran, an aggrieved Tehran is once again bringing up the pro-shah coup of 1953 that toppled the popular Iranian Prime Minister Muhammed Mossadegh. That marked a turning point in U.S.-Iranian foreign policy, an event that began decades of bitter mistrust between the two countries. read more Encountering Peace: Multilateral Engagement, Involvement and Imposition By GERSHON BASKIN on April 11, 2009 JERUSALEM ? Is the new [Israeli] government on a collision course with the United States? It would seem so. U.S. President Barack Obama and his secretary of state have let Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu know in no uncertain terms that the two-states-for-two-peoples solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the only plan on the table. read more Fixing the Banks By PETER MORICI on Jan. 22, 2009 For every new president, campaign promises and inaugural idealism must give way to the hard choices that measure the mettle of their leadership. Now Barack Obama must act pragmatically to fix the banks or the economy will sink under their weight.read more UAE to Buy Into U.S. Plan to Deploy Anti-Missile System By CLAUDE SALHANI (Editor, Middle East Times) on Dec. 17, 2008 The United Arab Emirates will become the first country in the world, other than the United States, to deploy the advanced anti-missile system THAAD, or Terminal High Altitude Area Defense. The Middle East Times first reported on the potential deal in its Dec. 15 edition that the United States wants to see the oil rich Gulf states purchase, install and join a unified missile defense system that would provide complete aerial coverage to the region, from Kuwait in the northern Gulf to Oman on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.read more	The 100 Most Trustworthy Companies By JOHN J. RAY and PAUL M. MURDOCK on April 8, 2009 Who can you trust today? It's a more crucial question than ever now, across the business world. To find the answer, Forbes turns to Audit Integrity, an independent financial analytics company based in Los Angeles, which looks beyond the raw data on income statements and balance sheets to assess the true quality of corporate accounting and management practices. As early as August 2005, Audit Integrity's proprietary rating system signaled potential problems at Lehman Brothers. In December of 2005, it gave American International Group a significant downgrade.read more The World's Billionaires: Where The (Still) Rich and Single Mingle By MAUREEN FARRELL on March 30, 2009 The rich and single will always manage to mingle. If you're looking for love (or just a night out) among the jet set, you have to know where they are and when they're there.With the global recession in full swing, many scenesters are staying put. "When I was in Miami for Christmas and New Year's, I saw a lot of the big ballers that I normally know would go away," says Noah Tepperberg, owner of New York-based Strategic Group, an events and marketing company in Manhattan. "American destinations are more popular now than they might have been."read more Is Tunis the New Dubai on the Mediterranean? By HABIBA ANWAR (Special to the Middle East Times) on March 25, 2009 Dubai entered 2009 by becoming yet another victim of the global credit crunch; an exodus of foreign investors has been taking place during the first three months of 2009.read more Syria's Economy Stumbling in the Right Direction By STEPHEN STARR (Special to the Middle East Times) on March 25, 2009 DAMASCUS -- With Syria now being viewed as a path through to Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, foreign diplomats from states once typically hostile to Damascus have become a common sight here in recent weeks.read more
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Opinion	Editorial
Soccer, Not Politics, Keeps Egyptians Busy Posted by on June 19, 2009 Soccer, Not Politics, Keeps Egyptians Busy Joseph Mayton Middle East Times Cairo Correspondent CAIRO -- Egyptians are following the happenings in South Africa’s Confederations Cup more than any other global event, much to the disappointment of many of the country’s activists. Egypt faced Italy in a must-win match on Thursday evening, and this has taken over much of the conversation even while bloggers criticize fellow citizens for not “caring” about a possible Iranian revolution. read more ESSAY: Palestinians and Jews: Living Beyond Fear Posted by on June 17, 2009 by Lionel Traubman As a children's dentist for 35 years, I know something about fear of invasion and pain. And I understand root cause. Helping most of my 17,000 young patients transcend fear provided knowledge to shepherd our successful 17-year-old Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue through hundreds of meetings and public outreach activities, continuing to touch the world. Our preventive and cure for protracted conflict was defined by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. People don’t get along because they fear each other. People fear each other because they don’t know each other. They don’t know each other because they have not properly communicated with each other. Fear, ignorance, and normalized disengagement fester at the root of repeated Holy Land failures. Except for a tiny handful, almost no Jews and almost no Palestinians have ever met, including within the state of Israel. Two exquisite peoples remain at a distance, inside their clans and homes, satisfied being invisible to each other, repeating mistakes based on half-truths, fond of perpetuating their darkest stereotypes and exaggerated fears, claiming high ground while dehumanizing and driving each other farther away. Tragically, these same cousins remain passive spectators to “experts” and government professionals, “leaders” who often maintain personal power by manipulating people’s vulnerability to fear and reliance on wars and walls – physical and emotional – predictable failures that make us heartsick. Could Dr. King be right? Is “knowing each other” the beginning of the end of fear and war? Does root-cure start – not with treaties or so-called “victories” – but with heart connections, deep listening-to-learn, and shared creativity that have eluded us and to which until now we’ve said “no”? Yes. To diminish fear, nothing replaces face-to-face relationships. Listening is today’s great act of healing and of love. The person with the will and the skill to listen is the one with the power to transform the relationship. Since the early 1980s, my wife Libby and I have helped convene Soviets and Americans, Armenians and Azerbaijanis, and Palestinians and Jews. Nearly three decades bringing together embattled people have assured us “an enemy is one whose story we have not heard.” Hearing one another’s narratives, we begin to see each other as human and equal. Deep within, something amazing and powerful happens. We begin to want the best not only for self but for the “other.” Fear melts. The heart messages the brain it’s safe to finally think rationally and imaginatively. Knowing this, we need no longer allow fear to hijack perceptions to our primitive reptilian brain – the amygdala – which limits us to passivity, running from each other, or rationalizing unspeakably inhumane violence. Today we Jews and Palestinians need no longer feel hopeless, without partners, despairing – nowhere. Somewhere, the heartfelt song from West Side Story, provides our vision. “Hold my hand and we’re half way there,” we’re rightly assured. Hand in hand, never again letting go of our heart connections, many of us are already navigating our way to the new shore of our better life. King was right; until now we “have not properly communicated with each other.” And as a college student told us: “If we’re not communicating with one other, we might as well live in caves again.” To avoid remaining primitive or wasting time, economist E.F. Schumacher (author of Small Is Beautiful) reminded us, we’re better investing our human energy not to resist and kill the old – the dinosaur – but to invent the gazelle, the new. Once we live this life of communicating and cooperating, old fears and ways atrophy and become irrelevant, obsolete. To cure fear, we Palestinians and Jews will be one another’s best doctors. Let this be our antidote and faith – courage to reach out to our “enemies,” first listening to their stories. A teacher told me: "Faith is not sitting down on a chair that isn't there." Beyond doubt, I've witnessed thousands of chairs supporting Palestinians and Jews face to face, discovering unprecedented empathy while creating inspiring projects and public activities together. People ask me: "What is your greatest fear?" I'm afraid that citizens will remain dependent on governments alone, and that not enough Arabs and Jews will courageously sit down to become more human together. So, what then is my faith? From my own healing and community-building experience, I know this to be true: The soul's oldest memory is of union, And the soul's oldest longing is for reunion. Beyond fear and war is an exciting, shared life for Palestinians and Israelis – Muslims, Christians, Jews, and others – listening, living, and creating together as equals, neighbors forever. - - - Lionel “Len” Traubman, a retired pediatric dentist, was the 1998 Alumnus of the Year of the University of California School of Dentistry. With his wife, Libby, he co-founded in 1992 the ongoing Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group of San Mateo, California. Google “Jewish Palestinian progress”. Write to LTraubman@igc.org read more The Crisis of Iraqi Refugees Through the Levant By NOUREDDINE JEBNOUN on April 13, 2009 The Iraqi refugee crisis is largely undocumented by the media. Reporters have been largely disinterested in the phenomenon, yet it is large-scale. It is, indeed, the most important regional movement of population in the Middle East since 1948.read more Responsible Journalism, a Vital Medium By KHALED DIAB on April 11, 2009 BRUSSELS ? Although the Israeli-Palestinian media battlefield is bitter and deeply entrenched, journalists have a responsibility to venture into the no man's land between the two sides, even if it means getting caught in the crossfire.read more	It's High Time to Ban Cluster Bombs By MIDDLE EAST TIMES on April 14, 2009 In the aftermath of the Second Lebanon War between Israel and Hezbollah two summers ago, as in the more recent conflict between Russia and Georgia last summer, large numbers of cluster munitions were deployed and thousands of unexploded ordnance still remain scattered in civilian populated areas. read more Somali Pirates Represent Real Threat To International Security By MIDDLE EAST TIMES on April 13, 2009 The scourge of pirates operating off the coast of Somalia is not going to disappear unless they are made to go away. With every ship they board and with every hostage they take they become stronger, richer and more powerful. Resolving the crisis of these pirates requires a two-pronged approach. read more Obama's Visit to Turkey - Not Enough Meat on the Bones By MIDDLE EAST TIMES on April 10, 2009 U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Turkey was long on rhetoric and the feel-good factor of diplomacy, but very thin on specifics. This was unfortunate, because there was a great deal to talk about, and the brief time allotted to each of Obama's talking points.read more Concern Grows for Iran's Jailed Journalists By MIDDLE EAST TIMES on April 9, 2009 There is growing concern over the detention of journalists and cyber-dissidents being held in Iran and the arbitrary nature of their detention.read more

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