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Arab-Israeli Relations

Making Mischief
Jonathan Spyer - 5/4/2008
Whatever the Israelis offer, Syria won't give up its alliance with Iran, which allows it to punch above its weight in the region. With attention in the Middle East focusing on the US congressional hearings regarding a possible Syrian nuclear programme, the Syrian newspaper al-Watan made a surprising announcement last Wednesday. According to the newspaper, Israel, via Turkish channels, had in the previous 24 hours expressed its willingness to exchange the entirety of the Golan Heights area for peace with Syria.

No one cares about the Golan
Ted Belman - 5/3/2008
In my article Greater Syria is the answer. Yes, no, maybe. written in Nov ‘06, I wrote:

'Annapolis' is all about ending the occupation
Ted Belman - 4/17/2008
It is standard practice for athletes and magicians to fake us out. They distract our attention to mislead us as to their intentions. Politicians do to.

What's More Important: Blue Jeans or Being Blown Up?
Prof. Barry Rubin - 4/5/2008
It's hard to satirize a lot of media coverage about Israel and the Arab-Israeli or Israeli-Palestinian conflicts. The truly dreadful stuff is in the details, the small stories and big assumptions on which they are based, rather than in any "scoops" or blockbuster articles.

Peace Process is a loser’s game
Ted Belman - 4/3/2008
American Friends of Likud just held a worldwide conference on “Israel at the Crossroads: The Palestinians and Gaza in the Shadow of Iran” featuring MK Yuval Steinitz, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror and Dan Diker.

Is it possible to make peace with those who don't recognize your right to exist?
Alexander Maistrovoy - 3/28/2008
A couple of weeks before the opening of the conference in Annapolis Saib Arikat, Head of Negotiations with Israel categorically rejected the opportunity of recognizing Israel, as the Jewish state. In other words, the body politic which PA is considered to be, negotiating for peace with its neighboring state, Israel, denies the very existence of this state. Is it surrealism and absurdity? Undoubtedly. However, this is an integral part of the Middle Eastern reality. And in this context the statement of Arikat (the representative of "pragmatic" and "moderated" Palestinians) is not accidental at all.

Israel-Arab Reader: The Seventh Edition
Prof. Barry Rubin - 3/26/2008
Now available from Penguin publishers is this new edition of one of the most highly respected, widely used reference books on the Middle East , documenting the Arab-Israel conflict and peace process from its inception to the present day.

Why There Is a Hamas-Israel War
Prof. Barry Rubin - 3/24/2008
The deliberate murder of eight and the wounding of nine Israeli rabbinical students in Jerusalem only highlights the fact that Hamas is at war with Israel. It is, from Hamas's view, a war that will never end until Israel is exterminated and its citizens killed or expelled. No other analysis is accurate or can explain what is happening.

No Sweat Organic Fashion, Made In Palestine, Sold Internationally By A Jewish Run Boston Company
Angelique van Engelen - 3/24/2008
An important part of the Palestinian economy consists of organic cotton manufacturing but the conflict in the Middle East has badly impacted the industry.

Don’t Muddy The Waters: War and Morality
Ted Belman - 3/19/2008
I commissioned a legal opinion from Col. Bruce T Smith, on what restrictions or laws Israel is subject to in its self-defense and included it in my recent article Bomb Gaza. Win the War.

Let's Talk About The Nazis
Prof. Barry Rubin - 3/18/2008
“Comparing contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis is increasingly commonplace." --U.S. State Department report on antisemitism, 2007. Let’s talk about the Nazis. There should have already been more than enough discussion about this in the more than half-century since Adolf Hitler’s bunker fell in 1945. There have been hundreds and thousands of books, articles, speeches, and so on about what is commonly known as the Holocaust. But apparently it hasn’t been enough, or well enough understood.

Arab Ideological Doctrine Syndrome: A Crippling Plague
Prof. Barry Rubin - 3/16/2008
One of the things least understood by people in the West is the framework—or should I say straitjacket?—of the dominant ideology in the Arabic-speaking world in shaping thought, speech, and political alternatives. This shows up in the smallest of exchanges. But atoms, too, are very tiny yet make up all the wide variety of things in the world.

Israel should release Palestinians prisoners according to a Plan
Ted Belman - 3/16/2008
Israel should release most of the 10,000 Palestinian prisoners held by them as part of a plan. I say most because the worst ones, I.e. those with “blood on their hands”, must be kept to make a point, namely, that murderers must be held accountable.

The Two State Solution
Ted Belman - 3/4/2008
I was shocked to receive a note from Dr Paul Eidelberg advising that The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) had endorsed for the first time a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Bomb Gaza, Win the War
Ted Belman - 2/28/2008
The Assault on Israel’s Right to Self-Defense was described by Abraham Bell in his article on International Law and Gaza. Dr. Avi Bell is a member of the Faculty of Law at Bar-Ilan University, Visiting Professor at Fordham University Law School, and Director of the International Law Forum at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. He clearly advised that Israel has the right of self defense and described the law as it pertains.

So Many Problems, So Few Solutions
Prof. Barry Rubin - 2/26/2008
The Middle East is a region where so many things seem to happen, so little appears to change, and far too much is said about it all. Partly this is due to the area's turbulence; partly to obsessive hyper-reporting in an era when everyone claims to be a Middle East expert and the most basic exercise of logic is often absent. Yet, at the same time, silly ideas and policies often also correspond to real needs.

Peace Must Be Desired For Peace Process To Work
Prof. Barry Rubin - 2/14/2008
There’s a fascinating interview in the February 10 Jerusalem Post with former British prime minister and now Quartet peace envoy Tony Blair. On one hand, it gets things wrong but on the other hand it expresses some extremely important trends.

Palestinians and Jews: A Solution?
Bernard Gilland - 2/14/2008
The conflict between Jews and Arabs over Palestine arose soon after Russian Jews began to immigrate into Palestine in 1882. No solution acceptable to both sides is yet in sight, but it is possible to identify the least unsatisfactory solution by a process of elimination.

Pay Now, Nothing Later
Prof. Barry Rubin - 2/13/2008
Step right up! Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen! It's easy, fun, and everybody's a winner! Just guess which shell the nut is under.

Uniquely Bizarre
Prof. Barry Rubin - 2/10/2008
The Arab-Israeli conflict definitely holds the record for the most bizarrely treated issue in modern history. It is easy to forget just how strange this situation is and the extent to which it is understood and handled so totally different from other, more rationally, perceived problems.

Israel, Gaza & Egypt: No Change
Jonathan Spyer - 2/7/2008
The response of Israeli officials to the latest events in Gaza may in essence be divided into two halves. The initial response was one of frustration at Egyptian unwillingness to restore order on the international border. The subsequent sense is that the latest Gaza events have served to clarify, rather than significantly alter, an already existing reality.

Israel Should End Occupation Of Gaza
Ted Belman - 2/7/2008
In October ‘04, I asked What will “disengagement” accomplish? and referred to a DEBKA Report which said,

“Annapolis” is a separation process, not a peace process
Ted Belman - 2/4/2008
David Samuels, who wrote “In a Ruined Country”,the definitive article on Yasser Arafat in The Atlantic in 2005, and a stunning article last year in The Jewish Press entitled “The Silence of the Lambs”, has now written another essential article in the February 13 issue of The New Republic entitled “The Father of Palestine”, dealing with the object of the current peace process.

Clinton, Bush and the Illusion of Last-Minute Peace
Prof. Barry Rubin - 1/21/2008
Doesn’t it all sound so familiar? A president in the last year of his office decides that the Middle East and Israeli-Palestinian issue can and will be put in order just in time for him to leave the White House, as if these complex, dangerous issues can be resolved like the happy ending of a 30-minute television show or 90-minute Hollywood film.

Israel: Time to Apply the Mandate
Ted Belman - 1/12/2008
The Bush trip to the Middle East was over before it began. Or putting it another way, Bush is just going through the motions. The impediments to progress are so great that only the naive believe that a deal can be reached. In fact many people have written to the effect that the gaps have widened since Ehud Barak’s offer at Camp David.

Can The Peace Process Be Stopped?
Ted Belman - 1/8/2008
I recently wrote, "The peace process is like an enormous ship traveling with great momentum to a predetermined destination. Nothing Israel can do will stop it or alter its course. While Israel continues to debate the details, the ship continues, inexorably." The two-state solution has been planned for years.

The “peace process” has it backwards
Ted Belman - 1/2/2008
Saul Singer advises How to pressure for peace. I go further suggesting that the peace process has it backwards.

Rather than finance them to the tune of $7.4 billion thereby enabling them to continue the “resistance”, they should be left to fend for themselves.

Rather than force Israel to freeze settlemen...

The Way Forward In The Middle East
Ted Belman - 12/27/2007
I Hate The "Peace Process". The bottom line is that it is a vehicle that the world community rides to force Israel to capitulate to Arab demands. Many people including Jews support the process and even support US pressure on Israel to make more concessions. Without making a further argument in support of my rejection and against their designs, I would like to identify certain facts which inform the reality upon which I base my ideas of the way forward.

The Jewish Version Of The One-State Solution
Ted Belman - 12/23/2007
In my article, The War on Zionism, I decry the smear that Zionism is racism. It is a national liberation movement. Having said that I want to address the arguments in Just one State. While I also am against the two-state solution it is for a different reason. It is not workable nor achievable.

Get the Arabs to make a better offer
Ted Belman - 12/22/2007
I received this letter:

"It must be hard being the only virgin left standing — a true believer who is certain that he has found the right truth and would you believe it, it’s on his right side. In your selective parsing of the Salon article you do exactly the same thing you accuse the left of doing of being blind to reality. Your so sure statement that “right wingers do not reject peace…they just reject faux peace on Arab terms” …ignores the fact that regardless of the “absolutist voices”…of which your, I believe, is a Jewish echo, people of good will, however strained that good will is...

Annapolis will lead to Dhimmi status for Israel
Ted Belman - 12/14/2007
Everything I read about the negotiations leading up to Annapolis and the event itself suggests that a deal has been cut whereby Israel assumes its rightful (according to Islam) role as a Dhimmi in exchange for Saudi acceptance of the existence of Israel.

Beyond Annapolis - Political Paralysis
David Singer - 12/10/2007
President Bush will be bitterly disappointed if he is expecting a historic breakthrough in negotiations over the next twelve months between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

What's After Annapolis?
Ahmad Al-Akhras, Ph.D. - 12/9/2007
On the 60th anniversary of the UN partition plan, President George W. Bush invited the conflicting parties of the Middle East to Annapolis, Maryland. It seems that President Bush wanted to have a legacy for being a broker of a long-awaited peace deal between the Palestinians and Israelis. It looks like nothing is coming out of this meeting. However, it may turn out as a nice photo op for everybody involved.

Annapolis: One Cheer, One Yawn, One Cynical Shrug
Prof. Barry Rubin - 12/8/2007
Before the Annapolis meeting, some said the operation would save the patient; others that it would kill the patient. In fact, the patient is exactly the same but the doctors had a hell of a big party and congratulated themselves on doing a terrific job.

You Can't Get to Peace if You Can't Get it Right
Prof. Barry Rubin - 12/2/2007
I love Annapolis. A charming town that has maintained its historic district quite nicely. Nice little harbor with interesting shops. Then there's the magnificent statehouse, best-known for George Washington's famous farewell speech, when he gave up the command of the American army at the end of the revolution rather than making himself dictator, got on his horse, and rode home to be a farmer.

Why I Hate Annapolis
Ted Belman - 12/2/2007
Why do I hate Annapolis? Because what was agreed to at Annapolis will destroy Israel. Let me count the ways it threatens the Jewish state:

Annapolis: Munich Rising
Jerry Gordon - 11/27/2007
I listened to an interview with Ambassador John Bolton and Natan Sharansky with Lori Lowenthal Marcus and Steve Feldman on the ZOA Middle East News Hour on WNWR.com. Listen to the interview here. I came to a basic conclusion. What we have going down on the US Naval Academy grounds in Annapolis, Maryland next week is Munich Rising.

Annapolis Drop-Ins And Mary Poppins
David Singer - 11/26/2007
The spotlight is now directly focused on Annapolis as preparations are finalised for the opening night of the proposed revival of the show "Road Map" - first conceived by President George Bush in 2002. Tickets have been finally mailed out for this eagerly anticipated event to a large number of so far unidentified VIP's who will drop into Annapolis to attend a gala dinner on 26 November to be followed by a full blown performance the following day. They are slotted to fly out after meeting the two principal actors - Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas - who will be desperately trying to get the show on the road once again after a series of abysmal failures over the last four years

There's No Diplomatic Solution To the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Ted Belman - 11/22/2007
On October 26, 2005, Ahmadinejad gave a speech to the "World Without Zionism� conference" in Iran. The New York Times published a full transcript of the speech in which Ahmadinejad was quoted in part as follows:

Land for War or Palestine for Bombs?
Ted Belman - 11/18/2007
The internet magazine, Insight, has reported that the U.S. has offered Israel a “A Land For War” deal.

Annapolis Will Bring Death And Destruction
Ted Belman - 11/16/2007
Make no mistake about it, Annapolis represents a mortal danger to Israel and the Jewish people. We dont have to know how and when the

Arab Rejectionist Front's Catastrophic Victories
Charles Jalkh - 11/14/2007
Since the birth of the State of Israel, the suicidal anti peace Arab-Islamic ancient regimes persisted in promising their people “Great Victories”, such as the famous “throwing the Jews in the sea”, “Chasing the Colonialists out of the region”, “Building the Emirate of the Fakih”, and recently “Defeating the Zionist/American plan for the Middle East in Lebanon”, only to lead their masses into the slaughterhouse of history in calamity after calamity.

Annapolis Turns Into Fantasyland
David Singer - 11/11/2007
Fantasy is rapidly overtaking reality threatening to turn President George Bush's upcoming international meeting in Annapolis into a real farce - if the following classic statements are any guide:

Annapolis: A Wedding or a Disaster of the Year?
David Singer - 11/8/2007
Best Man - President George Bush - and Matron of Honour - Condoleezza Rice - are becoming increasingly frustrated as the reluctant bride - Israel - and a very impatient groom - the Palestinian Authority - continue haggling over the substantial dowry the groom is demanding from the bride's family before the wedding of the year can go ahead in Annapolis this month - or maybe next month.

Enough of Enough
Prof. Barry Rubin - 11/7/2007
If you want to understand the Middle East’s continuing tragedy over the last decade and why the region is stagnating at best or entering an era of radical Islamist upheaval at worst, consider the tale of Egypt’s Kifaya movement. This is the kind of thing Western politicians, officials, academics, and journalists must comprehend to know how Middle East politics really works.

Warning: Don’t Reverse The Steps In The Roadmap
Ted Belman - 11/7/2007
Tzipi Livni spoke yesterday to the NATO-Israel Symposium. The speech could have been written by the State Department as they both are on the same page. According to them the world is divided between moderates and extremists. The US has been peddling this tripe for at least a year. You know, rally the moderates to oppose the extremists.

Without Illusions
Prof. Barry Rubin - 11/5/2007
The alternative Western view of Middle East strategy--so influential in academic, media, and to some extent diplomatic circles--has a six-point program that boils down as: Make deals with Iran, Syria, Hamas, and Hezbollah; ally with Muslim Brotherhoods; and split Iran and Syria.

And What Do We Get?
Prof. Barry Rubin - 10/17/2007
The Israeli-Palestinian peace process is about to be the topic of an international summit and optimism is breaking out all over. A breakthrough to comprehensive peace, however, is very unlikely. Hamas controls the Gaza Strip; the Palestinian Authority (PA)-Fatah leader, Mahmoud Abbas, is weak; Fatah is still overwhelmingly radical and has not conducted the internal debate—much less public education effort—necessary for a change of policy.

Jerusalem's Status Under Review
Angelique van Engelen - 10/12/2007
The status of Jerusalem has been the most contentious issue of the Middle East peace process. But a proposal by Israel's vice prime minister could bode change on this issue. What’s cooking?

Let's Make A Deal
Prof. Barry Rubin - 10/10/2007
Quick! Tell me. Who’s desperate to make a deal? Who acts as if they are the weaker party, eager to negotiate solutions in order to end their people’s suffering and the costs of conflict? Certainly not Iran. It has been pushing ahead with its nuclear program for more than three years during a period of intense Western diplomatic effort, lots of talk about sanctions, and even the implementation of some. Iran is indifferent to threats of attack or warnings of isolation. To a large extent—but not completely—the regime thinks the West is bluffing. But if Tehran really sought nuclear energy, not bo...

The Israeli-Palestinian Conference in November
Shlomo Brom - 10/9/2007
President Bush’s initiative to convene an international meeting in November on the Israeli-Palestinian track has given a new boost to the Israeli-Palestinian dialogue. This follows the dynamic created by Hamas’ takeover of the Gaza Strip in June this year. The key question now is whether these stimuli can pull the cart of Israeli-Palestinian relations out of the bog in which it has been stuck since the end of 2000.

Geneva Accords Are Being Elevated To Government Policy
Ted Belman - 8/27/2007
"The 'peace process' is like an enormous ship traveling with great momentum to a predetermined destination. Nothing Israel can do will stop it or alter its course. While Israel continues to debate the details, the ship continues, inexorably." Eight months after the US invasion of Iraq and the announcement of the Roadmap, Yossi Beilin, the Oslo architect, and Abed Rabbo, launched their peace proposal after two and one-half years of work. It was to be known as the

Arab-Israeli Peace: Window Of Opportunity Or Window Dressing?
Prof. Barry Rubin - 8/13/2007
Is there a window of opportunity for Israel-Palestinian peace right now? Let me put it this way: in diplomatic terms, looking through the window is worthwhile but, in analytical terms, I don’t think anyone is going to be able to climb through it.

The Saudi Plan is carved in stone by the US - or is it?
Ted Belman - 7/31/2007
A year ago, I wrote The Conspiracy to Shrink Israel in which I made the case by quoting from a number of sources, that the US was party to the conspiracy and its leader.

Middle East Peace: What Can Tony Blair Do?
Saberi Roy - 7/29/2007
One of the questions that could bother everyone is that what will analysts and world leaders do if the Israel-Palestine conflict ever gets resolved? It’s possible that this worry is unfounded as the mid-east problem will not be resolved completely in the immediate future but will hopefully start dwindling and will be seen as a less important issue.

Yester years hardliners, today's peacemakers - Guns from Israel
Iqbal Latif - 7/27/2007
The ancient proverb, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," is usually considered a foreign policy doctrine that is commonly used to confront a significant enemy through an intermediary in order to undermine the enemy and in a "cold" manner, as opposed to a "hot", direct confrontation. Hamas, most likely, is the common enemy here. In a strange twist of events, moderate Palestinians, of course great ex-hardliners, are being provided arms to save them from the coup d'état of Gaza's zealots. Israel authorized the transfer of 1,000 rifles from Jordan to the security forces of the Palestinian Author...

Arabs Will Never Accept Israel and We Should Accept It
Ted Belman - 7/26/2007
Saudi Arabia gave birth to its baby The Saudi Plan just before the invasion of Iraq in the expectation that it would come of age in the Roadmap. Thomas Friedman was the midwife. The Roadmap, making reference to the baby, was announced just days after the invasion. I forcefully recommended that Israel Reject the Roadmap and later traced ...

Quartet Quartered, Road Map Thwarted, Palestine Aborted
David Singer - 7/17/2007
The Quartet's Road Map has failed according to the ten foreign ministers of the European Union's Mediterranean States - Bulgaria, Cyprus, Spain, France, Greece, Italy , Malta, Portugal, Romania and Slovenia - ("the Mediterranean Ten"). In an open letter to the Quartet's new negotiating supremo Tony Blair, they state unequivocally and without any diplomatic nuances:

What Can Olmert And Abbas Do Now?
Prof. Barry Rubin - 7/14/2007
In completely objective, totally detached terms, there is a really great policy available in the aftermath of Hamas’s seizure of the Gaza Strip. Palestinian Authority (PA) and PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah-dominated government in the West Bank could present their people with an attractive alternative. Cease terrorism, really purvey moderation (as an actual policy and not just in interviews with Western correspondents), and make a comprehensive peace agreement with Israel to create a Palestinian state with its capital in east Jerusalem. Huge amounts of aid are pledged internationally, ...

Reinforcing Failure In The Middle East
Jonathan Spyer - 7/10/2007
Israeli responses to the news that Tony Blair has accepted the post of Quartet Middle East Envoy have ranged from the warmly supportive, via the mildly bemused, to the downright opposed. The former British prime minister is generally regarded as warmly disposed to Israel. He has often expressed himself in this regard. Blair's latest mission, however, is flawed in its very definition.

Blair Boards The Bush Bandwagon
David Singer - 6/29/2007
Tony Blair couldn't even wait for the announcement of his appointment as special envoy for the Quartet - America, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations - to repeat this famous mantra in the House of Commons: "The only way of bringing stability and peace to the Middle East is a two-state solution, which means a state of Israel that is secure and confident in its security and a Palestinian state that is not merely viable in terms of its territory, but in terms of its institutions and government."

Don't Bank On The 'West Bank First' Option
Ted Belman - 6/28/2007
Just as President Bush is in the process of embracing the West Bank First Option there are many detractors. In today's Washington Post, Robert Malley and Aaron David Miller take the position It won't Work. A year ago, in the New York Times, Malley re-wrote history. He disputed the view that Yasser Arafat was the sole culprit responsible for the talks' failure and he wrote in reference to Barak's offer at Camp David

Middle East Lesson Too Late for the Learning?
Prof. Barry Rubin - 6/26/2007
If you want to understand Arab politics, don’t bother with what Western “experts” say, get a feel for what people like to refer to today as the local “narrative.” This doesn’t mean you accept what is said as true, but that you understand how what is said makes things work (or rather, fail to work).

West Bank and Gaza: Fairy Tales and the Media
David Singer - 6/6/2007
The failure by editors of supposedly impartial and respected newspapers to correct inaccuracies in media articles regarding the West Bank and Gaza prior to their publication, gives continuing credence to total Arab denial of any Jewish rights in those areas - and also seriously misleads and misinforms their trusting readers as to the nature of the conflict that is taking place.

Pipes on the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process
Ted Belman - 6/6/2007
Testimony by Daniel Pipes, Director of the Middle East Forum & Distinguished visiting professor, Pepperdine University before U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia February 14, 2007, 2:30 p.m.

Palestine: The New Myth And Reality
David Singer - 6/1/2007
Jordan's Prime Minister, Marouf al- Bakhit, has now added one new myth to the countless many concerning Palestine that have been invented by Arab propagandists. Speaking at a recent seminar marking the 61st anniversary of Jordan's independence, the Prime Minister asserted that everyone should realise that "this small country [Jordan] was not accidentally born nor was the outcome of deals,conferences or conspiracies." Jordan's history is well documented and totally contradicts the Prime Minister's amazing assertion.

West Bank Settlements Are Legal Under International Law
Ted Belman - 5/30/2007
The Independent just published an article which said Secret memo shows Israel knew Six Day War was illegal. The "Secret Memo" it referred to was the one written by Theodore Meron, the Israeli Foreign Ministry's legal adviser at the time and today one of the world's leading international jurists.

Dividing The Land of Israel
Pete Fisher - 5/26/2007
This week all warring Palestinian factions are gathered in Mecca to find a way to stop killing each other. Using an obscure Islamic law, King Abdullah basically set these people at a table to force their hand at peace. King Abdullah II of Jordan has stated several times that the peace process in the Middle East must begin with the Palestinians and the Jews. Yet the past months of slaughter had nothing to do with Israel, only a power play between Palestinian factions to see who carries the rifles and calls the shots.

Israel’s Arab Citizens And The Jewish State
Tashbih Sayyed - 5/26/2007
As another sign of the growing power of Global Jihad, Israel's Arab minority has rejected the idea of Israel as a Jewish state. In a manifesto, "The Future Vision of the Palestinian Arabs in Israel", drafted by 40 academics and activists under the sponsorship of the Committee of Arab Mayors in Israel and endorsed by an unprecedented range of Arab community leaders, Arab leaders have declared that Israel is a bi-national state and Arabs are an indigenous group with collective rights, not just individual rights.

The Palestine Conspiracy - Book Review
David Storobin, Esq. - 5/12/2007
Pros: Fast-paced spy-thriller to an unbelievable ending.

Cons: Everyone thought this couldn't happen, then it did.

Mr. Spirko discusses all the issues confronting the Middle East through the minds of both the Palestinians and Israelis. His understanding of the collective mindsets (those who are continually at war with each other) brings a new dimension of reality to the Palestinian question, which has now become the ever-persistent Israeli obstacle. How to achieve peace in the Middle East? If the Palestinian problem can be solved where both sides achieve peace, then world terrorism will go away.

Implications of the Israel-Hezbollah War
Gary C. Gambill - 4/14/2007
The July-August 2006 conflagration between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite Islamist Hezbollah movement defies the common presumption that the Arab-Israeli conflict is inherently zero sum - that Israel's loss is always a commensurate gain for its adversaries, and vice versa. As UN Deputy Secretary General Mark Malloch Brown remarked during the fourth week of fighting, this was an "odd war" in which "both sides think they're winning."[1]

Should The West Stand With The Jews?
Baron Bodissey - 2/25/2007
Full disclosure: I am not a Jew. I am a practicing Christian, non-evangelical, from a background of tolerant Protestantism. I read eclectically, am well educated, and consider myself an intellectual. And I stand with the Jews.

Israel & the Palestinians: Who Needs Enemies ...
Imran Khan - 12/29/2006
Can anyone believe that weapons could be brought into Gaza Strip ( Palestine) openly with the approval of Israel to be used by the Palestinians? I hope no one would believe it. But it has happened whether we believe it or not and it's a reality. Egypt transferred a large quantity of arms and ammunition in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday 27th December, 2006, with Israel 's approval. Infect it was done purposely and reason behind that was to strengthen the Palestinian Security Forces loyal to Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, The president of Palestinian National Authority. Palestinian security forces mainly bel...

Middle East: Exacting A Pound Of Flesh
Iqbal Latif - 8/9/2006
Wounds and scars from history cannot become the basis of inter-human relationships. With a bloodthirsty Jew at its centre, "The Merchant of Venice" is Shakespeare's most divisive play. Anyone who thinks this 400-year-old Shakespearean character is forgotten and superseded is mistaken. Shylock in the play offers Antonio this loan at no interest. Instead, if Antonio does not repay him in time, he will cut off a pound of his flesh. Meanwhile, Shylock's daughter, Jessica, elopes with Bassanio's friend Lorenzo taking a significant chunk of her father's wealth with her. Enraged by her betrayal, Shyl...

Hate Against Hate
Imran Khan - 7/28/2006
Many agree that the killing of eight Israeli soldiers and the capturing of two others was an unprovoked act of war by Hezbollah. But many should also agree that in retaliation, the killing of dozens of innocent civilians in Lebanon by Israel is worse than that action. Eighty Palestinians have lost their lives since Israeli tropes entered Gaza after 1 Israeli soldier was kidnapped there. Israeli soldiers can enter any time Palestinian territory and capture anyone. If abduction of its soldiers is an illegal move, than why did Israel capture hundreds of Palestinians without charges? Retaliatory a...

Hizballah's Adventurism Leads It Into Isolation
Manuela Paraipan - 7/27/2006
The attack of Hizballah on Israel compelled me to reconsider the decades-old war by the Muslims against the Jewish state. This conflict is but a small piece of the puzzle. In the middle of the conflict between the Iranian supported Hizballah and Israel, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched a fresh verbal attack on Israel by saying that the Jews are the "most detested people" on the planet. The comment came after Iran's top national security official, Ali Larijani, had voiced Iran’s “decisive support” for the militant Palestinian groups and for the Hizballah, and basically for anyone who figh...

Boosting Extremists With Bombs: Hezbollah's popularity rises, dimming the prospects for democracy
Dilip Hiro - 7/26/2006
Israel’s air strikes on Southern Lebanon boost support for Hezbollah in the Arab world, as many lose faith in already struggling Arab democracies. Outlining the history of Hezbollah in a region prone to setbacks and violence, Middle East analyst and author Dilip Hiro predicts that the present fighting paves the way for more Arab rulers to resort to repressive measures in order to control dissent or extremism. Hezbollah’s attacks may have been just one more step in their long struggle over prisoner exchanges with Israel, but Israel’s fierce retaliation could have much wider consequences. The Is...

Can Media Bias Prevent the Next World War?
Abukar Arman - 7/26/2006
Perhaps now more than any other time in human history, objective media is desperately needed - media to inform the masses; to provide voice to the voiceless; and to function as the objective counterweight that scrutinizes the powers that be. We currently live in an era that can only be described as the most volatile in contemporary history; a time when extremism and terrorism, with all their methods and motives, are on the rise; when human rights violation and political polarization are rampant, and when respect for the international law that protectes state sovereignty is systematically corro...

Lebanon: Hijacking the Cedars’ March to Freedom
Anwar Wazen - 10/31/2005
A fallacy has been promoted by Druze chieftain Walid Jumblatt, the Hariri family, their TV station and their other media outlets pretending that the crowds of Lebanese that flocked to Liberty square on March 14 did so because they wanted to know the truth about the crime perpetrated against ex- prime minister Rafik Hariri.

Palestinians and Israelis: Peace Is A Matter Of Mentality
Manuela Paraipan - 10/8/2005
US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice called Hamas to disarm if interested to play a significant political role on the Palestinian political stage. "Hamas, stands for a one-state solution, not a two-state solution. Hamas, therefore stands for the destruction of Israel. Hamas is an organization that asks Palestinian mothers and fathers to give their children up to make themselves suicide bombers. And it is a real detriment and block to further peace in the Middle East."

Israeli Withdrawal From Gaza Has Implications For Internal Politics
Angelique van Engelen - 7/26/2005
The much disputed Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and four settlements in the West Bank is rapidly becoming an issue that people are using to recycle years' worth of violence and political tensions into. Events in the Middle East tend to succeed one another in quicker a fashion than most political twists and turns you can digest compared to, for instance, Europe or even the US, but this does not take away any of their validity. All the more so because the drama simply doesn't get hollowed out but, on the contrary, more extreme.

Peace Process and Land Claims
Manuela Paraipan - 5/10/2005
Truth be told, there is no peace process in the Middle East today. Substantive Israeli-Palestinian and Arab-Israeli negotiations have ceased, and the George Bush administration has demonstrated neither the will nor the desire to expend political capital on a diplomatic process that would involve difficult compromises. Simply put, Bush would rather negotiate with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon about the details of an imposed, American-Israeli solution to Israeli security and settlement problems than mediate between Israelis and Palestinians. The road map, the Sharm al-Sheikh and other meet...

Barring Talks, Settlements Are The Barometer for Peace
Angelique van Engelen - 4/20/2005
Israeli settler policies are often seen not only as highly controversial but also as highly surprising. Last Monday's news that a bid had been put out for the construction of 50 houses on the West Bank was both as surprising and controversial as Sharon's plan to remove 8,000 settlers from Gaza earlier this year and the announcement a few days after he'd won Knesset approval of plans to expand in the West Bank town of Maalah Adumim.

Sharm al-Sheikh Summit: Facts Speak Louder Than Words
Manuela Paraipan - 2/22/2005
The summit between PM Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas the Palestinian Authority Chairman was held in the Egyptian resort of Sharm Al-Sheikh in the presence of President Mubarak of Egypt and King Abdullah II of Jordan. President Mubarak called for the other Arab countries to join the negotiation process. In this direction, he particularly named Syria and Lebanon. Under his patronage and with the support of the Jordanian King Abdullah, thus a team of only Arab mediators, PM Sharon and PA Chairman Abbas agreed to put an end to the violence. But, did those who are in theirs orders agree to do the same?