The one photograph that hangs in my office is that of the late Lebanese writer Samir Kassir. He was assassinated in June 2005, but his ideas are more relevant than ever as Lebanon, Palestine and the entire Arab world that defined his life, embrace greater tension and violence practiced simultaneously by the state, opposition groups …
Before we explore the relationship between Islam and democracy, it is important to understand what exactly the idea of democracy entails because too often the notion of democracy is confused with Western culture and society. As such, analysts often dismiss the compatibility of Islam with democracy, arguing that Islam and secularism are opposite forces, that …
Reuters CAIRO: The Egyptian government has widened its crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, opting for new tactics to prevent the country s strongest opposition group from advancing further into mainstream politics. Analysts say Egypt fears that unless it stops the Islamists now, they will make enough gains in coming elections to bypass rules aimed at …
Saparmurat Niyazov Turkmenbashi the Great, dictator of Turkmenistan, recently died. The political class of this remote Central Asian republic rallied round his look-alike successor. Long Live Turkmenbashi! At first glance, there seems little for the outside world to cheer in the trajectory of politics of Turkmenistan, or for that matter the other Central Asian “stans …
Last week when I was chatting online with my best friend, I suddenly remembered an old cartoon that we used to watch with much attention when we were around 10 years old. I asked him, do you remember Jonger the cartoon show? And he answered me with an opened-mouth emoticon smile, yes of course. And …
Members of the United States Congress, distressed with the flagging popularity of the Iraq war, have spent the first month of 2007 scrambling to offer the public the exit strategy it seeks. Bereft of a serious and comprehensive strategy for several years, the American public now has a surfeit of offerings from their elected representatives. …
When, earlier this month, the Israeli daily Haaretz uncovered the details of secret, unofficial Syrian-Israeli peace talks, it revived a familiar menu of questions and concerns whenever Syria and Israel negotiate: Would Israel give back to Syria all of the Golan Heights? How would the water resources be shared? Can either side trust the other …
The visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the Middle East, which began on Saturday, comes at an opportune moment. Germany currently holds both the presidency of the European Union and that of the Group of Eight industrialized countries. Since December 2006, Merkel has held talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud …
Insecurity, corruption among Iraqi officials and weak US contract management have led to tens of millions of dollars in Iraq reconstruction aid going missing, a new audit report said on Wednesday. The quarterly audit prepared by the office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (Sigir), Stuart Bowen Jr, is the latest to paint …
Ever since France and the Netherlands rejected the European Union’s proposed Constitutional Treaty, EU leaders have been busy pointing fingers at each other, or blaming French and Dutch citizens for misunderstanding the question they had been asked. But no amount of finger pointing can obscure the fact that, 50 years after the European Community’s creation, …
Ever since France and the Netherlands rejected the European Unions proposed Constitutional Treaty, EU leaders have been busy pointing fingers at each other, or blaming French and Dutch citizens for misunderstanding the question they had been asked. But no amount of finger pointing can obscure the fact that, 50 years after the European Communitys creation, …
Much has been written in the past few months to accommodate either the March 8 or the March 14 movement. Their rivalry has been eating at the very core of Lebanon. Our country has reached a point where people have lost all interest in the first prize, whoever takes over power. Many Lebanese are searching …
Afghanistan’s future hangs in the balance as its weak national government struggles to maintain support and legitimacy in the face of a widening insurgency, warlords, the heroin trade, and a disappointed populace. Across an arc extending from Afghanistan to East Africa, violence now also surges in Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, and beyond, to Sudan’s Darfur region. …
Why was the White House so nervous in the summer of 2003 about the CIA’s reporting on alleged Iraqi attempts to buy uranium from Niger to build a nuclear bomb? That’s the big question that runs through the many little details that have emerged in the perjury trial of Vice President Dick Cheney’s former top …
Regardless of whether the United States’ current military surge and slight shift in tactics in Iraq succeeds or not, Washington has clearly defined and started to implement its fallback plan in the Middle East: an across-the-board battle against Iran. The US has unleashed, or unsheathed, military, diplomatic, economic, proxy, clandestine, and rhetorical means to hold …
CAIRO: The Western media and film industry are perpetuating Islamophobia and prejudice by demonizing Muslims and Arabs as violent, dangerous and threatening people, according to a new British report released Jan. 26. The western media are largely seen by Muslims as a negative influence, co-author Sameera Ahmed said in the report The British media and …
He stepped in from the harsh sunlight of Egypt. He had just crossed the Sinai with two Arab friends, one of whom had died during the journey. The news that he and his friend brought was of huge import. This slight figure, still dusty and grimed from travel by camel, stepped from the Cairo hubbub …
The Bush administration is courting influential Kurdish factions in Iraq. But across the border in Turkey, it is supporting Turkey’s subjugation of its large Kurdish population. The United States has just approved the sale of F-16 and F-35 fighter jets to Turkey that are to be used for the express purpose of crushing Kurdish militants …
Investigators from the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague are due to arrive in Sudan in the coming days. Yet vocal opponents have recently argued that the Court is responsible, albeit unwittingly , for contributing to the atrocities in Darfur. This is tantamount to stating that courts are responsible for fueling crime and injustice …
Israel and the United States have a close and vital strategic relationship that constitutes a pillar of Israel’s security. Israeli leaders are aware that any major new regional policy departure not closely coordinated with Washington is liable to be a non-starter and to cloud American-Israeli relations. Any smart Israeli aspiring to political leadership knows that …
PETRA: Locals at the Wehdat Palestinian refugee camp used to toss their garbage on the front steps of the town s main day center for the mentally disabled. Back when the daily activity center opened its doors in 2001, explains social worker Bayan Al-Nimer, this was a way for them to show their disrespect for …
The United States as a whole – citizens, government, media and academia – broadly has had a difficult time coming to grips with the terrorism phenomenon that struck its shores so traumatically on Sept. 11, 2001. A two-week journey throughout the United States this month left me with the sense that American society is more …
With the release of a highly anticipated document, the “Future Vision of the Palestinian Arabs in Israel, the Palestinian community within Israel has taken its first steps toward full empowerment. The document, which lays out a broad, if not comprehensive, map of relations between the state of Israel and its Palestinian Arab citizens, is unique …
The Iranians were slow in reacting to Saddam Hussein’s hanging. The main reason for that was the old accepted belief in Iran that Saddam was an American puppet. This was the view broadly propagated by the Iranian leadership during the 8-year war with Iraq. The Iraqi leader had attacked Iran on behalf of the enemies …
Palestinians have failed to appreciate the inherent power they have once they put away the gun. They are fighting among themselves about how to deal with Israeli oppression: with bullets or with brains? In a Palestinian Fatah-Hamas summit meeting last week in Damascus, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal made some …
On the face of it, the donor conference of Western and oil-rich Arab nations in Paris last week merely continued the work of two previous multilateral conferences in 2001 and 2002, aimed at helping Lebanon to rebuild its infrastructure after years of civil war and Israeli occupation and to tackle its massive debt. This time, …
Noozz CAIRIO: The Egyptian construction market expects the results of a bid launched by the Ministry of Housing in December 2006 over eight large plots in new cities to restructure the set-up of the regional market. The spaces offered to private construction companies from Egypt and the region range from 250 to 1900 feddans. Bidding …
As progress towards a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict stalls, an old idea has gained increased currency in some circles, that of one binational state for both Israelis and Palestinians. There are a number of variations on this argument, but proponents essentially call for foregoing the concept of two distinct national entities. Instead, they …
It is tempting for Europeans to project their own history onto Asia and to view current developments there as a mere repetition, if not an imitation, of what occurred in Europe. In fact, Asians themselves encourage this temptation, with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) openly aiming to become increasingly like the European Union. …
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s recent visit to Jerusalem and Ramallah was different from her eight previous trips to Israel and the Palestinian Authority in her current job. This time around, Rice announced a deeper American involvement in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking, a notable departure from the erstwhile hands-off policy of the Bush administration. Moreover, the …
