There are Israeli Jews who have been talking to Hamas for years, especially Rabbi Menahem Frohman. In fact, there are more Israeli Jews, official and un-official, who would be talking not only to Hamas, but also to Syria and Iran were the White House not pressuring them against dialogue with enemies of Israel. This is …

But it spins, said Galileo Galilei in reference to earth, contrary to the belief of the inquisition that the sun revolved around the earth. Galileo uttered those words with the penalties of death or life imprisonment looming ahead. Early in Italy s 17th century, that statement was true. And it still is in the early …

The Iranian Ministry of Justice has accused Britain and America of harboring terrorism in Iran. The authorities claim that 12 people were arrested in relation to the recent bombing incident in the southern city of Shiraz. The explosion, which occurred in a mosque killed 14 people and wounded more than 200 others. The official statement …

Turkey s emerging generation of leaders finds itself tasked with a complicated and challenging set of both domestic and foreign policy issues to address in the coming years. Facing this imminent responsibility, many young people remain cynical about the events unfolding around them. The Court Case against the ruling Justice and Development Party and the …

Qatar has hosted talks between Lebanese conflicting parties. It seems that Qatar wants to play the same role that Saudi Arabia played at the beginning of the 1990s, when it brought in Al-Ta’ef warring Lebanese sects to negotiate a new political system to end the 15-year civil war. This round of negotiation process, pundits expect, …

Some say that politics is warfare by other means. Lebanon has been trying to avoid such a reality, but the recent outbreak of violence seems to have confirmed its worst fears. Hopefully, as the dust settles, the shops re-open and the Beirut shoreline once again greets her mountains, Lebanon s political leaders and their international …

While it is commendable and encouraging that the British government is making a concerted effort to work with Muslims to combat the scourge of radicalization, its recent proposal to draft moderate imams from Pakistan indicates that there is still much to learn. Far from being breeding centres of radicalization, mosques have failed to cater to …

If Hassan Al-Banna, who founded the Muslim Brotherhood 80 years ago, were alive now, he would have issued a decision to force many of the old leaders in the group into retirement and give them the Medal of Honor for their efforts and dedication to the service of the da wa (call to Islam) and …

Recently, Israel’s Vice Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz offered an unequivocal veto on a key issue in the Middle East peace process. Any return of the Golan Heights to Syria would result in an “Iranian foothold on Israel’s border and would thus not only be politically naïve but irrational. Mofaz’s statement is symptomatic of a perception …

It was only to be expected that former US Vice President Al Gore would give this month’s Burmese cyclone an apocalyptic twist. “Last year, he said, “a catastrophic storm hit Bangladesh. The year before, the strongest cyclone in more than 50 years hit China. …We’re seeing the consequences that scientists have long predicted might be …

In discussing the Asian century , people talk most about the overall development of the South and East Asian countries, including China, India, Korea and Japan. The GNP of the region, which has jumped to 30 percent of the world total from less than four percent half a century ago, is maintaining the momentum of …

In the first chapter of Amos Oz’s novel “My Michael, the protagonist Hannah recalls her childhood friends, Khalil and Aziz, two Palestinians who in 1948 disappeared along with 800,000 of their people. In the last chapter she imagines her two friends coming back to blow everything up. By then Hannah has descended into madness. Hannah, …

Large parts of the world have not enjoyed the remarkable global progress in health conditions that have taken place over the past century. Indeed, millions of deaths in impoverished nations are avoidable with prevention and treatment options that the rich world already uses. This year, ten million children will die in low- and middle-income countries. …

Politicians in both Iran and the United States have been divisive, disrespectful, and inflammatory in their condemnations of each other, in effect increasing the likelihood of a US military intervention by the United States. As the Episcopal Bishop of the Dioceses of Washington, DC, who has traveled twice to Iran and found friendship and shared …

Founded in 1971 by Klaus Schwab, at the time a business professor in Switzerland, the World Economic Forum promotes itself as a venue for discussion and debate; it promises us that it is “committed to improving the state of the world. In fact, this lofty promise is repeated underneath its logo, and is seen on …

Economists used to tell governments to fix their policies. Now they tell them to fix their institutions. Their new reform agenda covers a long list of objectives, including reducing corruption, improving the rule of law, increasing the accountability and effectiveness of public institutions, and enhancing the access and voice of citizens. Real and sustainable change …

In its time, the ancient Silk Road was a network of trade routes that facilitated commerce through regions of the Asian continent, connecting East and West Asia by bringing traders, merchants and nomads from China to the Persian Gulf. Today, the geographical proximity of the Gulf region to Asia has brought largesse of prosperity and …

Throughout history, even the most dishonorable deeds have been supplemented with assertions of noble intent and devotion to humanity and freedom. Hitler, Pol Pot and George W. Bush propagated the nobility of their sacred missions and services to civilization , against the backdrop of mass killings, misery and devastation. In Egypt, state propaganda is pervasive. …

I met a man few days ago who told me: “I follow everything you write about our late author Naguib Mahfouz because I’m one of his most devoted fans. I had sent you a letter a while ago where I asked why you always refer to him as our “great author? “What’s wrong with that, …

More than half of Asia’s population – 1.8 billion people – live on less than $2 a day; more than 600 million of them try to survive on less than $1 a day. With food prices now soaring, most of Asia’s “working poor, who are already struggling on degraded lands, in sweatshops, on streets and …

BBC World recently aired the latest Doha Debate on the motion The Sunni-Shia conflict is damaging Islam s reputation as a religion of peace . It s a timely topic; and a very time-sensitive topic, because it is a question that can only be asked now. Not because the Sunni-Shia divide is a new phenomenon: …

The catastrophe of 1948 was, is and will continue to be the sine qua non of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It represents the historic injustice visited upon the Palestinian people to which everything else – the 1967 occupation, the 1973 war, the 1987 intifada, the 1993 Oslo Accords and the 2000 intifada – is a footnote. …

Between Afghanistan and America, situated at the crossroads of Eastern and Western civilizations, lies a low-key ally in the fight against religious intolerance and extremism: Morocco. Despite the headlines painting this region as the new front on terror, Moroccans object to their country becoming a base for western-focused extremism and are determined to prevent Al …

With both Israelis and Palestinians commemorating 60-year anniversaries at this time, it is instructive to look at what the respective sides are remembering. For Israelis, 1948 brought independence and statehood. For Palestinians, 1948 brought only disaster, the forced displacement of between more than half of their number, a majority that was to be shoehorned into …

It is May 1968. The world, flabbergasted, discovers that France has gone crazy. A general strike, affecting everything except electricity and the press, brings the country to a halt. No developed country has ever known such a situation. Yet it isn’t a revolution. There is little violence, and no attacks on government buildings. A few …

A? few years ago, a remarkable, Egyptian American filmmaker was offered a wish on winning the famous TED prize in California. The wish of Jehane Noujaim was for world peace. On Saturday night by the pyramids by Cairo, and in hundreds of other venues across the world, the vision of Jehane started to take shape. …

As the state of Israel celebrates its 60th birthday, Palestinians remember the Nakbeh, or “catastrophe – their story of dispossession, occupation, and statelessness. But, for both sides, as well as external powers, the events of 1948 and what has followed – the occupation since 1967 of the remaining lands of historic Palestine – represents a …

Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, there lived a beautiful princess named Rym. But this princess was sad, for the voices of her people were but a whisper. It was her fervent desire to hear singing in the land, to hear the town criers shout news from the highest parapets. But …

It is hard to say there is a real democracy in Egypt, in spite of the existing margin of freedoms in the press and the media in general. Egypt now is experiencing a new kind of democracy that could be labeled “virtual democracy, the features of which are seen on the internet, especially in the …

When it comes to global warming, we have plenty of hot rhetoric but very little cool reason. This matters immensely, because the Kyoto Protocol is already among the most expensive global public policies ever enacted, and the follow-up in Copenhagen in late 2009 promises to break all records. We better get it right, but right …