Depression is, according to a World Health Organization study, the world’s fourth worst health problem, measured by how many years of good health it causes to be lost. By 2020, it is likely to rank second, behind heart disease. Yet not nearly enough is being done to treat or prevent it. The study, led by …

I totally disagree with those who claim that the Muslim world has reached the pinnacle of ignorance and backwardness. It’s enough to witness the cutthroat competition between Sheikhs who vie to come up with the necessary fatwas to elevate the status of Muslims in the world; to present an enlightened image of Islam, to prove …

When it comes to foreign policy toward Iran, Americans have been continually let down. Overreaching US intervention was one of the many roots of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, which in turn was a factor in making the Middle East a more dangerous place for Americans. This was demonstrated quite fiercely and memorably by the …

The House Committee on Foreign Affairs which adopted a resolution calling the Armenian mass killing by Ottoman Turks genocide, has basically sat in judgment on an event that occurred 92 years ago. The question here is whether the mass killing of Armenians during the World War I era was genocide committed by the Ottoman s …

As I flipped through the screenplay of My Name is Rachel Corrie (based on the words she left behind) I wondered how many people still remembered her. Confident that very few do, I ll offer, a small, though painful, refresher. Rachel was killed on March 16, 2003. She was crushed to death by a Caterpillar …

The public mood regarding the US-sponsored peace summit is quite negative. The leaders of Israel and Palestine are devoting time and energy to reducing expectations out of fear that the summit may not produce the agreement necessary to enable a genuine peace process to ensue. As we get closer to the summit it seems that …

Al Gore’s Nobel Peace Prize is a fitting tribute to a world leader who has been prescient, bold, and skillful in alerting the world to the dangers of manmade climate change. Gore’s co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize is less known, but no less deserving. The Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the UN’s …

Apostasy is the term applied to religious conversion by those who abhor it, who see conversion as a form of betrayal – of family, community, even nation. Underlying the accusation of apostasy is the understanding that religious conviction and practice are public matters. The supposition of many, across both East and West, that religion is …

Conflict in the central part of Sulawesi, one of the four largest islands in Indonesia, has been ongoing since 1998. Between 1998 and 2001, over 1000 people were killed and more than 100,000 were displaced in the fighting. Pockets of violence still erupt, conflict resolution attempts have failed, and the root of the problem has …

SINGAPORE CITY: Recently, I was invited by the Turkish Cultural Centre to travel from Singapore to Turkey to participate in a documentary series on Ramadan observance in Istanbul. Samanyolu TV, a national Turkish television station, developed a documentary series last year on Ramadan in different countries and they were now looking to reverse the scenario …

The European Union’s policy in the Middle East is the litmus test of its common foreign and security policy. Many Europeans share this belief, but, as the EU considers entering the fray of Middle East peace talks, it must respond to former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s jibe that in the region “you are payers, …

The entire Egyptian population must feel indebted to “King Farouk TV series for teaching us our real history. More than half a century later, it helped us discover that the king, who’s overthrow was demanded by all political currents – before not after the revolution – was neither corrupt, nor obsess, nor womanizer nor a …

HAMBURG: Some months ago, two news items caused excitement: one reported that 4,000 Germans converted to Islam last year, and the other was that a Council of Ex-Muslims had been established. In a secular society where the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion includes freedom to change one s religion or belief, these …

JEDDAH: Hamas call on Arab countries to boycott next month s Middle East summit imprints more question marks over the conference s success, for if the Palestinians, as divided as they are, cannot agree among themselves on the best course of action toward a resolution, then the prospects of reaching a common conceptual framework for …

There are times when being proven right brings no pleasure. For several years, I argued that America’s economy was being supported by a housing bubble that had replaced the stock market bubble of the 1990’s. But no bubble can expand forever. With middle-class incomes in the United States stagnating, Americans could not afford ever more …

For the most part of nearly three decades, interaction between Syrians and Iraqis was minimal, to say the least-restricted to political fugitives from each country residing in Baghdad and Damascus. Anyone who is someone in Iraq today was a resident of the Syrian capital-Nouri Al-Maliki, Jalal Talabani, Masoud Al-Barzani, and Ibrahim Al-Jaafari. But neither country …

The notion that the focus of the Middle-East conference is to reach an agreement in principle between Israel and the Palestinians, and so other conflicting parties, such as Syria, are marginal to the deliberation, is fundamentally flawed. The Bush administration must quickly reassess its position regarding Syria if it wishes to achieve even a modicum …

As Europe’s leaders gather in Portugal to put the finishing touches on the new, slimmed down, Reform Treaty, it might be helpful if they all pretended that the last 50 years of European integration had never taken place. Let’s then imagine what Europe needs to do to confront its most pressing challenges, especially if it …

Reading Mona Eltahawy s opinion article, I will stand up for the Muslim Brotherhood (which ran in Daily News Egypt on Oct. 10) I felt that all Egyptians – regardless of their ideological orientation, gender or age – have a lot in common. Eltahawy and I differ on much, yet we share a common objective …

In reference to article titled “Egypt festival launches barrage against Israeli film published on Oct. 8. Dear editor, I don t think Cairo International Film Festival s committee should have refused the Israeli film at all. I think this decision defies completely the purpose of making films. Filmmakers use the art of film making to …

Time is running out in Kosovo. If a United Nations-backed settlement is not reached by early December, the province’s majority Albanian population is likely to declare independence unilaterally – a move that the United States has announced it may support. That would be a disastrous step. Russia would be furious, because it fears that Kosovo’s …

If you pick up the recently published 2008 Guinness Book of World Records, you’ll find a new entry on page 91 for the largest number of people to stand up against poverty during a 24-hour period. A staggering 23,542,614 participated in 11,646 events around the globe to be part of the United Nations Millennium Campaign …

Barring a last-minute change of heart, European heads of government will sign off this month on a new agreement to beef up the European Union’s foreign policy machinery by strengthening the role of the EU High Representative. This change is long overdue. Currently, the High Representative’s budget is less than what the European Commission spends …

Less than two months remain before the still unannounced November date for the Bush administration s much-discussed but as yet undefined Middle East peace conference (or meeting ), and a lot of heavy lifting remains to be done. In addition to the date and venue, neither the invitation list nor the agenda have been clearly …

NEW YORK: The first time I went to interview the Muslim Brotherhood, in 1995, an officer at their headquarters gave me a headscarf to wear. The second time I went to interview the Muslim Brotherhood, in 2005, no headscarf awaited me. I was intrigued. I had been living in the United States since 2000, but …

WASHINGTON, DC: After 9/11, as many Americans began to learn more about Islam, I embarked on a long journey to learn more about Christianity, visiting churches, attending Bible schools and volunteering for projects like feeding the poor and sheltering the homeless. After 28 years as a journalist covering politicians in the US capital for Arab …

A tiny, disputed parcel of land called Shebaa Farms, located where Israel, Syria, and Lebanon converge, has long been used as a pretext for armed confrontation. But Israel may now have a chance to remove this sliver of real estate as a source of conflict. This is an opportunity that should not be missed. Shebaa …

Marwan Barghouti is, in my opinion, the next leader of the Palestinians. I say there is no need to be alarmed, and that it is possible to talk about the possibility of releasing him. I would consider it. In my opinion, this move is legitimate, even though this person has been convicted of charges that …

Amidst the solemn situation in Iraq, some are beginning to speak of the possibility of an international conference. It would also seem that the US-UK led UN Security Council resolution, adopted on August 7, 2007, to expand the UN mandate in Iraq is not convincing and has no means to achieve any substantial change in …

As the protests fizzle out in the wake of the military junta’s violent crackdown, many are wondering whether there is any hope for change in Myanmar. Are the people of Myanmar condemned to eternal suffering? Is their ordeal and anguish some sort of bad karma from which there is no escape? There is no reason …