Showing posts for "Gaza"
A vendor works on a copper item to be sold in a shop in Baghdad's al-Safafeer Souq bazaar (Mohammed Ameen/Courtesy Reuters).
Dahlia Scheindlin evaluates the pragmatism of Ghazi Hamad, Deputy Foreign Minister of Gaza, who publicly recognized the 1967 borders last week. Read more »
Jewish settlers hold Israeli flags and shout slogans from their balcony at left-wing activists (not seen) during a demonstration to show solidarity with Palestinians against a newly dedicated Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem (Amir Cohen/Courtesy Reuters).
So it has begun. President Barack Obama travels to Israel—as well as Palestine and Jordan—this week and columnists, bloggers, and foreign policy wonks of all stripes have begun commenting on the visit. My friend Aaron Miller weighed in Sunday morning with a big article in the Washington Post’s “Outlook” section about where the President can find common ground with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, though most of the piece was devoted to the relationship with Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The National’s Hugh Naylor quotes Yossi Bellin, who will forever be identified as an “architect of the 1993 Oslo Accords,” as stating boldly that President Obama should not bother making the trip unless he comes with proposals to bring the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to an end. Overall, there have been at least sixteen articles and op-eds in the past few weeks dealing with the peace process and President Obama’s travels to the region. Most of them are in line with the low expectations that the White House has set ahead of the visit, suggesting that the meetings between the President and Israeli prime minister will deal almost exclusively with Syria and Iran. That may be the case, but there are some modest expectations bubbling up on the peace process. Read more »
Egyptian protesters shout slogans against Israel's ongoing military operation in the Gaza Strip, in old Cairo (Amr Dalsh/Courtesy Reuters).
The article below was originally published here on ForeignPolicy.com on Monday, November 19, 2012. I look forward to reading your comments. Read more »
Hamas Prime Minister Haniyeh and the Emir of Qatar arrive at a cornerstone laying ceremony in Khan Younis (Mohammed Salem/Courtesy Reuters)
This article was originally published here on CSMonitor.com on Thursday, November 15, 2012
Even before the recent round of Hamas rockets and airstrikes from Israel in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian enclave was in the news as the diplomatic destination of choice for the leaders of the Middle East. Last month, the emir of Qatar visited Gaza. Bahrain’s embattled king is also weighing such a trip. Turkey’s prime minister, too, announced his intention to travel to the strip. Read more »
Egyptian soldiers stand guard at Rafah border crossing between Egypt and southern Gaza Strip (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Courtesy Reuters).
This article was originally published here on ForeignPolicy.com on Thursday, August 9.
Shortly after the Aug. 5 killing of 16 paramilitary policemen near Egypt’s border with the Gaza Strip, Egyptian, Israeli, and U.S. officials determined that the perpetrators were part of an “extremist group” — one they have yet to identify. According to official accounts, assailants firing AK-47s attacked the conscripts and officers as they prepared for iftar, the traditional breaking of the Ramadan fast. Eight of the terrorists were killed in the ensuing firefight, but not before the perpetrators hijacked an armored personnel carrier and tried unsuccessfully to cross the Egypt-Israel frontier. Read more »
An Egyptian soldier stands guard at a checkpoint in Rafah city on the Egyptian border (Stringer/Courtesy Reuters).
In light of Sunday’s events in which a dozen Egyptian policemen were killed near the Rafah border in addition to ongoing violence in Gaza, I am re-posting three pieces I have written on Sinai over the last year. As always, comments are welcome. Many thanks. Read more »
A Palestinian schoolboy walks past a mural depicting captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in the Gaza Strip (Ismail Zaydah/Courtesy Reuters)
Egyptian security forces stand guard at the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip (Ismail Zaydah/Courtesy Reuters)
I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. Check out the picture of “Father Time” above. As we bid goodbye to 2010 and say hello to 2011, it is time for that great American pastime of lists: “Best of…,” “Worst of…” “Most Influential…”, and “ Most Important…” of 2010.
Here’s my take for the seven (I couldn’t think of 10) most important stories in the Middle East this year, in no particular order:
From the Potomac to the Euphrates examines how debates about Mideast policy in Washington connect to the region, with a special focus on Egypt and Turkey.
Thanassis Cambanis claims that Lebanon’s Hizballah and the clerical regime in Iran are now fully vested factions in Syria’s civil…
This article was originally published on The Atlantic on Monday, May 12, 2013. Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil announced a cabinet…
The Turkish government’s tepid response to the car bombings in Reyhanli last Friday should help bring to a merciful end…
Steven A. Cook probes the arguments against a No-Fly Zone over Syria. Gary Schmitt says it is doubtful that the…
In what the Turkish press is building up to be a “historic” trip, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will…
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