Ferry Biedermann

JERUSALEM – Fatah maintained its position this week as the largest party by far in the Palestinian territories, despite earlier signs of weakness and a strong showing by the militant Hamas movement in the municipal elections. Preliminary results from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip show Fatah with 56 percent of the popular vote, … Continue reading “Vote Dampens Hamas Political Bid”

JERUSALEM – More than four years of violence between Israelis and Palestinians may have abated at least temporarily, but its effect is still being felt on relations between Jews and Arabs inside Israel. A string of recent polls, events and policy issues shows that both popular and official attitudes toward the country’s Arab minority remain … Continue reading “Israelis Resist the Arabs in Their Midst”

GAZA – Two dates in the Middle East that once seemed set in stone are now being challenged as Israel considers delaying its Gaza disengagement and Palestinians mull over postponing their elections. Israel is considering at least a three-week delay in the implementation of its Gaza "disengagement plan," and Palestinians may have to postpone their … Continue reading “Not so Fast Out of Gaza”

AMMAN – The Iraqi parliament that was elected some 10 weeks ago has finally picked the three-men presidium of the Republic, making Jalal Talabani the first Kurdish president of Iraq. The appointments follow a breakthrough last week when the National Assembly at last agreed on a Sunni Arab speaker. The presidency has two weeks to … Continue reading “Iraq’s Patchwork Presidency Finally Takes Shape”

JERUSALEM – For now it is just the recriminations that have resumed flying back and forth between Israelis and Palestinians, not yet the bombs, missiles, and bullets in the same numbers as during the height of the Intifada. But the fatal Palestinian suicide bombing of a Tel Aviv disco last Friday night has shattered more … Continue reading “Tel Aviv Blast Spreads New Unease”

MOSUL – Election day in Iraq’s violence-prone, third-largest city Mosul ended as it began, with a spate of bomb attacks. But in between a fair number of people voted. Iraqi and U.S. troops remained on high alert Monday after returning to their units. But authorities were looking back on a relatively successful vote. Mosul, a … Continue reading “In Mosul, Many Pleasantly Surprised by Election”

MOSUL – Mosul could be the most dangerous city in Iraq on election Sunday. The city is something of a Sunni island in the Kurd-dominated north of Iraq. Troop reinforcements from the U.S.-supervised Iraqi National Guard (ING) are being brought from Kurdistan into the violence-plagued city. In mostly night-time raids, they have arrested scores of … Continue reading “In Mosul, Hunters Become the Hunted”

DOHUK, Kurdistan – As Iraq’s first national election since the fall of Saddam Hussein draws near, the country seems more on the brink of falling apart than of coming together in a celebration of democracy. Attacks against Shi’ite targets have increased in an effort to keep them away from the polling booths, security sources say. … Continue reading “Kurdistan and the ‘Deported Arabs’”

HIRI, Syria-Iraq border – There has not been any fighting lately near the desolate border village of Hiri, as there used to be after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, inhabitants here say. Nor have any cars or people crossed the border from Syria into Iraq at the official crossing. It was closed by the Iraqi … Continue reading “Uncertain Quiet Descends on Syrian Front”

DAMASCUS – For the second time this year, the Syrian capital Damascus was shaken last week by a bomb attack against a leading figure of the fundamentalist Palestinian group Hamas. The target of the attack survived but it was another reminder of the role that Syria seems to be playing in Palestinian affairs. The country … Continue reading “Hezbollah Threat Hovers Above Palestinian Poll”