Redefining the Middle East

It may be convenient to perceive the Middle East as a politically charged, fractious region, rife with conflicts and disputes, void of many prospects, save those leading to even further uncertainty and turmoil. While history is indeed rich with instances that would...

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Iran vs. US: Nuclear Standoff or Realpolitik?

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice couldn't possibly have been more accurate when she accused Iran of "playing games" with the international community. Rice was specifically referring to an announcement made April 30, by deputy head of the Iranian Atomic Energy...

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Hamas Victory Has Changed Everything

There is a degree of surrealism in all of this. Hamas has presented its choice for prime minister to President Mahmoud Abbas, as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine says it has agreed in principle to join a Hamas-led government. In the Arab world, such...

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Exalting Sharon: A Dire Case of Collective Amnesia

The mainstream media’s lionizing and exalting of the fatally ill Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon could only be compared to that of great men and women of past years. The hundreds of endearing commentaries, venerating news reports and glorifying television...

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Israel’s Successful Use of the Art of Realpolitik

Many lessons can be drawn from the observation of Israeli dominion over the Palestinians in the past fifty-five years, most notably the audacious mandate of institutionalized violence. Even more alarming than the crimes themselves is the fact that even after blatantly...

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Blaming the Mosques for the Sins of Governments

The deadly terror attacks in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheik Red Sea resort in July and the earlier October 2004 bombings at two other Red Sea resorts seem to have disrupted the consistency of the rationale that links the current terrorism upsurge in the Middle East to the US...

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Grandpa’s Battered Radio

"Ramzy, I must admit it, it's so hard being a Palestinian these days." That's how a friend of mine, a dedicated individual who is spending her days and years advocating justice for the Palestinian people, ended a distressing message to me a few months back. I...

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