Tag: israel

A Line in the Sand

Mahmoud Abbas is fed up. Last week he withdrew his candidacy for the coming presidential election in the Palestinian Authority. I understand him. He feels betrayed. And the traitor is Barack Obama. A year ago, when Obama was elected, he aroused high hopes in the Muslim world, among the Palestinian people as well as in … Continue reading “A Line in the Sand”

Demolitions Continue in East Jerusalem

OCCUPIED EAST JERUSALEM – "Make sure your father gets this," the municipal inspector tells a 10-year-old boy at the gate of the concrete house in an alleyway in the al-Bustan quarter of Silwan, a Palestinian neighborhood right under the shadow of the walled Old City. "This" is a court-approved demolition notice, "No. 59." It’s for … Continue reading “Demolitions Continue in East Jerusalem”

Abbas Produces a Dubious Twist

RAMALLAH — U.S. and Israeli failure to take either Palestinian rights or Israeli settlement expansion seriously has placed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority (PA) in an untenable situation, which could seriously damage peace prospects. On Thursday night Abbas announced his resignation in Ramallah. He expressed his frustration at the inability of the … Continue reading “Abbas Produces a Dubious Twist”

UN Affirms Israeli-Hamas War Crimes Report

A 575-page blistering report by Justice Richard Goldstone detailing war crimes in Gaza last December is refusing to die despite an aggressive Israeli smear campaign to kill it. The report, which was favorably voted by the 47-member Human Rights Council in Geneva last month, received overwhelming support Thursday in the 192-member General Assembly. The vote … Continue reading “UN Affirms Israeli-Hamas War Crimes Report”

Mideast Peace Plan May Yet Survive New Twists

JERUSALEM — U.S. President Obama’s Middle East engagement policy reverses the unsuccessful policy of his predecessor, but the U.S. is again committing faux pas aplenty. Yet, for all the uncomplimentary ways in which the President’s strategy is now viewed by many in the region, perhaps all is not lost yet. The sorry state of the … Continue reading “Mideast Peace Plan May Yet Survive New Twists”

Obama’s Outreach to Muslim World Teetering

U.S. President Barack Obama’s extraordinary efforts since his first days in office to reassure Muslims in the Greater Middle East about U.S. intentions in the region have suffered a series of setbacks that threaten to reverse whatever gains he has made over the past 10 months in restoring Washington’s badly battered image and influence there. … Continue reading “Obama’s Outreach to Muslim World Teetering”

Knocking Our Heads Against a Wall in Palestine

In the face of an outraged Arab world, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton backed off on her congratulation of Israel for merely pledging to limit settlement construction in the occupied West Bank. Previously, President Barack Obama, originally appearing to be much more friendly to the Palestinian and Arab causes than George W. Bush, told Israel, … Continue reading “Knocking Our Heads Against a Wall in Palestine”