February 26, 2009 | 7:14
am
Reconciliation talks between Hamas, Fatah and smaller Palestinian factions began Thursday in Cairo amid hopes for an agreement on a national unity government after nearly two years of bloodshed and political impasse that have slowed progress in the wider Arab-Israeli conflict.
In negotiations leading to the talks, Fatah and Hamas agreed to stop media smear campaigns against each other and to release prisoners held by both sides. "A certain number of detainees will be freed right at the beginning of the dialogue," according to a joint statement by Azzam Ahmed, leader of the Fatah bloc in the Palestinian parliament, and Mahmoud Zahar, a senior Hamas official.
February 19, 2009 | 7:09
am
Politics and sports make a volatile mix when a game involves Israeli athletes competing in the Middle East in an environment of hostility toward the Jewish state.
Authorities in the United Arab Emirates recently denied a star Israeli female tennis player entry to the city-state of Dubai to participate in an international tournament.
The incident was met with a wave of condemnations by journalists, sports associations and politicians in the U.S.
For now, it looks like the oil-rich Arab country might backtrack on its earlier decision to bar Israeli players.
U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) told a news conference in New York that the UAE would grant male doubles player Andy Ram a visa to take part in the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships next week.
Organizers of the tournament argued that the presence of an Israeli player would anger local crowds and create an unacceptable security situation.
Anti-Israeli sentiment has been exacerbated throughout the Arab world after the Israeli offensive in Gaza, which ended last month.
For weeks, Arab TV viewers were exposed to daily footage of Israeli jets causing havoc in Palestinian towns and of children agonizing in hospital beds.
February 18, 2009 | 8:17
am
Damascus has long been accused of waiting out the Bush administration in hopes of getting a better diplomatic atmosphere under a new American presidency. And indeed, since President Obama took over from Bush in January, the tide seems to be turning favorably for Syria.
Two delegations from the U.S. Congress have already visited Syria. Later this week, Sen. John Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is expected in Damascus.
The U.S. is certainly sending positive messages to the country treated by the previous administration as an associate member of the “axis of evil,” along with such U.S. rivals as Iran and North Korea.
Obama has offered to engage in dialogue with Iran and Syria, breaking from the ways of Bush, who imposed economic sanctions on Damascus accusing it of fostering terrorism in Iraq, Israel and Lebanon.
February 12, 2009 | 6:35
am
The curious result of elections on Tuesday,
in which Tzipi Livni seems to have won the most votes while her party lost the ability to form a government, has left Israelis confused.
Until the dust settles and the next prime minister is named, here's some stuff to contemplate:
Despite general apathy, turnout was 65.2% -- slightly up from the last elections, although still low compared to past zeal. The tight race between Kadima and Likud did encourage citizens to brave stormy weather and go vote. Why? As sociologist Oz Almog put it, voters show up "when the playoff is interesting." Maybe the elections are over, but the game is just beginning as both the centrist Livni and the right-wing Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu claim victory.
February 8, 2009 | 6:33
pm
Israel Defense Force Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit was captured and taken to Gaza in June 2006 during an attack by Hamas that killed two other soldiers. Hamas says Shalit shall be released only in return for Palestinian prisoners, among them high-profile detainees whom Israel is loathe to release.
Israel has made prisoner exchange deals before, bending its own policy against freeing those 'with blood on their hands' for soldiers, even dead soldiers, but not with Hamas. Recent reports said Israel is considering a much more flexible definition of prisoner categories to facilitate Shalit's release.
Many were critical of the government's decision to enter a truce agreement in June 2008 without securing Shalit's return. Israel apparently took calm where it could get it while continuing to consider the terms for Shalit's release. Hamas had remained adamant that the soldier would be released only as part of an exchange.
Now Israel says the military operation in Gaza that followed the collapse of last year's cease-fire has created "leverages" for advancing an agreement. In other words, Hamas wants the crossings opened; Israel wants Shalit.
February 5, 2009 | 9:10
am
Another attempt to break the Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza was thwarted by the Israeli navy.
A Lebanese ship bound for Gaza and reportedly carrying 60 tons of medical and food supplies to Palestinians was forcefully towed to an Israeli port.
A reporter from the Arab satellite TV channel Al Jazeera said that Israeli soldiers shot at the ship, called the Brotherhood Boat, before allegedly boarding it and physically abusing its passengers, charges Israel denied.
The ship was reportedly transporting Muslim and Christian religious figures in addition to peace activists in a symbolic gesture against the continued clampdown on Gaza.
“Israeli soldiers are pointing their rifles at us.... They are beating up the passengers on the ship,” the reporter said, seemingly shaken, via telephone live on television earlier today.
Contacts with the journalist were abruptly interrupted in the middle of her call.
February 4, 2009 | 9:15
am
Pro-American Arab states are squawking that they've apparently had enough of being stigmatized by their Persian neighbor for failing their brothers in Palestine during the Israeli conflict against Hamas in Gaza.
On Tuesday, a group of top Arab officials held a meeting in the United Arab Emirates meant to put an end to Iran’s meddling into what they described as Arab affairs.
After the closed-door meeting of nine foreign ministers, UAE Foreign Minister Sheik Abdullah bin Zayed al Nayahan told reporters:
"We are working to get beyond a difficult phase and create an Arab consensus on stopping unwelcome and unconstructive interference in our affairs by non-Arab parties."
The minister was clearly referring to Iran, which is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution these days. Iran is a non-Arab Shiite nation; most of the Middle East is Sunni and Arab.
February 4, 2009 | 7:36
am
An outspoken critic of Hosni Mubarak’s regime is expected to be tried in a military court Thursday on grounds of crossing into Gaza through illegal channels.
Magdy Ahmed Hussein, a journalist with strong Islamist leanings, was accused of sneaking last month through tunnels that link the Egyptian frontier with the Gaza Strip. The tunnels have become a growing nuisance for the Egyptian government. Israel, United States and European countries frequently have criticized Egypt for not doing enough to control the smuggling of weapons to the Hamas government in Gaza.
In a new attempt to strengthen its position as a key player in the region, Egypt today hosted an international donors conference for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the 22-day Israeli incursion that battered the seaside Palestinian enclave.
