Hizbullah chief warns against Israeli-U.S. spies
BEIRUT — Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned the Lebanese government on Monday against sharing telecommunications information with the United States, saying any such move would be tantamount to collaborating with Israel. Nasrallah The Shi'a leader also called for any Lebanese citizens convicted of spying for Israel...Chained to smoking in the Arab world
CAIRO (IPS) — Arab governments have stepped up efforts to curtail tobacco use, but initiatives have met stiff resistance from the region's smokers. "This is a challenging region taking into consideration the social acceptance of tobacco use, the diversity in cultural concepts, and new trends such as women's liberalization — all...Arab League backs Middle East talks
Arab states have agreed to a U.S. proposal for indirect Palestinian-Israeli talks, the Arab League secretary-general has said. The foreign ministers of Arab states agreed to give the diplomatic initiative a four-month window at a meeting in the Egyptian capital, Cairo. Amr Mussa, the Arab League chief, said after two days of talks:...
Iraq elections: 6,000 candidates running for 325 parliament seats
March 6th, 20100 Six thousand candidates from 80 political entities are vying for seats in Iraq's parliament. For the first time, voters can vote for the specific candidate and their political movement of choice, as opposed to a system of proportional representation. Ahead of the March 7 vote that aims to rid Iraq of sectarian divisions, there has been...
Hizbullah chief Nasrallah meets Ahmadinejad in Syria
February 27th, 20100 Lebanon's Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah (L) chats with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (C) and Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) while on their way to an official dinner in Damascus February 25,...Dubai hit exposes Hamas’ weaknesses
RAMALLAH (IPS) — Hamas has closed ranks and is licking its wounds following the Jan. 20 assassination in Dubai of one of its top operatives, Mahmoud Al Mabhouh. It is alleged that one of its own was responsible for providing the hit team with vital logistical information. The father of senior Hamas military commander Mahmoud...Opposition grows against Egypt-Gaza barrier
CAIRO (IPS) — Activists and opposition groups are stepping up pressure on the Egyptian government to stop constructing a barrier along the border with the Gaza Strip. Officials say the barrier will prevent cross-border smuggling, but critics say it will seal the fate of the people on the Gaza Strip. Egyptian police take up...
Mideast Christians face uncertain future
February 27th, 20100 Christians in the Arab world who played an important role in developing pan-Arab movements in the 1950s and enriched its culture have serious concerns about their future in the Middle East. Hundreds of thousands of Christians have left and many Christian communities were uprooted. The reasons behind the mass exodus differ from one...Sharing Jerusalem: Key to wider peace
Jerusalem is not just a city in historic Palestine or Biblical Israel. This city arguably holds all the knots of the conflict between Arabs and Israelis. Jerusalem invokes issues of identity, history, demography, borders, refugees, settlements and security. A Palestinian man smokes a cigarette beside Israeli soldiers after...Nasrallah throws down the gauntlet
(UPI) — Amid growing fears of another Middle East war, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah has thrown down the gauntlet for Israel by vowing to hammer Ben-Gurion Airport if Beirut's Rafiq Hariri International is hit, as it was in their last conflict in 2006. Lebanon's Hezbollah supporters listen to their leader Sayyed Hassan...Hariri rally ‘marks March 14’s end’
A rally on Sunday marking the fifth anniversary of the assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri, a former Lebanese prime minister, was partly staged to revitalize the waning Lebanese anti-Syrian front, but its conflicting political speeches all but officially declared the end of the March 14 coalition. Lebanese supporters of...Scandals, assassination plan rock Palestinian Authority
RAMALLAH (IPS) - The Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah is fighting a tidal wave of fresh allegations, including sexual harassment, an internal power struggle and embezzlement. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (C) speaks to the media after a cabinet meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah February 15, 2010. Abbas...
Clinton hails Yemen ceasefire, but aid concerns remain
February 20th, 20100 WASHINGTON (IPS) — The ceasefire announced late last week between Yemen's government and Houthi rebels in the northern part of the country is being greeted here as an important initial step toward stabilizing the Arab world's poorest country and reversing advances by al Qaeda's affiliate there. People walk outside the...Beware the iron wall, the coming war
The Israeli military may be much less effective in winning wars than it was in the past, thanks to the stiffness of Arab resistance. But its military strategists are as shrewd and unpredictable as ever. The rhetoric from Israel that has escalated recently suggests that a future war in Lebanon will most likely target Syria as well. While...Egypt’s wall of shame
Driving parallel to the borderline between Egypt and Gaza, one can spot the machinery behind the conspicuous wall construction project meant to stop ongoing smuggling through underground tunnels. Some 80 meters away from the borderline, there were two cranes and a spiral driller. Four trucks loaded with sand and two with iron......
Development recognized as crucial for stability in Yemen
February 13th, 20100 WASHINGTON (IPS) — Amid growing concerns here over the threat posed by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a consensus is emerging among U.S. experts that Washington and other donors to Yemen must place at least as much or greater emphasis on promoting sustainable development in the Arab world's poorest country as on...
Shi’a pilgrims targeted as Iraq bombings intensify
February 6th, 20100 A female suicide bomber walked into a tent full of Shi'a pilgrims on Monday, killing at least 46 people and wounding another 100 in the latest attack in the run-up to Iraqi elections next month. Iraqis mourn relatives during a mass funeral for victims of a suicide attack, northeast of Baghdad February 2, 2010. A suicide......
Corrupt Arab regimes — Who is to blame?
RAMALLAH (IPS) — The Mideast continues to be plagued by autocratic Arab regimes where human rights, democracy and freedom of speech are a pipe dream for the average citizen. But who is to blame and what can be done to amend this situation? While progress towards democratization in previously autocratic regions — including Africa,...Hamas threatens to take fight against Israel beyond Gaza
In the wake of a Hamas claim on Friday that Israeli agents assassinated one of its operatives in Dubai last week, the Islamist movement is vowing to take revenge against the Jewish state for the militant's death – even if it means going abroad. Hamas officials from Damascus, Syria, and the Gaza Strip are threatening to match what they...Iraq commission relents on 59 banned candidates
A decision by Iraq's controversial Accountability and Justice Commission (AJC) on Jan. 25 to remove 59 candidates from a list of over 500 candidates banned from running in the March parliamentary elections appears to be a sign that the AJC is softening its stance following widespread domestic opposition and a visit by U.S. Vice President...PA dictates content of Friday sermons
RAMALLAH — The Palestinian Authority (PA) is using West Bank mosques as a new battleground in its political offensive against its opponents within Hamas as well as critics from its own Fatah party. PA President Mahmoud AbbasEarlier this month, PA security forces raided several mosques in Ramallah, Nablus and Hebron......
Ethiopian plane crashes off Lebanon
A local memorial service for victims of the Ethiopian airliner crash in Lebanon will be held on Sunday, Jan. 31, 4 p.m. at the Islamic Center of America, 19500 Ford Road in Dearborn –313.663.1222. BEIRUT — Rescuers continued their search Thursday for the victims and black boxes of an Ethiopian airliner that crashed off the...Israel crushes local dissent, attacks global criticism
RAMALLAH (IPS) — Israel is lashing out at international criticism and attempting to crush local dissent in what appears to be growing sensitivity to reproach of its policies. A Palestinian patient undergoes dialysis treatment at the kidney department of Shifa hospital in Gaza City January 19, 2010. One year after Israel's......
Harsher Gaza war looming on horizon?
RAMALLAH — According to several prominent Palestinians and Israelis, another major Israeli military assault on Gaza, even harsher than last year’s Operation Cast Lead, is imminent. But will this change anything and have the underlying causes behind the previous bloody war been addressed? A Palestinian woman poses with a...
Cancer – the deadly legacy of the invasion of Iraq
January 16th, 20100 Reprinted from New America Media Forget about oil, occupation, terrorism or even Al Qaeda. The real hazard for Iraqis these days is cancer. Cancer is spreading like wildfire in Iraq. Thousands of infants are being born with deformities. Doctors say they are struggling to cope with the rise of cancer and birth defects, especially in......
