Jordan’s shift to democracy slows
AMMAN - The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan was supposed to take a big step (this week) toward becoming the democracy that both its people and its rulers say they want it to be. But instead of a breakthrough vote that might have seen this desert state emerge from a long history of one-man rule, the parliamentary elections will again return...Christian Zionists feel ‘betrayed’ by Road Map
OAKLAND (IPS) — President George W. Bush returned home from his trip to the Middle East optimistic about the possibility of a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians before he leaves office in January of next year. "In order for there to be lasting peace, President Abbas and Prime Minister Olmert have to come together...Lebanon vote delayed again
BEIRUT — A parliament session scheduled for Monday to elect Lebanon's president has been postponed to February 11, despite Arab mediation to break the deadlock. The latest delay brings to 13 the number of sessions that have had to be postponed since September 25 to pick a successor to Emile Lahoud, the president who stepped down in...A bankrupt Mideast policy
The presidency of the United States of America is a position of immense power, even when the office is tarnished and debased, as it has been by its present occupant. George W. Bush’s recent Middle East tour was a unique opportunity — very probably his last — to restore his country's prestige and his own reputation by making a decisive...Awakened to a new danger in Iraq
Credited with reducing violence, forces have actually sown new conflict BAGHDAD (IPS) — The newly formed "Awakening" forces set up by the U.S. military are bringing new conflict among people here. For months now the U.S. military has been actively building what it calls "Awakening" forces and "Concerned Local Citizens" in an effort to...
Gaza strike hardens Hamas position
January 19th, 20080 In an interview, key Hamas strategist Mahmoud Zahar discusses how his movement has been preparing for a potentially imminent Israeli assault on Gaza. Gaza City — Mahmoud Zahar, the Hamas leader widely seen as the strategic mind behind the Islamist movement's successful takeover of the Gaza Strip last summer, struck a defiant tone when...Attack on U.S. vehicle in Beirut kills 4
As Bush tours Mideast, was this a message? BEIRUT — An explosion targeted a U.S. Embassy vehicle Tuesday in northern Beirut, killing four Lebanese and injuring a local embassy employee, American and Lebanese officials said. In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said two embassy employees — including...Nationalists stirring in Iraq
Country may have a chance if U.S. gets out of way On January 13, an emerging Sunni-Shi'a nationalist bloc in Iraq signed a groundbreaking agreement aimed at ending Iraq's civil war, blocking the privatization of Iraq's oil industry and checkmating the breakaway Kurdish state. It's a big step forward, and it could change the...New era of regional cooperation in Mideast
CAIRO (IPS) — Recent months have witnessed several notable political reorientations in the Middle East, involving Iran, the Gulf states, Egypt and Lebanon. Several experts say the changes reflect a shift in Washington's regional strategy following recent U.S. policy setbacks. "U.S. policies in the region are either in retreat or...Top ten myths about Iraq 2007
10. Myth: The U.S. public no longer sees Iraq as a central issue in the 2008 presidential campaign. Fact: In a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, Iraq and the economy were virtually tied among voters nationally, with nearly a quarter of voters in each case saying it was their number one issue. The economy had become more...New Year begins unhappily in Iraq
WASHINGTON (IPS) — The end of 2007 produced a telltale indication of what the New Year seems likely to bring to Iraq."We the Iraqi members of parliament signing below demand a timetable for withdrawal of the occupation forces (MNF) from our beloved Iraq," 144 members of the 275-member parliament, a clear majority, wrote in a declaration...Is Suleiman up to the challenge?
In Lebanon over the last three months, ten parliamentary sessions to elect a new president have been postponed. By tradition the president has to be a Maronite Christian; this tradition is a problem that has never been addressed adequately. The eleventh parliament election session, scheduled for December 29, is expected to be...Yemen mourns speaker of parliament
The speaker of Yemen's parliament, Abdullah Bin Hussein al-Ahmar, died on Saturday at the King Faisal Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, after a long fight with cancer.Al-Ahmar was elected the first speaker of the Republic of Yemen's House of Representatives in 1993, and was re-elected in 1997, 2003 and 2007. al-AhmarThe 74-year-old was...Syrian expatriates return hoping for wealth
Many Syrian-Americans are leaving for Damascus, lured by the opportunities offered by a newly open economy.Damascus — For Louay Habbal, sipping his latte in an upmarket coffee shop in Damascus, the U.S. will always be home.The warmth of the people, the possibility of achieving success from nothing, and the vast open spaces are...
Politics, distress as Muslims mark Eid al-Adha
December 23rd, 20070 It was a typical holiday of Eid al-Adha, the biggest Muslim holiday of the year. Two men in paper overalls placed the struggling sheep in the direction of Mecca before taking a shiny blade to its throat and unleashing a fountain of warm blood that quickly filled the floor of the small cement courtyard. Half a dozen small......
Donors back Palestinian economy, urge Israeli ease-up on restrictions
WASHINGTON (IPS) — International donors pledged billions of dollars this week to shore up peace prospects amid warnings no amount of money can help if Israel keeps the Palestinian economy in a stranglehold. Donor countries and agencies promised 7.4 billion dollars to the Palestinian Authority at a pledging conference in Paris Monday....Depending on paper police for security
'Power in Iraq will soon be turned to tribal leaders' BAGHDAD (IPS) — In a country with no security and no jobs, just about anyone can work as a policeman. "To survive in Iraq under U.S. occupation, there are only two jobs; police and garbage collection," Baghdad journalist Mohammad al-Dulaymi told IPS. "Unemployment is leading many......
The algebra of occupation
On 1805, the French Army out-maneuvered, outsmarted and out-fought the combined armies of Russia and Austria at Austerlitz. Three years later it would founder against a rag-tag collection of Spanish guerrillas. In 1967 it took six days for the Israeli Army to smash Egypt, Jordan and Syria and seize the West Bank, the Golan Heights,...Christians in Gaza: An integral part of society
Gaza — Abu Saeed, a vendor selling electrical appliances in Gaza City's Rimal district, says that it only occurs to him that the vendor selling foodstuffs next door, Abu Hana, is Christian during the Christian holidays. They have been working together in their neighboring shops for over 30 years, exchanging greetings and pleasantries, as...
Bombing kills Lebanese general, deepens crisis
December 15th, 20070 The assassination of Brig. Gen. Francois Hajj may have been revenge for a summertime campaign against Islamic militants. Beirut — The political crisis here deepened this week when a senior Army general was killed in a powerful car bombing, the ninth high-profile attack on a prominent Lebanese in a sporadic campaign of assassinations...
Grooming the Syrian version of Ahmed Chalabi
December 15th, 20070 Richard Perle is again propping up regime-toppling Mideast dissidents who lack credibility. On a cold morning last winter, I arrived at the home of Richard Perle outside Washington for a scheduled interview. I was about 10 minutes early, so I chose to shiver a bit on the front porch. Perle, the point man for the neoconservatives'......
After Annapolis: U.S. peace allies ready to build ‘political will’ for successful diplomacy
WASHINGTON — Over 200 people attended the Capitol Hill event last Thursday, "Digesting Annapolis: What Happened, What it Means, and What Happens Next?" co- sponsored by Churches for Middle East Peace, together with Americans for Peace Now, the American Taskforce on Palestine, the Arab American Institute, Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, Israel...Saudi rape case: a catalyst for change?
Recently in Saudi Arabia, a young woman from the town of Qatif who had been raped by seven men was sentenced to prison and to 90 lashes, which were later increased to 200 lashes because of the woman's denunciation of her case through the media. When Josée Verner, the Canadian minister for the status of women, called the sentence......
West Bank Palestinians imprisoned by Israel
The lives of 10,000 Palestinians trapped within West Bank enclaves — cut off from Israel to the west by the Green Line and separated from the West Bank proper to the east by the barrier — have been ruined socially and economically, with their education disrupted and their livelihoods destroyed or seriously damaged. Some have died or...Darkness surrounds spotlight on peace talks
NEW YORK (IPS) — In the aftermath of the Annapolis peace conference, foreign policy analysts and human rights advocates are finding considerable irony in Israel's Arab neighbors pressing for freedom for Palestinians while their own citizens continue to carry a heavy burden of unrelenting political repression. Most of those representing......
