Kerry urges moves toward peace
March 7th, 20090 WASHINGTON (JTA) — Call it a three-legged stalking horse: rapid progress toward a two-state solution, penalties for settlement expansion and engagement with Syria even as it remains in Iran's sphere. U.S. Sen. John Kerry: "There is a window of opportunity that we must seize by showing, with actions more than words, that it...Development report shows slow progress in Arab World
WASHINGTON — Mired in conflict, afflicted by joblessness, frustrated by unresponsive and oppressive governments, and flooded with images of woe, the world's 22 Arab nations have much to lament. Yet, they are also making rapid, if insufficient, progress in building societies that will thrive in the global economy and fulfill the...Novelists are not the only ones who tell lies
Editor's note: In this powerful speech, the great Japanese writer explains why he chose to accept a literary prize in Israel. Novelist Haruki Murakami of Japan Reuters I have come to Jerusalem today as a novelist, which is to say as a professional spinner of lies. Of course, novelists are not the only ones who tell...
World news briefs: Is pasta humanitarian aid?
February 28th, 20090 When Rep. Keith Ellison visited the Gaza Strip earlier this month, he reported back on some of his concerns about humanitarian aid for the Palestinians. He said even basic food items were being blocked at the border. U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn. Israeli officials said pasta isn't food aid. Ellison learned about some...
Is the U.S. repeating Soviet mistakes in Afghanistan?
February 21st, 20090 A U.S. soldier with Alpha Company, 32nd Infantry Regiment provides security during a visit by his unit at Khas Kunar refugee camp, Kunar Province, eastern Afghanistan February 18, 2009. REUTERS/Oleg Popov KABUL, Afghanistan — Twenty years to the day after the last Soviet soldier left Afghanistan, Dastagir Arizad ticked off...Israel imposes conditions on ceasefire
JERUSALEM (IPS) — Israel's outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert is risking a crisis of confidence with Egypt by insisting that a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas precede any Egyptian-mediated ceasefire arrangement to end the Gaza war. Israel's President Shimon Peres meets members the Shas party in Jerusalem February...
Extremism dominates Israeli polls
February 14th, 20090 RAMALLAH (IPS) — "The peace process is based on three false basic assumptions," said Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Israel's extreme right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party, which will dictate the formation and political course of the next Israeli government. Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Israel's Yisrael Beiteinu party, attends a...
Video: Barcelona fans go wild for Palestinian rights during basketball game
February 14th, 20090 In a frenzied show of support for human rights in besieged Gaza and the occupied West Bank, Barcelona basketball fans waved banners and shouted pro-Palestinian slogans during a Euroleague Top 16 game on Feb. 5, some of them storming the court before being dragged off by security. The game between FC Barcelona and Maccabi Electra...Thousands flee Afghanistan for Iran
It is early morning in the Maimana city bus station, and crowds of young men are waiting to board buses that will take them far away. Yuldash Mohammad, 27, stows his bags under the seat of a bus leaving for Balkh province, but his ultimate destination is Iran. "I am a farmer," he told IWPR. "I sold my bull and my farming equipment,...Muslim investors profit by adhering to faith
As credit markets have imploded, triggering a global economic crisis, Islamically correct investors have seen a change of fortune: The conservative principles this small group of devout Muslims clung to during the economic heyday has insulated them from the worst of the past year's suffering. Their renunciation of the interest-based...Erdogan urges world to recognize Hamas
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for recognition of Hamas which won a landslide victory in Palestinian elections. In an interview with The Washington Post published Saturday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said isolating Hamas is the reason for the ongoing tensions in...
Video: Erdogan hailed after Davos walkout
January 30th, 20090 Turkish prime minister tells Israeli president "You are killing people" Turkey's prime minister returned home from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland to a warm welcome after he stormed out of a debate over Israel's war on the Gaza Strip. More than 5,000 people, many waving Palestinian and Turkish...Israel heads into a political storm
Israel goes to the polls on Feb. 10 in a collective state of mind that is highly disturbed and seemingly ill-prepared for the important choices which lie ahead. This is bad news for Israel itself, for its neighbors, and for the prospects for peace. The Israeli electorate will be struggling to find answers to at least three important...
World optimism
January 24th, 20090 WASHINGTON (IPS) — Perhaps never in human history have the hopes of so many people for positive change in international relations rested on one person as they do on Barack Obama, inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States Tuesday at noon Washington time. U.S. President Barack Obama gestures while delivering his...E.U. considers ties with Israel
BRUSSELS (IPS) — Senior European Union figures have signalled that they could push ahead with plans to strengthen formal ties with Israel, even though more than 1,000 have now been killed by the bombardment of Gaza. Two conflicting statements about E.U.-Israeli relations were delivered Jan. 14, as the number of Palestinians, about......
Gaza’s off-shore gas reserves
The military invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces bears a direct relation to the control and ownership of strategic offshore gas reserves. This is a war of conquest. Discovered in 2000, there are extensive gas reserves off the Gaza coastline. British Gas (BG Group) and its partner, the Athens-based Consolidated...
2008 year in review
December 26th, 20080 The Arab American News' top headlines and front pages of 2008 International • Iraqi refugees struggling in U.S., want to go back • Hundreds of thousands cross downed Gaza wall • George Habash leaves legacy of resistance • Afghan torture scandal widens • Hizbullah commander killed in Syria blast • Hamas renews......
Obama urged not to delay talks
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama speaks at a news conference in Chicago Dec.18, 2008 REUTERS/Jeff Haynes Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran April 21, 2008. REUTERS/Raheb HomavandiTEHRAN (IPS) — In light of the Iranian presidential election coming in mid-2009 and the U.S. distaste for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,...Security Council backs Mideast peace push
Palestinian children hold candles as part of the Global Peace Rally at the office of Palestinian Legislator Mustafa Barghouti (not pictured) in the West Bank city of Hebron, December 7, 2008. REUTERS/Nayef Hashlamoun UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council this week passed its first resolution in five years aimed at giving...
Carter offers to monitor Lebanese election
December 13th, 20080 Hizbullah declines to meet with visiting former U.S. president Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter shakes hands with Lebanon Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun (R) and deputy Elie Skaff (C) during a meeting in Beirut December 11, 2008. REUTERS/ Mohamed Azakir Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, met with President Michel...Nobel winner urges Obama to work for Mideast peace
Martti Ahtisaari, the former Finnish president, has used his Nobel peace prize acceptance speech to urge Barack Obama, the U.S. president-elect, to make peace in the Middle East a priority. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari Ahtisaari called the region's conflict the "world's most challenging peace-building project"......
Obama to address Muslims in major speech, Dearborn a possible site
President-elect Barack Obama is considering making a major foreign policy speech from a Muslim capital during his first 100 days in office, according to an analysis in the New York Times written by Helene Cooper last week. The article suggests Dearborn as a possible location for the speech, but "Clearly it would be cheating for Mr....U.N. Assembly head blasts Israel
UNITED NATIONS (IPS) — The president of the General Assembly, Father Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, dropped a political bombshell last week when he lashed out at Israel for repressive actions in the occupied territories, including the blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza, which was partially eased on Thursday. United Nations......
Treaty signed to ban cluster bombs
Handicap International says about 100,000 people have been killed or maimed by cluster bombs since 1965.A landmark treaty to ban some forms of cluster bomb has been signed by more than 100 nations in Oslo. Norway, which played a key role in hammering out the worldwide ban on using, producing, transferring and stockpiling...
Mumbai attacks strain Indian-Pakistani relations
December 5th, 20080 The Mumbai attacks have brought old suspicions to the fore. Indians suspect militants from Pakistan. Pakistanis reject what they call a typical blame game. NEW DELHI, INDIA AND KARACHI, PAKISTAN — Akash Maheshwari has no doubts about what will happen in the standoff between India and Pakistan. The Indian businessman said his country......
