A pressure-cooker mix of electoral, technical and diplomatic factors is shaping the potential for conflict over Iran.
Each of the key players perceives peace as desirable but not at any price. This is the message of the exchanges of views aired in Bitterlemons over the years. We still need to enable discourse that is ‘equal and fair’.
The closure of well-known zine Bitterlemons, providing fresh perspectives on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, poses the question: is there is still a need for voices from the region and writers with expertise on the topic? To that, I would answer an emphatic “yes.”
What are the prospects of war over Iran? The hi-tech arms and intelligence trade between Washington and its regional allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia, is a guide.
An innovative Israeli-Palestinian collaboration offering regular analysis of middle-east affairs is ending regular publication after eleven years. Its co-editors, Yossi Alpher and Ghassan Khatib, explain why.
Instantly, the Middle East crisis came into sharp focus. Applying NPS®, the entire conflict could be cast in terms of a company (Israel) whose customers (Palestinians) were not brand loyal.
If all Mitt Romney has to suggest is outright war, his efforts at establishing credentials in statesmanship can hardly be called successful.
"My Muslim friends here in Gaza also wish me Merry Christmas and come to visit me at Christmas. So what the media says about Arabs and intolerance isn’t true."
Strong EU statements denouncing the deteriorating situation in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT), conflict with the EU’s recent nod to urgent implementation of 60 new cooperation activities with Israel.
The Palestinian Authority is gazing into an abyss, and it is beating people in the streets.
A collision of events - a misjudgment in the Persian Gulf, an attack in Damascus, a visit to Israel, a bomb in Bulgaria - hands militarism a further advantage over diplomacy in the region. The dangers of a sudden escalation are increasing.
Over the past few days, Ramallah has restored my faith in the untiring free spirit of the people of Palestine. It has given me hope.
