Turkey’s government is showing that an “Islamist” party can become a force for democracy and progress, challenging so many of our usual assumptions about Muslims, terrorism and the Middle East.
Middle east
The case for a nuclear Iran
Gasp! Iran could be building “The Bomb”. Yep: just like Pakistan has bombs, Israel has bombs and North Korea has bombs. Does another one really matter? asks Aetius Romulous
Iraq: where the bloody hell are you?
Iraq may be war-torn and rife with crime, bombings and insurgency, but that’s not holding it back from going on a global tourist drive, hoping to attract European and American travellers to sites like the Garden of Eden and Babylon.
Palestine is better off without Abbas
Many are lamenting Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’s decision not to stand for re-election as the end for a chance at peace in the Middle East. Saree Makdisi is not one of them.
Times changing rapidly in the Middle East
In the context of a stagnated “peace process” and ongoing colonial expansion that makes a two-state solution practically impossible, the Greens are re-assessing their current policy on the Israel/Palestine conflict.
Why is Iran secretly shipping 500 tons of arms to Hezbollah?
Israel has intercepted an Iranian ship headed to Syria with a 500-ton haul of weapons for Hezbollah. It’s not good luck for a country already in deep water over its covert nuclear plans.
What really happened during the Gaza War Stop sucking up to Israel, America
Israel is spoiled, arrogant and condescending country, says Gideon Levy, and it will continue to behave like one until the US stops flattering and fawning all over it. Washington needs to learn to say “no”.
J Street pushing a policy that leads to disappointment
This week’s J Street’s conference saw Zionists, students, pensioners, 1948 Jewish fighters, anti-Zionists and Nazi hunters congregate in Washington DC in an effort to widen the debate over the Middle East.
Friedman: We simply can’t win
America simply does not have the Afghan partners, NATO allies, domestic support or financial resources to win in Afghanistan, says Thomas Friedman. Who knows: if the rest of the world stops meddling, the country might actually manage to sort itself out on its own.
Video of the Day: The history of Afghanistan in three minutes
Struggling to follow the ongoing dramas in Afghanistan? Brush up on a few thousand years of Afghan history with the ever-informative and laconic Ze Frank.
The new battlefront in the Middle East: hummus and tabbouleh
Lebanon and Israel are engaged in a heated battle; not over territory, religion or politics, but over which country invented hummus and tabbouleh. Lebanon has struck the latest blow, breaking world records by cooking a 2056kg bowl of hummus and 3557kg plate of tabbouleh.
The Taliban-Al Qaeda merger
The idea that Al Qaeda and the Taliban are two distinct groups — and that we can defeat the former while tolerating the latter — is a fallacy, says Peter Bergen: Al Qaeda cannot be defeated without first securing Afghanistan.
Founder of Human Rights Watch slams its Middle East strategy
Human Rights Watch founder Robert L. Bernstein has come out with a surprise attack against his former NGO, accusing them of completely ignoring other oppressed Middle East countries in favour of blasting Israel continuously.
Ariel Sharon: a (barely) living metaphor for the Israeli peace process
Former Israeli PM Ariel Sharon has been in a coma for nearly four years, living in a persistently vegetative state. He’s too healthy to die, but too sick to really live — just like the Middle East peace process, says Lynn Sherr.
The image makeover that Israel didn’t want
Israel is alienating more and more of its traditional allies and its criticism of the Goldstone report — which accuses Israel of targeting citizens in its attacks last Dec-Jen — may further damage its relationship with the US, writes Patrick Seale.
What if Israel just bombed Iran’s nuclear program into oblivion?
Well, here’s one way to end Iran’s nuclear ambitions: send Israel in to bomb the sh*t out of the country’s nuclear sites. Would it actually work? Or is it all more trouble than its worth? CSM explores an interesting proposition.
Al Qaeda goes broke
Does crime pay? Not for Al Qaeda, which is skint and appealing to supporters to help out with some cash. But the Taliban, which has diversified its interests into drugs as well as violence, is rolling in cash.
Is Dubai about to go broke?
Dubai is more than $80 billion in debt. It has about $4b left from its recent $20b bailout by Abu Dhabi, but, according to Standard & Poor, that’s about $10b too short to keep its government-related companies afloat.
revealed The Middle East’s secret plan to bring down the dollar
Arab states, along with China, Japan, Russia and France, have been holding secret meetings to plot a move from doing oil deals in US dollars, instead moving to a mix of the yen, yuan, euro, gold and a new, unified Arab currency.
Fresh West Bank horror: street named after Twitter account
A Palestinian refugee camp now has the dubious honour of being home to the world’s first street named after a Twitter account. Dutch-Palestinian Tweep @arjanelfassed paid about AU$167 for the naming rights.
The cupcake craze hits the Middle East
Cupcakes have conquered the West, and now they’re taking the Arab world by storm, with additions like dates, pistachios, tahini and pomegranate adding a regional flavour.
UN: Israel and Hamas guilty of war crimes
A UN fact-finding mission has accused both Israel and Palestine of committing war crimes in Gaza, with the former shelling civilian hospitals with white phosphorus and the latter wreaking terror with rockets.
