Search:   Spelling

Sub-Topics History of Middle East Conflict Israeli Wall Middle East Culture Middle East Groups Middle East Maps History of Middle East Conflict Also Try Islam Middle East Middle East Conflict - Why? Middle East Current Events Archives Muslim Rage Muslims Against Terrorism Terrorism Lesson Plans Brokering Peace (USNewsClassroom.com - Watson) Encourages students to discuss the Middle East Peace process and the role of the USA. Editor's Note - This lesson is dated 10-00 and is therefore old. Albright was replaced by Powell, Barak was replaced by Sharon, and Clinton was replaced by Bush. The student can use other resources in this section of the Awesome Library to gain more current news. Otherwise, the issues still need resolution. 5-02 Palestinian and Israeli Perspectives (New York Times - Kohl and Harrad) "Explores the perspectives of different groups of people involved in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, intended for use with students in grades 6-12." Editor's Note - This lesson is dated 5-00 and is therefore old. The student can use other resources in this section of the Awesome Library to gain more current news. Otherwise, the issues still need resolution. 5-02 Palestinian and Israeli Perspectives (New York Times - Kohl and Khan) Provides news articles and discussion questions. "Students then use lessons learned from other 20th Century conflicts and resolutions they research in class to make suggestions for the Middle East peace talks." Editor's Note - This lesson is dated 10-00 and is therefore old. The student can use other resources in this section of the Awesome Library to gain more current news. Otherwise, the issues still need resolution. 5-02 Lists Middle East (Sunumi.com) Provides maps and sources of information on countries and cities in the Middle East. 10-01 Middle East - Travel Information by Location (Excite.Travel.com) Provides information on dining, where to stay, and interesting things to see. Search by city, state, or country. Includes Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen 3-02 Materials Bias, Prejudice and Attitudes (IAT Corp and Tolerance.org - Greenwald and Banaji) Provides a test of attitudes regarding age, race, gender, and obesity. Your responses are measured by your speed of associations. Most of us do have biases (preferences) that may conflict with our values. Biases can work invisibly and give us a tendency to treat others unfairly (with prejudice). By uncovering our biases, we can combat our prejudices more effectively. News -Middle East Conflict (ABC News Australia) Provides news on the Middle East conflict between Israel and Palestinians. 5-02 -Middle East Conflict (BBC News) Provides news on the Middle East conflict between Israel and Palestinians. 5-02 -Middle East Conflict (PBS.org - OnlineNewsHour) Provides daily news focusing on the Middle East, primarily the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. 5-02 -Middle East Conflict (WorldNews.com - Middle East News) Provides news on the Middle East from international sources. 3-02 -Middle East Conflict (Yahoo) Provides daily news focusing on the Middle East, primarily the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. 5-02 -Middle East Conflict - Israeli View (Jerusaleum Post) Provides news from an Israeli perspective. 4-02 -Middle East Conflict - Jordanian View (Jordan Times) Provides news on the Middle East conflict from an Arab view. 5-02 -Middle East Conflict - News by Country (Al Bawaba) Provides news regarding the Middle East in general, as well as by country. 2-02 -Middle East Conflict - Palestinian View (Palestine Daily) Provides news on the Middle East conflict from a Palestinian view. 5-02 -Middle East News (AccessMiddleEast News) Provides news and over 400 sources of information on news in the Middle East. 2-04 -Middle East News (BBC News) Provides news stories, features, and analysis of the news in the Middle East, with a heavy emphasis on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 6-02 -Middle East News (Israelinsider) Provides news from an Israeli viewpoint. 6-02 -Middle East News (Palestine Chronicle) Provides news from a Palestinian viewpoint. 6-02 Papers -Essay - Amos Oz Sees Two Wars in the Middle East (Guardian Unlimited - Oz) Provides a view from the Jewish novelist, Amos Oz, that we must be clear to distinguish two wars. "Two Palestinian-Israeli wars have erupted in this region. One is the Palestinian nation's war for its freedom from occupation and for its right to independent statehood. Any decent person ought to support this cause. The second war is waged by fanatical Islam, from Iran to Gaza and from Lebanon to Ramallah, to destroy Israel and drive the Jews out of their land. Any decent person ought to abhor this cause." He concludes that Israel must withdraw from Palestinian territories for moral reasons. If withdrawal does not end the war with fanatics, then he argues that Israel can continue to fight the second war with full moral authority. 4-02 -Israeli and Palestinian Views on the Land (CNN.com) Describes the modern history of conflict over the land on the West Bank and Gaza. Israelis began placing settlements in the West Bank after Israel won its war in 1967. Israelis want to keep portions of the West Bank on the basis of protecting national security. Palestinians want the Israelis to leave the West Bank (and Gaza) because those lands are part of Palestinian territory. 12-01 -Israeli and Palestinian Views on the West Bank (CNN.com) Describes the views of Israelis and Palestinians regarding ownership of the West Bank. 6-02 -Jerusalem - East Jerusalem Focus of Conflict (CNN.com) Describes the modern history of conflict over the "Old City," East Jerusalem. Both Muslems and Jews consider portions of the city too sacred to allow the other to have control of the area. "Ground zero in the dispute is a hill in Jerusalem known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary. That precious piece of real estate is believed to contain the ruins of Judaism's holiest temple, on top of which stands the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third-holiest site." 12-01 -Palestinian Refugees (CNN.com) Describes the refugee problem that is at the heart of the conflict between Jews and Palestinians. "Despite a U.N. resolution recognizing the Palestinians' right to return to their homes, Israeli law barred those Palestinians from re-entering Israel at the end of the war. The Palestinians became refugees, taken in by other Arab states." The Jewish view is that allowing the Palestinians to return to their homes "would create a demographic problem for Israel, making it unable to continue as a Jewish state." From a Palestinian view, "the displacement of Palestinians cuts to the core of Palestinian national identity. Many Palestinians say their right to return goes beyond the U.N. resolution, stemming from a right of a people to live in their homeland." 12-01 Camp David Accords (U.S. Embassy) Provides a framework for peace between Egypt and Israel. 10-00 Commentary - Sharon's Intentions (Council on Foreign Relations) Siegman, a Jewish Middle East expert, asserts that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon considers the West Bank and Gaza to be disputed territory, not occupied territory. "Ergo, Sharon concludes, the West Bank and Gaza are not territory occupied by Israel's military but territory whose ownership - in principle, all of it - is 'in dispute.' Sharon is thus informing the international community that Israel's claim to the West Bank and Gaza is on a par with that of the Palestinians." "Given Israel's control of all of the territories, and given its overwhelming military superiority over the Palestinians, there should be little doubt about the outcome of this contest of Israeli and Palestinian 'rights.' " Editor's Note - Siegman makes some absurdly false statements to make some of his points. He assumes that the reader is an expert on the Middle East and will recognize such statements as an attempt at humor. 8-02 Commentary by Henry Siegman (Council on Foreign Relations) Siegman, a Jewish Middle East expert, is neither pro-Israeli nor pro-Palestinian in his perspective to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Rather, he attempts to describe the pattern of events. Without outside intervention, he expects Israel, under Sharon's leadership, to claim ownership of at least half of the West Bank. 8-02 Commentary by Henry Siegman (Council on Foreign Relations) Siegman, a Jewish Middle East expert, provides his perspective to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Without outside intervention from other countries, Siegman predicts that Israel, under Sharon's leadership, will claim ownership of at least half of the West Bank. 8-02 Debate - American Jewish and Arab Views on Conflict (MSNBC News) "Two Americans - one of Jewish descent, the other of Arab descent - each with passionate views on the Mideast conflict. MSNBC.com promised both of them anonymity and asked them to debate for a month the ins and outs of what is happening in the Holy Land." 5-02 Editorial - Can the Mideast Ever Be Democratic? (Boston Globe - Greenway) "Middle Easterners can plainly see that the only true democracy in the region is also the country that is imposing a fierce, land-grabbing occupation upon an Arab population with the support of the United States. Middle Easterners may ask: If a democratically elected leader falls out of favor with the United States, as Yasser Arafat has, will they be told to find a new leader, as the Palestinians are being told? Could Americans recall a leader in the Middle East if they didn't like him, as they did in California? The hypocrisy of the Bush administration in allowing Israel to circumvent the "road map" to peace and continue building settlements suggests to Arabs that democracy isn't necessarily the key to Middle East stability." 11-03 Essay - Birthrates in the Middle East Spell Trouble for Israel (Chicago Tribune - Kennedy) "Israel now contains about 6 million people, one-fifth of whom are Arabs. Its population is projected to reach about 10 million in 2050--a strain on agricultural and water resources, no doubt, but nonetheless manageable if everything else went well." "But that is the rub. Other things are highly unlikely to go well." Palestinian birthrates are double the Israeli rates. "By 2050, therefore, the forecast is that there will be almost 12 million inhabitants in the already crowded Palestinian areas." "What this means is that, by 2050, 8 million Jewish Israelis will be sitting cheek-by-jowl with approximately 20 million Palestinians and a few million Israeli Arabs. How they will deal with simple basic daily needs, such as water, boggles the imagination. Already, Israel gets 55 percent of its water from outside its formal territories, by siphoning underground supplies from its neighbors." "The hundreds of millions of desperate young men and boys in these lands will be encouraged by the same ruthless, exploitative leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas to make a supreme sacrifice by a terrorist act, and receive their everlasting reward, unless this can be headed off." 5-02 Essay - Islam and Tolerance (MideastWeb.org) "The Islamist use and distortion of doctrine is no different than the politicization of Christianity or Judaism by fundamentalism. It represents a danger that is present in all religions if their ancient tenets are taken literally, but not necessarily the 'core' of the religion as it is accepted today" Quotes Thomas Friedman as writing, 'The real clash today is actually not between civilizations, but within them — between those Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and Jews with a modern and progressive outlook and those with a medieval one.' We make a great mistake if we simply write off the Muslim world and fail to understand how many Muslims feel themselves trapped in failing states and look to America as a model and inspiration. " 11-02 Essay - Israel Extends Its Borders Further Into Palestinian Territory (Jerusalem Post - Nessman) Provides news on Israelis building settlements on Palestinian territory with Israeli government encouragement and support. "These new settlement efforts send a clear message that Sharon is more interested in extending Israel's borders than in trying to negotiate peace, Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said." 5-02 Essay - Israel Has Also Crossed a Line (Guardian Unlimited) Argues that, although Israel has a right to defend itself against terrorists, the way it is treating the Palestinian people (while chasing terrorists) is not justified. "In fighting terrorists in this way, Israel has crossed a line no democratic government should cross." 4-02 Essay - Israeli View of Palestinian Leadership (Jerusalem Post - Shaviv and Najib) "Palestinians agree with Israel and the United States that their leadership needs to be reformed - but have a far different idea of what that means." "The changes, if they occur, only have one purpose: to make the battle against Israel even more efficient." Editor's Note - This article is included to help understand Israeli views of Palestinian leaders. 5-02 Essay - Israeli View that the USA and Israel Agree on Next Steps (Jerusalem Post - Keinon) Argues that both America and Israel want to replace Arafat, in a diplomatic way, as a first priority. States that, according to an Israeli official, a regional conference this summer is a good way to "buy time" and appear to move things forward while really moving forward to replace Arafat. Replacing Arafat is politely called "Palestinian reform." Editor's Note - This article is included to help understand Israeli views. 5-02 Essay - Jewish View of the Conflict (Chicago Tribune - Grossman) "For my people, the wait was almost 2,000 years. From the time the Romans exiled the ancient Jews from Jerusalem until the rebirth of Israel in 1948, each of them perennially lived the biblical phrase "a stranger in a strange land." "When Arabs aggress, most of the world is muted in its criticism. Arafat might be gently urged to do a little more to restrain the bombers. When Israel strikes back, condemnation quickly follows." 5-02 Essay - Jordan's Opinion on the Conflict (CBS News - Rather) King Abdullah of Jordan said, "The Israelis are saying to the Americans that you have to have security before you can have peace. Your president said in a speech a few days ago you can’t have security if you don’t have peace...." 5-02 Essay - Jordanian View of the Conflict Between Israel and the Palestinians (The Star - El-Sherif) Provides a Jordanian view of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Jordan has helped to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians in the past. Jordan is also a strong supporter of the Palestinians. 4-02 Essay - Middle East Conflict (The Nation - Falk) "I was a member of a human rights inquiry appointed by the UN Human Rights Commission a year ago." "The basic conclusion of these efforts at impartial understanding was that Israel was mainly responsible for the escalations [of violence], and that its tactics of response involved massive violations of international humanitarian law." He also argues that past peace offers to Palestinians reflected the realities of power and control of the Israelis over the Palestinians and not international law. The past offers, he argues, would never have provided an independent Palestinian state, but rather a Palestinian state that was under the control of Israel. 5-02 Essay - Need for a Culture of Compromise (MideastWeb.org - Heggy) "A few years ago, I discovered that there is no equivalent in the Arabic language, classical or colloquial, for the English word 'compromise', which is most commonly translated into Arabic in the form of two words, literally meaning ‘halfway solution’." "As language is not merely a tool of communication but the depositary of a society’s cultural heritage, reflecting its way of thinking and the spirit in which it deals with things and with others, as well as the cultural trends which have shaped it, I realized that we were here before a phenomenon with cultural (and, consequently, political, economic and social) implications." Heggy argues that "compromise is the strongest product of nature, life and the march of civilizations and cultures, while a rigid refusal to consider the merits of anyone else’s opinion and to insist on obtaining all one’s demands runs counter to the logic of science, nature, humanity, culture and civilization." 11-02 Essay - Palestinian Rage from Exile and Occupation (Chicago Tribune - Karmi) "These narratives are rooted in the fundamental attachment Palestinians have to the land historically known as Palestine--modern-day Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The land has been predominantly Arab since the 7th Century, and Palestinians base their claim to the land on 13 centuries of continuous habitation." "Palestinians call the creation of Israel in 1948 al Nakbeh, the catastrophe. Out of a total population of about 1.25 million, almost 60 percent of all Palestinians were displaced...." "Homeless and stateless, most of the Palestinian refugees ended up in camps hastily erected by their host countries and the UN. Most of these refugees and their descendants remain in those camps to this day. Many still have no passports and have never left the countries where they reside. Almost all still dream of their homes in Palestine, or, in more and more cases now, of their fathers' and grandfathers' homes." "It is impossible to overstate the sense of injustice Palestinians feel over the displacement of almost their entire people." 5-02 Essay Against Suicide Bombings (MideastWeb.org - Isseroff) "Common sense dictates that anyone who wants peace between the Palestinians and Israelis must speak out loud and clear against suicide bombings and other terror attacks, but no peace groups have spoken out." 8-03 Essays - Middle East Conflict (The Nation) Provides essays by experts on the Middle East. Focuses on the conflict between Israel and Palestinians. 5-02 Essays and Dialogues for Peace in the Middle East (MideastWeb.org) Provides essays, dialogues, and news. The site was designed to promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians. 11-02 Essays on the Middle East Conflicts and Other Current Events (History News Network) Provides essays on both sides of issues in the Middle East conflicts and other major current events. 10-02 Freshwater - International Freshwater Conflict Prevention (Applied Research Institute Jerusalem - Isaac) Jad Isaac of the Applied Research Institute, Jerusalem, recommends a confidence building measure by the Israelis. He emphasizes that Gaza and West Bank Palestinians do not have sufficient access to water now and suggests that negotiations for peace include Israel making sufficient water available to the two areas. 4-02 Hamas (BBC News - Westcott) "Hamas, the main Islamist movement in the Palestinian territories, was born soon after the previous intifada erupted in 1987." "The organisation opposes the Oslo peace process and its short-term aim is a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories."  "Hamas does not recognise the right of Israel to exist. Its long-term aim is to establish an Islamic state on land originally mandated as Palestine - most of which has been contained within Israel's borders since its creation in 1948." 5-02 Hamas - Who Are Hamas? (BBC - Asser) "Branded terrorists by Israel and western countries, Hamas is seen by its supporters as a legitimate fighting force defending Palestinians from a brutal military occupation." 6-03 Israel Demands Palestinian Refugees Stay Out (Newsday.com - Mroue) "Israel will not take any permanent, concrete actions toward achieving peace in the Middle East unless the Palestinians 'unequivocally' withdraw their demand that millions of Palestinian refugees be allowed to return to their original homes, a top Israeli official said Monday." 4-03 Israeli View of Middle East (Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations) Provides documents and informaton from an Israeli viewpoint. 10-01 Israeli View of Middle East (Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations) Provides documents and informaton from an Israeli viewpoint. 10-01 Muslim Rage (First Person Book Page - Mudge) Provides an interview with Thomas L. Friedman regarding his book, Longitudes and Attitudes. " 'I'm quoting here from a U.N. study that's just come out that says it's a deficit of freedom, it's a deficit of education and it's a deficit of women's empowerment. Thanks to these three deficits they've [Arab Muslims] dug themselves a really deep hole.' ""'The dark side of all this, Friedman writes in his diaries, is that it leads to what he calls the 'Circle of bin Ladenism, which is made up of three components: antidemocratic leaders, who empower antimodernist Moslem religious educators to gain legitimacy, who then produce a generation of young people who have not been educated in ways that enable them to flourish in the modern world.' " 9-02 Palestinian Agreements With Israel (Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations) Provides the texts of the signed agreements between Israel and the Palestinians representatives. 10-01 Palestinian Refugee Camps (CBC News - O'Malley and John Bowman) "When the dust had settled [in 1948], Israel controlled three-quarters of what was Palestine, Jordan took control of the West Bank of the Jordan River, and Egypt took over the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians took over nothing, except the transient security of life in refugee camps throughout the region." "UNRWA estimates the number of registered Palestinian refugees has grown from 914,000 in 1950 to more than 3.8 million in 2001, and keeps rising." 5-02 United Nations - Palestinian Questions and Resolutions by the United Nations (United Nations) Provides "United Nations resolutions related to the question of Palestine, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the current Middle East peace process, in reverse chronological order." 5-02 United Nations - Resolutions Related to Palestinians and Israelis (United Nations) Provides resolutions. 5-02 Women's Views - Voices from Behind the Veil (Christian Science Monitor - Gaouette) Provides an inside view on the experience of Muslim women in the Middle East. "They bridle at Western assumptions about the nature of Islam and a woman's place in it. Like their Afghan sisters, these women stress that culture shapes their lives as much as religion and if they have problems, the veil certainly isn't one of them. They want change, but on terms that suit their society. Most of all, they would like Westerners to stop rehashing old clichés about who they are." 3-02 News -01-04-06 Sharon Crisis Casts Wide Shadow (BBC News) "Presuming the worst regarding Ariel Sharon's health, we are looking at a vastly significant moment of change for Israel, the Palestinians and the wider Middle East." "Like him or loathe him, the Israeli prime minister is a political colossus for Israelis. He has been at the centre of Israeli political life since the state's creation." 01-06 -01-04-09 Editorial: Analysis of Israeli Invasion of Gaza (MSNBC News) "or Hamas, the Israeli attacks have taken a heavy toll in death and destruction, wiping out not only security and police buildings but also homes, mosques and a university that are all part of its network in the strip. The Hamas goal, analysts say, is not so much to win militarily but rather to exact a psychological victory, in the same way Hezbollah bolstered its legitimacy both inside Lebanon and in the Arab world after its war." 01-09 -01-04-09 Israeli Negotiating With Extreme Prejudice (Time.com) "Besides the psychological pressure created by giving Hamas leaders the impression that Israel is launching an invasion on a scale far greater than the militants had anticipated, the Israeli military also knows that the sweeping ground operation will force Hamas fighters and commanders deployed along the frontline to begin withdrawing deeper into the cities and refugee camps. And those militants will be far more vulnerable to attack when forced out of their hiding places and fortifications. Israel not only has the advantage of air cover and the overview of the battlefield it affords, but will also use its high-tech abilities to operate by night against Hamas forces on home turf." 01-09 -01-04-09 Israeli Troops Bisect Gaza Strip (Time.com) "Israeli ground troops and tanks cut swaths through the Gaza Strip early Sunday, cutting the coastal territory into two and surrounding its biggest city as the new phase of a devastating offensive against Hamas militants gained momentum." "Lubna Karam, 28, said she and the other nine members of her family spent the night huddled in the hallway of their Gaza City home. The windows of the house were blown out days earlier in an Israeli airstrike, and the family has been without electricity for a week, surviving without heat and eating cold food." "She said no one slept overnight. 'We keep hearing the sounds of airplanes and we don't know if we'll live until tomorrow or not,' she said." 01-09 -01-22-07 Israel Replaces Army Chief (ABC News) " Gaby Ashkenazy, 52, an infantry commander and currently director of the Defense Ministry, will replace Lieutenant-General Dan Halutz who quit last week over his failure to crush Hezbollah in the July-August war, they said." 01-07 -01-25-06 Hamas Wins Election in Palestinian Territory (MSNBC News) "Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia resigned to clear the way for Hamas, an Islamic group that rejects peace with Israel in favor of suicide bombings and other violence, to form the next government." "Qureia, 68, tendered his resignation today to President Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, Palestinian officials, who asked not to be named, said. Ismael Hania, a Hamas leader, told Palestinian radio that initial results from yesterday's general elections showed Hamas had won more than 70 seats on the 132-member Palestinian Legislative Council, pushing the ruling Fatah Party into second place." 01-06 -01-30-06 Israel Restricts Funding to Palestinians (Bloomberg.com) "Israel suspended a transfer of tax revenue to the Palestinian Authority until Hamas, which won last week's legislative elections, agrees to back peace with Israel, a spokesman for Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said." "Other Interior Department resources that were offered, but unused, included flat-bottom boats for shallow-water rescues. 'Clearly these assets and skills were precisely relevant in the post-Katrina environment,' Scarlett wrote." 01-06 -02-05-06 Israelis to Transfer $54 Million to Palestinians (USA Today) "Israel agreed to make a crucial payment of $54 million in tax and customs revenues to the Palestinians, but officials said future transfers will be halted once Hamas militants form the next Palestinian government." 02-06 -02-10-08 Electricity Key Weapon in War With Hamas (Time.com) "The electricity flow has been temperamental for years, but rolling power cuts of at least eight hours a day are the norm since Israel began reducing fuel shipments in October to pressure Gaza's Hamas rulers to halt rocket fire on Israeli border towns. Last week it went further, starting to trim the supply it delivers from its own power station across the border." 02-08 -02-14-06 Israelis Attack Palestinian Jail (ABC News) "Palestinian gunmen kidnapped an American teacher at a university in the West Bank on Tuesday, part of an outbreak of violence that followed a raid by Israeli forces on a Palestinian prison." "Israeli forces driving bulldozers and firing tank shells and missiles burst into the Palestinian prison looking for prisoners convicted of killing an Israeli Cabinet minister. Dozens of inmates were removed, but one of the most-wanted men was holed up inside." "The Palestinians blamed the Jericho raid on the British and Americans, who removed their monitors from the jail just before the Israeli raid. There were 200 prisoners and guards in the jail at the time." 03-06 -02-16-06 Hamas Names New Prime Minister for the Palestinians (BBC News) "The Palestinian militant group Hamas has chosen Ismail Haniya, one of its leaders in Gaza, to be the next prime minister, reports say." 02-06 -02-19-06 Israel to Halt Payments to Palestine (CBS News) "Israel branded the Palestinian government a "terrorist authority" Sunday and halted the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars in tax money after Hamas took control of the Palestinian parliament." "The Cabinet decided to stop the transfer of the roughly $55 million a month it collects in taxes and tariffs on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. The order did not specify when the payments would stop, but government spokesman Asaf Shariv said the next payment, scheduled for early March, 'won't take place.' " 02-06 -03-03-08 Gaza Fighting Intensifies (Time.com) "The brunt of the fighting occurred on Saturday when Israelis, in an operation named 'Warm Winter' stormed into northern Gaza with over a thousand troops backed by 30 tanks and helicopter gunships. They advanced to the edge of Jabaliya, a crowded refugee camp, and there took fire from gunmen hiding inside the buildings. After two Israeli soldiers were shot, eyewitnesses say, the Israelis retaliated with withering fire in all directions as they struggled to evacuate the wounded soldiers, who eventually died." "On the Palestinian side, medicial sources say that 25 of those killed were militants, the rest civilians, including women and children. Despite the fierce Israeli assault, militants kept firing a barrage of mortars and longer-range Katyusha rockets into southern Israel." 02-08 -03-15-06 Palestinian President Denounces Israeli Raid on Palestinian Jail (USA Today) "Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday toured the devastated Jericho prison where Israel spirited away six prisoners, denouncing the raid as an 'unforgivable crime.' " 03-06 -03-18-06 Hamas Forms Government Without Moderates (MSNBC News) "Hamas said Saturday it had completed the formation of its government without succeeding to bring in moderate parties, a step that looked likely to only increase the chances of international isolation." 3-06 -03-19-06 U.S: Emergency Food for Gaza (ABC News) "Emergency shipments of food will be brought into Gaza from Egypt on Monday, a U.S. diplomat announced on Sunday after hosting talks with Israel and the Palestinians on alleviating an impending humanitarian crisis." 3-06 -03-25-06 Changing Mood in Israel (ABC News) "Worn down by a bloody five-year Palestinian uprising, Israelis look set for a seismic shift in Tuesday's election, discarding their polarizing dreams of either settling Jews in a Greater Israel of biblical dimensions or trading much of that land for peace with the Palestinians." 03-06 -03-28-07 Iran TV Shows Captured British Sailors (BBC News) "Iranian state television has broadcast an interview with captured British female sailor Faye Turney and footage of the 14 servicemen seized with her." 03-07 -04-01-07 Saudi Arabia Taking Over Lead in the Middle East (MSNBC - Newsweek) "How the Saudi king, disillusioned with Bush, is trying to save the Arabs." 04-07 -04-05-06 Palestinian Government Broke (MSNBC News) "The new Hamas-led government is broke and missed the April 1 monthly pay date for tens of thousands of Palestinian public workers, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Wednesday." "Haniyeh offered no solutions to the cash crunch, pledging only to do his best to make up for tens of millions of dollars in aid being withheld by international donors and appealing to the Arab world to send more donations." "Israel also froze the transfer of tens of millions of dollars in tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinians since shortly after Hamas’ January election victory." 04-06 -04-09-06 Sharon Premanently "Incapacitated" (Fox News) "Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has been in a coma for three months, will be declared permanently incapacitated Tuesday, a decision that signals the official end of his tenure as Israel's leader, the Justice Ministry said Sunday." 04-06 -06-08-06 Israelis Assassinate Palestinian Security Chief (ABC News) "Abu Samhadana, a 43-year-old explosives expert, had been a key target for Israel, moving stealthily and switching cars and hideouts, despite his promotion to security chief by the Hamas-led government." 06-06 -06-12-06 Israel Plans to Violate Peace "Road Map" (ABC News) "Israel plans to build 54 new homes in the occupied West Bank despite an obligation under a U.S.-backed peace 'road map' to halt such construction on land Palestinians seek for a state." 06-06 -06-17-07 Palestinian President Outlaws Hamas (CNN News) "The leadership rift between Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah deepened Sunday as President Mahmoud Abbas swore in a temporary cabinet for his emergency government in an attempt to regain control of the region"br> "Abbas also issued a decree stating that the Hamas militia and the Hamas executive force were outlawed, although an Abbas adviser said he was not outlawing the Islamic Hamas movement." "The emergency cabinet replaces the Hamas-Fatah coalition Abbas dismantled after Hamas took control of Gaza by force this week. The new cabinet in the West Bank will be led by economist Salam Fayyad, who replaces Ismail Haniya as Palestinian prime minister." 06-07 -06-17-07 Palestinian Split Poses Quandary for USA (New York Times) "With the two Palestinian territories increasingly isolated from each other by a week of brutal warfare between rival factions, Israel and the United States seem agreed on a policy to treat them as separate entities to support Fatah in the West Bank and squeeze Hamas in the Gaza Strip." 06-07 -06-18-07 Analysts: US Mideast Policies Are Part of the Problem (Christian Science Monitor) "For a growing number of analysts, if the past year has brought any clarity, it is that US policy has largely backfired and added to the region's downward spiral of violence and economic troubles." 06-07 -06-29-06 Israel Detains Palestinian Ministers (Guardian Unlimited) "The Israeli army said that 64 Hamas officials, including eight ministers and 20 other parliamentarians, had been detained in the series of early-morning arrests.'' 06-06 -07-13-06 Israel Attacks Lebannon in Retaliation (ABC News) "Israel unleashed a furious military campaign on Lebanon's main airport, highways, military bases and other targets Thursday, retaliating for scores of Hezbollah guerrilla rockets that rained down on Israel and reached as far as Haifa, its third-largest city, for the first time." 07-06 -07-14-06 Bush Refuses to Press Israel for Truce (ABC News) "President Bush refused to press Israel for a cease-fire in Mideast violence Friday, risking a wider breach with world leaders at a weekend summit already confronting crises with Iran and North Korea." 07-06 -07-14-06 Israelis Strike Beirut Suburb (ABC News) "The strikes left dozens of cars smashed by slabs of concrete falling off buildings. Curtains fluttered out of broken windows 10 floors up. Store shutters were thrown off their rails. Some of the missiles left large craters in the ground." "Nasser Ali Nasser, a 50-year-old taxi driver and father of five sitting on a plastic chair with a coffee he bought from the back of a parked van, was defiant in the face of the hardship he sees ahead." " 'Will the Israeli offensive go on for a long time? Absolutely,' he said. 'But even if they kill us all, we still will not give them back the (Israeli) prisoners.' " 07-06 -07-14-06 Israelis Strike Hezbollah Headquarters in Beirut (Bloomberg.com) "Israel extended air raids in Lebanon after Hezbollah fired rockets, hitting the Islamic group's stronghold in Beirut and a highway linking the city to the Syrian capital, Damascus." 07-06 -07-15-06 Hezbollah Rockets Hit Northern Israel (ABC News) "Rockets fired by Hizbollah guerillas in Lebanon struck deeper into Israel than ever before on Saturday, hitting the Sea of Galilee town of Tiberias, and wounding 15 people across northern Israel." "Four Israelis, including a five-year-old child, have been killed and 300 hurt by about 700 rockets fired since Wednesday at an unprecedented number of more than 20 towns. Over 100 Lebanese, mostly civilians, have died in Israeli air raids." 07-06 -07-19-06 Lebanese Prime Minister: Beirut "Torn to Shreds" (BBC News) "The Lebanese prime minister has called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah militants, saying his country "has been torn to shreds". "Fouad Siniora said more than 300 people had been killed and 500,000 others displaced in a week of Israeli attacks." 07-06 -07-19-06 Random Violence Takes a Toll (MSNBC News) "Twenty-five Israelis and more than 237 Lebanese people have died so far in the conflict. The violence has displaced an estimated 500,000." 07-06 -07-20-06 Israel Invades, Warns Lebanese to Flee (MSNBC News) "U.N. chief Kofi Annan warned of a humanitarian crisis in Lebanon and called for an immediate cease-fire, even as he admitted 'serious obstacles' stand in the way of even easing the violence. Annan denounced Israel for 'excessive use of force' and Hezbollah for holding 'an entire nation hostage' with its rocket attacks and snatching of two Israeli soldiers last week." "As the death toll rose to 330 in Lebanon as well as at least 31 Israelis, Lebanese streamed north into the capital and other regions, crowding into schools, relatives’ homes or hotels." 07-06 -08-29-05 Palestinian Prime Minister: Militants Upholding Truce (ABC News) "Palestinian militant groups told an Egyptian envoy Monday they remained committed to a cease-fire with Israel, a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside an Israeli bus station, Palestinian officials said. "Leaders from the main militant groups — Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades — made the pledge during meetings with the visiting Egyptian intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, who was in the region to shore up the truce and facilitate an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians on Israel's Gaza withdrawal, participants said." 8-05 -09-11-05 Historic Occasion - Israelis Complete Gaza Withdrawal (MSNBC News) "Thousands of triumphant Palestinians poured into abandoned Jewish settlements early Monday, setting empty synagogues on fire and shooting in the air, as the last Israeli soldier left the Gaza Strip, completing Israel’s pullout after 38 years of occupation." 9-05 -09-16-06 Israelis Disillusioned by Political Scandals (MSNBC News) "The president is being questioned on sexual harassment and wiretapping charges. The former justice minister is standing trial on accusations of sexual misconduct. The prime minister is being investigated for possible foul play in real estate deals." "An unrelenting wave of corruption scandals — which many blame on an increasingly selfish political culture — has further disillusioned Israelis already furious with their leaders over the devastating war in Lebanon." 09-06 -09-25-05 Israelis Launch "Crushing" Retaliation (MSNBC News) "Israel launched a "crushing" retaliation Saturday against Hamas in Gaza with deadly airstrikes, troops massed at the border and a planned ground incursion after militants fired 35 rockets at Israeli towns — their first major attack since the Gaza pullout." "Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told security chiefs in a meeting that "the ground of Gaza should shake" and that he wanted to exact a high price from Palestinians everywhere, not just Hamas." "Security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicize details of the plan, said the operation would stop only if the Palestinian Authority asserted control over Gaza or Hamas declared an end to rocket attacks." "Israel also sealed the West Bank and Gaza, barring thousands of Palestinians from reaching jobs in the Jewish state." 9-05 -10-08-05 Gaza Poverty (BBC News) "It is nearly a month now since the last Israeli tanks rolled out of the Gaza Strip. Determined that the homes of Israeli families would not fall into the hands of militant groups like the Hamas organisation, they have left little behind but rubble." 10-05 -11-05-05 Ten Years After Rabin's Assassination (CNN News) "Ten years after Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated for trading land for peace, Israel has given up land without peace. It is fearful of another political murder. And it is divided over whether the Middle East conflict would be nearer its end had Rabin lived." 11-05 -11-15-05 Rice Works to Open Palestinian Borders to Trade (Time Magazine) "Rice's all-nighter demonstrated the extent of hands-on diplomatic effort required to get the two parties to achieve what she conceded was just one step towards the goal of establishing a Palestinian state that can live in harmony with its Israeli neighbor. Once the drama of its 13th hour surprise ending fades, the episode may be a sobering reminder of how long and arduous the journey remains — and of how much more may be required of the Bush administration and its successors if progress is to be sustained." 11-05 -11-20-05 Sharon to Pull Out of Likud Party (CBS Newst) "Israel's dovish Labor Party voted Sunday to pull out of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government, and Sharon reportedly decided to quit his Likud Party to set up a new movement — beginning a campaign for elections expected in March." 11-05 -11-21-06 Advocacy Group: Israeli Map Shows Israeli Settlements on Private Palestinian Land (New York Times) "An Israeli advocacy group, using maps and figures leaked from inside the government, says that 39 percent of the land held by Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank is privately owned by Palestinians." "Israel has long asserted that it fully respects Palestinian private property in the West Bank and only takes land there legally or, for security reasons, temporarily." 11-06 -11-21-20 Mideast Conflict and Obama (U.S. News) "It would be hard to blame incoming President Barack Obama if he took one look at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and decided it wasn't for him. After all, the main thing President George W. Bush has to show for eight years of on-and-off Mideast peacemaking is Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip—the result of the administration's insistence on Gazan elections and subsequent instigation of a failed coup attempt against the elected Islamist rulers." "The most urgent front is Gaza, where a five-month cease-fire between Israel and the Strip's Islamic militant groups broke down on U.S. Election Day as the two sides resumed fire—with Gaza, as usual, getting much the worse of the exchange. The Egyptian-brokered cease-fire runs out December 19, and it's not clear whether there will be anything left by then to renew." 11-08 -11-26-05 Landmark Day for Gaza-Egypt Border (BBC News) "More than 1,500 Palestinians have crossed freely from Gaza into Egypt via a border point controlled for the first time by Palestinian officials." "Saturday was the first day Palestinians could use the reopened Rafah crossing - a vital gateway to the outside world for the Gaza Strip's economy." "Israel held the border station for nearly 40 years but ceded control to Palestinian forces after it withdrew." "The crossing reopened under the European Union's supervision." 11-05 -12-28-08 U.N.: Gaza Plight Disastrous (CNN News) "Israeli airstrikes pounding Gaza are deepening the humanitarian crisis in an area that was already in deep distress, according to a United Nations aid official." " 'People are suffering and dying because of shortages of medical equipment,' said Dr. Mahmoud el-Khazndar, who works at Gaza City's Shifa Hospital. 'The hospital is not accustomed to accept mass casualties like this.' " "Gunness, a spokesman for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), said the agency has been unable to get needed medical supplies into Gaza for more than a year, because of Israel's blockade of border crossings." 12-08 -Editorial: How America Can Help Reduce Violence in the Middle East (International Herald Tribune) "Implementation of these five points would help America take the lead in ending the violence in the Middle East." 10-06 -Occupation Report (AberdeenPublishing.com - Cohen "This newsletter aims to give a factual review of activity in the Israeli occupation on a weekly basis without cluttering up the data with opinions or moral judgments. In keeping with this objective, I will avoid giving reasons supplied by either side for their actions. I will simply report their actions and the effects on the other side." 03-06 12-07-06 Iraq Report Criticizes Bush's Entire Middle East Strategy (ChicagoTribune.com) "While intending to propose a rescue plan for the faltering U.S. military mission in Iraq, the Iraq Study Group on Wednesday delivered a broader rebuke of the Bush administration's policies there and throughout the Middle East." 12-06 Dancers of Ibdaa (World Press) "Earlier this month, I watched Palestinian folkloric dance and theatre performed by the Ibdaa dance troupe. The group is the third generation of dancers, consisting of ten boys and ten girls from the Dheisheh refugee camp in the West Bank. The troupe performed at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst campus, the first stop in a countrywide tour to raise money for the Dheisheh refugee camp." 11-05 Hezbollah Leader Sheikh Hassan Nasralla (AlJazeera.org) "Sheikh Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is the leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement." 07-06 Hezbollah Leader Sheikh Hassan Nasralla (Wikipedia.org) "Nasrallah became the leader of Hezbollah after Israel assassinated the movement’s leader Abbas al-Musawi in 1992." 07-06 Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (ABC News) Provides news on key issues of the conflict. 8-05 Papers -08-27-06 Israel's Targeted Killings (MSNBC News) "In Israel, targeted killing has become a select weapon. In Lebanon last month, Israel targeted a bunker that officials believed held Hezbollah's leadership, pounding it with 23 tons of explosives." 08-06 -Editorial: Crisis Combination in the Middle East (BBC News) "You hear a lot of talk about war in the Middle East at the moment." "There was so much of it when I was in Beirut last month that it started me wondering. Was this what it felt like to be somewhere like Prague in about 1934?" "I hope the future is not as dark for the Middle East as it was in Europe in the 1930s, but for most of the 20th Century, conflict in Europe poisoned the rest of the world." "Seven years into this new century, the Middle East is showing every sign of doing the same." 03-07 -Former British Prime Minister Focuses on Faith (Time.com) "In two long conversations with Blair recently, I explored his conviction that religion matters—that it shapes what people believe and how they behave, that it is vital to understanding our world, that it can be used to improve the lot of humankind. But if not engaged seriously, Blair thinks, faith can be used to induce ignorance, fear and a withdrawal of communities into mutually antagonistic spheres at just the time that globalization is breaking down barriers between peoples and nations. 'Faith is part of our future,' Blair says, 'and faith and the values it brings with it are an essential part of making globalization work.' For Blair, the goal is to rescue faith from the twin challenges of irrelevance—the idea that religion is no more than an interesting aspect of history—and extremism. Blair and those working with him think religion is key to the global agenda. 'You can't hope to understand what's happening in the world if you don't know that religion is a very important force in people's lives,' says Ruth Turner, 37, formerly a top aide to Blair in 10 Downing Street, who will head the foundation. 'You can't make the world work properly unless you understand that, while not everyone will believe in God or have a spiritual life, a lot of people will.' Blair, she says, has been thinking about these issues 'for decades and decades and decades.' Over time, says Blair of the foundation's work, 'this is how I want to spend the rest of my life.' " 05-08 01-27-07 Review: One Country (MSNBC News) "One Country is an inspiring message of hope and reconciliation, and presents an intricate and well-crafted path for two peoples [Israeli and Palestinian] that deserve not only reconciliation, but also a prosperous future." 01-07 Ecology, Water, and Peace (Time.com) "For Bromberg, the future of water conservation in the Middle East lies in transforming rural economies. Right now the Israeli and Jordanian governments give precious water at subsidized prices to their agriculture industries – which consumes a majority of their water (about 50 percent in Israel and 70 percent in Jordan) but which contributes just a fraction of their GDP (two percent in Israel and three percent in Jordan.) Because they don’t pay the full price of their resources, farmers in the region grow water-hungry crops such as garden vegetables, fruits and flowers, most of which are shipped to Europe. 'We are exporting our water,' said Bromberg. 'Bananas are a tropical fruit. Why are we growing them in the desert?' While Israel needed its own farmers to feed the country in its early days, Israel can now import its food for less of an environmental and economic price than it is currently paying." 08-08 Editorial: A Proposal for Peace (LloydKraus.com) "All wars are caused over land. People fight over land. The solution for peace is a resolution over land. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all believe in the same Creator, the same Ten Commandments, the Old Testament Patriarchs and Prophets, similar beliefs in the Promised Land, . . ." "The following Peace Agreement would resolve the formidable Issues of Land. The 'structure' of Jerusalem would remain the same. Israel would still be allowed to call Jerusalem their Capitol. No Person is asked to leave where they are living now – or for there to be a change in the 'Current User and Use' structure. Israeli’s living in Palestine would become Jewish-Palestinian Citizens – thus not going against the Promise to the Jewish People. Palestinian’s would have a Written 'Right of Return', although the Power of that Right would stay with Israel ( there could be a one-for-one transfer of people). Can the Jewish People living in Palestine accept the sovereignty and 'fairness' of their new State (The Rule of Law keeps Democratic Countries accepting their new 'Sovereignty' every Election)? There would be a full 8 Year period of De-Militarization to address and solidify real Israeli Peace and Security Concerns." 01-06 Editorial: Gaza a First Step (International Herald Tribune - New York Times) "On Monday morning, Israel finally began to withdraw from the thirsty strip of land where it settled nearly 9,000 Jews in the middle of more than a million Arabs. Gaza has always been the ultimate example of the bankruptcy of Israel's settlement policy, and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon should be congratulated for finally doing what he and his predecessors should have done years ago." "But Bush must make clear to Sharon that the Gaza withdrawal is a first step. He must not allow Sharon to maneuver him into blessing an indefinite Israeli occupation of the West Bank." 8-05 Editorial: Jordan Valley, A Disaster in the Making (MidEastWeb.org) "The situation vis-a-vis the Palestinians is so bad, that any solution that is proposed could probably be shown to be dangerous or unworkable and antagonize a large section of the voters. The Labor party favors a negotiated solution along the lines of the Geneva accord, clearly anathema to a large section of Israeli voters. Benjamin Netanyahu, on the other hand, made it clear at the Herzliya conference that the Likud intends to keep the Jordan Valley settlements and to make the Jordan river the border of Israel in any settlement. Most Israeli voters might like that, but most Israeli voters, if they would reflect, could also understand that there is a problem with that idea: the rest of the world would not agree." 02-06 Editorial: The Israeli-Palestinian Public Relations War in Washington DC (ABC News) "Rated among the top lobbying groups in the United States by Fortune magazine — next only to the National Rifle Association, AARP and the National Federation of Independent Business — AIPAC [American Israeli Public Affairs Committee] is widely believed to have Uncle Sam's ears and a fair influence on his pocketbook." "As one of the leading spokesmen for the Palestinian cause in the United States, Ibish says the Middle East publicity war in America is being waged on uneven turf." " 'There's an incredible asymmetry between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian groups [lobbying in Washington] and people understand that one group has political power and the other doesn't,' says Ibish." 8-05 Essays on Life in the Middle East (Time.com) Provides stories about life in the Middle East. 08-08 Israeli Camp David II Proposals for Final Settlement (Mideast Web) "These were modified in various ways by U.S. bridging poposals. The details of the proposals are still secret at this time. Israel claims that they were far reaching and generous. The Palestinians have been claiming that the proposals would have perpetuated the precise situation of the interim agreements, in which the West Bank is divided into numerous small areas of Palestinian sovereignty interspersed with a much larger area of Israeli sovereignty." 4-02 Mitchell Report for the Middle East (U.S. Department of State) Provides the findings of the Sharm el-Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee, popularly known as the "Mitchell Report." The recommendations of the Committee were accepted by the Palestinians, Israelis, and the United States. However, neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians have followed the recommendations. Instead, both sides have continued to pursue violence. 10-01 Tenet Report (Avalon Project at the Yale Law School) Provides the text of the plan for Middle East steps toward peace by CIA director George Tenet. 5-02

Italian, Russian, Greek, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean,   Index, New, Search Engines, Dictionary, Bookstore, Licenses, Email Us, About Us, Link to Us, or Privacy Policy.