2010 News

November 9, 2010 'Four Lions' Film Tries to Prove Terrorists Can Be Funny

"The jihadists generally describe themselves as selfless people who are willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of good and to stop injustice against Muslims," he told us. "'Four Lions' discredits and tears down the image that the jihadist try to paint for themselves, it eliminates the intrigue and mystique associated with the jihadist and instead shows them as a bunch of confused and uncertain idiots."

October 7, 2010 The Holyland Union Dream

One such model could be that of the European Union. It could satisfy the aspirations of both sides for separate national sovereignty and unique cultural identity in two separate nation states, while creating a common superstructure to promote shared interests and exploit joint resources in all the territory of the holy land they share.

October 1, 2010 Two suggestions to achieve a permanent Israeli-Palestinian peace

"If the enemy inclines towards peace, do thou incline towards peace also, and trust in God" (Quran ch. 8:61), and the Bible proclaims, "Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall be called sons of God" (Mathew ch. 5:9), in the Psalms of David God commands him to, "Depart from evil, and do good; Seek peace and pursue it" (Psalms ch. 34:14).

September 4, 2010 Syria Moves to Curb Influence of Muslim Conservatives

The crackdown, which began in 2008 but has gathered steam this summer, is an effort to reassert Syria’s traditional secularism in the face of rising threats from radical groups

August 26, 2010 "Moderate" Muslim Tag Murky For Community

As the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks nears and as the nation is driven by a bitter debate about an Islamic center, two questions remain unanswered: who and what is a "moderate Muslim"

August 10, 2010 Arabs saved many Jewish lives during the Holocaust

Stories of Muslims who have shown compassion towards Jews during the Holocaust should be more widely known but for some reason remain hidden. A recent booklet titled “The Role of the Righteous Muslim...,” documents stories of Muslims who sheltered Jews in their homes, their farms and their workplaces during the Holocaust

August 1, 2010 Saudi Arabia and Syria Try to Douse Lebanon's Next Fire

The purpose of Assad and Abdullah's day trip was to meet with Lebanese leaders and discuss the implications of the potentially explosive upcoming report on the investigation into the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Harir.

July 28, 2010 Obama's friend raising funds for new Gaza aid ship

A fundraising campaign is currently underway in the United States to finance the purchase of an American ship in an effort to break the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip in the early autumn. The ship is to be named after U.S. President Barack Obama's book "The Audacity of Hope."

July 27, 2010 East Moves West: India, China's Growing Presence in the Middle East.

While the U.S. has come to take its unchallenged military primacy in the Middle East for granted, key Asian countries have also increased their Middle East presence.

July 6, 2010 Turning East, Turkey Asserts Economic Power

Today, Turkey is a fast-rising economic power, with a core of internationally competitive companies turning the youthful nation into an entrepreneurial hub, tapping cash-rich export markets in Russia and the Middle East while attracting billions of investment dollars in return

July 6, 2010 Tax-Exempt Funds Aid Settlements in West Bank

Believing that Christian help for Jewish winemakers here in the occupied West Bank foretells Christ's second coming

June 10, 2010 Israel as a Strategic Liability?

America's ties to Israel are not based primarily on U.S. strategic interests. At the best of times, an Israeli government that pursues the path to peace provides some intelligence, some minor advances in military technology, and a potential source of stabilizing military power that could help Arab states like Jordan.

June 6, 2010 South Korea lowers status of Peres visit due to Gaza flotilla raid

Vietnam asked President of Israel to cancel his visit due to anti-Israel sentiments in Vietnam, and the South Korean government has sent Jerusalem hints of crisis

June 6, 2010 Exit strategy: Lifting the Gaza blockade

Instead of insisting on continuing a failed policy , Netanyahu should pull himself together and minimize the damage of Israel's flotilla raid.

June 6, 2010 Integrate Palestinians into Israel

What would happen if Israel offers the Palestinian population Israeli citizenship? If the Palestinians in Judea and Samaria are given the right to vote in Israeli elections, like the Palestinians currently living in Israel, Israel would not cease to be a democracy. Nor would it cease to exist.

June 3, 2010 Israel Partly Reopens West Bank Road to Palestinians

Israel partly opened a major highway to Palestinian traffic, the latest twist in a road that has become a symbol of Segregation.

June 2, 2010 Israel worked to defuse rising international anger

The Turkish Parliament issued a resolution calling on the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to "reconsider all political, military and economic relations with Israel,"

May 16, 2010 Arab American Muslim--Miss USA

Rima Fakih, took home the crown, becoming the first Arab-American Muslim to be named Miss USA.

May 11, 2010 'Joining OECD is pure gain for Israel'

Israel was voted into the ranks of the Organization of Economic Development and Cooperation as a full-fledged member marking its status as a developed economy.

May 11, 2010 Welfare system could cause Israel to collapse, economist warns

Nearly one in five Israeli men between the ages of 35 and 54 do not work. As their numbers rise, so does the economic peril.

May 10, 2010 Jordan: Background and U.S. Relations

This report provides an overview of Jordanian politics and current issues in U.S.-Jordanian relations. It provides a brief discussion of Jordan's government and economy and of its cooperation in promoting Arab-Israeli peace and other U.S. policy objectives in the Middle East.

April 27, 2010 Saudi religious police chief backs mixing of sexes

For several weeks now, the ban has been a hot topic of newspaper columns and television talk shows, with both ultraconservative and moderate sheikhs weighing in on an issue that is increasingly on the front burner as Saudi Arabia seeks to diversify its economy.

April 14, 2010 Israel clamps down on West Bank "infiltrators"

Scope of new rule widening definition of residents permitted in occupied territory draws complaints: 'It's so vague that it could apply to tens of thousands of people'

April 12, 2010 Christian Science Monitor asks:

can the U.S. raise the pressure on Israel without cutting aid?

April 5, 2010 Cease-fire at risk as hostilities rise along Israeli border of Gaza

Hamas's prime minister in Gaza, on Friday asked the international community to intervene to prevent an escalation of hostilities

April 4, 2010 Naughty Lingerie in Conservative Syria

In the old souk of Damascus, shops have sprung up to sell sexy lingerie, catering mostly to men and tourists from elsewhere in the Middle East

March 26, 2010 Saudi Arabia rejects Pakistani diplomat Because of his name

Owing to an unfortunate matter of translation, Pakistani diplomat Akbar Zeb will not become the next Pakistani ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

March 26, 2010 Islamic-Christian celebration to honor the Virgin Mary

On the occasion of the Feast of the Annunciation, Lebanon's government launches a joint Christian-Muslim celebration in honor of Mary who is venerated in both communities.

March 22, 2010 Driving Drunk in Jerusalem

Israel needs a wake-up call. Continuing to build settlements in the West Bank, and even housing in disputed East Jerusalem, is sheer madness.

March 22, 2010 Why Israel and liberal American Jews are drifting apart.

Thomas Friedman of the New York Times spent last week arguing that Biden under-reacted to Israel's announcement about the new housing units in East Jerusalem, comparing Israel's policies to drunken driving. Richard Cohen of the Washington Post is writing a book arguing that the founding of Israel was a well-intentioned mistake.

March 18, 2010 Arab Liberals, Secularists Are Facing Jiha

On February 8, 2010, Qatari liberal published an article in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Jarida in which he drew public attention to the issue of incitement against secularists and liberals in the Arab world, a matter which he says has reached the proportions of a jihad war against them.

March 12, 2010 Conflicting Views of Saudi-Iranian Struggle

"[Today] Saudi Arabia is continuing the phase of independent policy, and wants others [to follow its lead].

March 12, 2010 Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations Should Continue Even without Settlement Freeze

Arab foreign ministers, approved the renewal of indirect Palestinian-Israeli negotiations for a period of four months only

March 12, 2010 Welcome to Israel, Mr. Vice-President!

why should anyone be surprised by this sort of "in-your-face" reception? The Netanyahu government has been stonewalling Obama ever since the Cairo speech

February 15, 2010 Clinton gets royal treatment at Saudi king's retreat

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday got the royal treatment, literally, when King Abdullah invited her and her entourage to visit him at his winter retreat.

February 3, 2010 Palestinian premier speaks at Israeli conference

Before Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad stepped on stage here Tuesday before a gathering of Israeli intellectuals and policymakers, he had already been likened to Israel's founder, David Ben-Gurion, vilified as the leader of a movement bent on undermining the peace process and dismissed as a technocrat without popular support.

January 20, 2010 Palestinians in Gaza donate to Haiti

It might be one of the world's poorest areas, besieged by its neighbour Israel, but Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip have been donating what little they have to help those struck by the earthquake in Haiti.

January 17, 2010 I've changed my mind about a two-state solution

Israel's Palestinian settlements are now too extensive to make division of the land practical. Instead, it must be shared.

January 17, 2010 Tehran's Biggest Fear

The biggest threat to the ruling ayatollahs and generals in multi-ethnic Iran comes from increasingly aggressive separatist groups in Kurdish, Baluch, Azeri and Arab ethnic minority regions that collectively make up some 44 percent of Persian-dominated Iran's population.

January 17, 2010 Move The U.N. To Dubai

Dubai is the global capital of the future.

January 17, 2010 Syria wary of a raw deal

Damascus has to weigh the political and economic repercussions of a free trade agreement with the European Union to avoid future misunderstandings

January 5, 2010 The Islamic and Western social contracts

I read about the western social contract when it occurred to me that Islam has also articulated and outlined a social contract for the Muslims.