Middle East & North Africa

Strong Majority of U.S. Jews Likely to Stick With Obama

Despite his repeated differences with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a strong majority of U.S. Jews are likely to vote to re-elect President Barack Obama in November, according to major new survey of Jewish opinion released here Tuesday.

Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka Credit: Courtesy of UNESCO

Q&A: U.S. Funding Cuts in UNESCO More Audible than Visible

When the 194-member General Conference of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) was on the verge of admitting Palestine as a full-fledged member of the Paris-based U.N. agency last year, the United States warned against it - and threateningly.

When Europe Develops, and Israel Destroys

The European Commission has released a document that lists projects it funded that were destroyed or damaged by the Israel Defence Forces between May 2001 and October 2011.

Israeli Experts Mum on Iran Attack to Support Bibi’s Bluff

A striking feature of the Israeli political landscape in recent months has been the absence of a serious debate on the issue of the threat of war with Iran led by national security figures.

A replica of the Tower of David at the Ice City in Jerusalem. Credit: Pierre Klochendler/IPS.

China Puts Middle East Differences on Ice

In a first in years, snow blessed the Holy City last month. For a moment, hail metamorphosed into a paltry three-millimetre layer of white, liquid, light. Children and parents and snowmen relished the wonders of an almost real, though usually ephemeral, winter. But then, the Ice Age befell Jerusalem...

Mubarak Cronies Find Comfort in Exile

Wanted members of the regime of former president Hosni Mubarak remain at large more than a year since he was ousted, and their illicit wealth lies safely beyond the reach of prosecutors.

The police training camp at Zawiyah. Credit: Rebecca Murray/IPS.

Rebels March Into New Libya With a Hangover

A few hundred police cadets in ad hoc camouflage uniforms march up and down the grounds at a training centre in the coastal town Zawiyah. "You are the people protecting the revolution and symbol of our pride," proclaims the scrawled writing on the wall behind them.

The energy project in the South Hebron hills.  Credit: Jillian Kestler-D

A Little Power to Some Palestinian People, For Now

A handful of makeshift homes built from small boulders and plastic tarps and secured with thick ropes sit in the isolated community of She’b El- Buttum in the South Hebron Hills. A few metres away, several rows of solar panels and two wind turbines are affixed to the rocky hilltop, providing electricity to the village’s 150 residents.

Israel Shields Public from Risks of War with Iran

The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been telling Israelis that Israel can attack Iran with minimal civilian Israeli casualties as a result of retaliation, and that reassuring message appears to have headed off any widespread Israeli fear of war with Iran and other adversaries.

The jumbo Heron TP2 drone. Credit: Pierre Klochendler/IPS.

Drone Technology Takes Off

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) held its conference this month in Israel for the first time. Do future wars by land, sea and air belong to robots?

Palestinian Prisoners Fight Back With Hunger

As 29-year-old Palestinian prisoner Hana Shalabi enters day 43 of her open- ended hunger strike Thursday from a hospital bed in northern Israel, over two dozen other Palestinian prisoners have now followed suit, refusing food as a way to protest their arrest, detention and treatment in Israeli prisons.

Ahead of Revived Talks, US Wavers: Diplomacy or Sanctions for Iran?

A former top state department official singled out diplomatic engagement as the best available option for ending decades of "mistrust and misunderstanding" between Washington and Tehran.

OP-ED: Tunisia’s Youth and Their Fight for Freedom of Expression

In Tunisia, a new debate is taking shape. Long suppressed by the authoritarian regime of former President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia's free expression movement for many years existed on the fringe, comprised of bloggers, software developers, media aficionados and expats whose frustration at Tunisia's Internet censorship and surveillance regime – in place for over a decade – fomented their activism.

Pro-Peace Jewish Lobby Stresses Return to Stalled Talks

At the third annual conference of J Street, the "pro-Israel, pro-peace" lobby group that is widely seen as a counterweight to the more right-wing American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the Israel-Palestine conflict took the focus back from the ongoing tension with Iran.

Tight security in Baghdad for the Arab Summit this week. Credit: Karlos Zurutuza/IPS.

Exit Americans, Enter Sectarian Strife

Barely three months after the pullout by U.S. troops, sectarian clashes between Sunni and Shia Muslims have begun to take a heavy toll across Iraq.

Turkey’s Ex-Army Chief on Trial for Coup Plot

Ilker Basbug, Turkey's former army chief, has gone on trial on charges of leading a terrorist group accused of plotting to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Could the Druze Minority Tip the Scales of Syria’s Revolution?

The Druze stronghold of Sweida, Syria, witnessed several pro-democracy protests last week. While the movement remains marginal, it is charged with symbolism: the Druze have long been considered the "spiritual cousins" of the Alawites, the religious group to which the Assad family belongs.

Arab Spring Brings Some Sour Fruits

Recent shifts in the Middle East and North Africa have presented several economic challenges such as high unemployment, an exodus of migrants from Libya and a reduction of tourism revenues. Given that economic discontent played a vital role in the Arab uprisings, economic growth has become vital to sustain the fruit of revolution.

Hamza, who did not want to show his full face. Credit:  Jillian Kestler-D'Amours/IPS.

Freeing Childhood From Prisons

Hamza has memories no 17-year-old should. "I was desperate. I didn't talk to anyone. I didn't want to go outside the house. I was very nervous. I'd be irritated with the simplest matters."

Donors Damaging Palestinian Economy

The latest Work Bank report on the Palestinian economy fuels the row on institutional viability precisely as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas considers renewing his statehood bid.

U.S.-Turkey relations have likely affected Turkey's response to the Syrian crisis. Above, Sec. of State Clinton and Foreign Min. Davutoglu in London. Credit: U.S. Embassy London/ CC by 2.0

Turkey’s Fears: What Threats Could Syrian Crisis Unleash?

Enough calls to reason. It is time for collective action. That was the message Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu sent Thursday to his European Union (EU) colleagues, whom he will be meeting later this week in Brussels.

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