MIDEAST: God Grant Us a Permit to Pray

For Muhammad el-Baradiyeh, 38, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan is always a blessing.

MIDEAST: Homeless Take On Israeli Forces

A bruising battle of will is taking place between Israeli security forces and Palestinians recently made homeless after two Palestinian villages were razed and hundreds left homeless.

MIDEAST: Injured Workers Man Battered Services

Outside the battered Civil Defence station in northern Gaza's Jabalia region, Mohammed Zidan, a seven-year veteran of fire-fighting and rescue services, stands on crutches in front of battered Civil Defence vehicles.

ISRAEL: Kibbutz Returns With Moneyed Communism

It was an idea that became an institution, and that became the moving spirit behind the creation of the State of Israel. These were people who wanted to change the world. Now, they're content to live a life of carefree irrelevance. That's the Kibbutz today.

LEBANON: Racism Legitimised by Law

Lebanon has a reputation for openness because of the relative freedom enjoyed by women in comparison to other Middle Eastern countries. But many women face rampant discrimination.

Dictators Guard Their Death Switch

Abolition movements are gaining momentum in North Africa, but authoritarian regimes appear reluctant to remove capital punishment from the penal code.

IRAQ: ‘We’re Not Living, Just Not Dying’

Compared to most internally displaced Kurds in northern Iraq, Shamal Qadir is almost lucky. Since the Turkish army devastated his village, Kuzine, in a bombing raid Jul. 1, he's been living in a schoolhouse, where room temperatures are comfortable and basic amenities are accessible.

MIDEAST: Hamas Slowly Islamising Gaza

Gazans are caught between a rock and a hard place. While Israel continues to apply a crippling siege on the coastal territory, Gaza's Hamas government is cracking down on civil and political liberties in what appears to be a campaign to slowly Islamise Gaza.

ISRAEL: Women Take On the Orthodox

Jerusalem is a city blessed but also cursed by its own holiness. No more so than here at 'Ground Zero', the religious epicentre within the walled Old City, beneath the most disputed holy site -- the Haram al-Sharif or Noble Sanctuary as known to Muslims, Har Habayit or the Temple Mount for Jews.

Rape, Deception, or Racism

"It was consensual, I owe an apology to no one other than my wife and two children. They're the ones who've suffered from this. And myself."

Egypt Punishes Gaza More

Almost two months since Egypt announced it would reopen its Rafah border terminal with the Gaza Strip, operation of the crossing remains sorely limited.

Regional Powers Step Into the Middle East Pot

The strained diplomatic relations between Turkey and Israel since June have unveiled intensive jockeying between regional powers for influence in the Middle East peace process.

Once Upon a Time, When Israel Was a Democracy

Once upon a time, Israel for all its shortcomings, was regarded by much of the world as a true and vibrant democracy. Israelis themselves were never shy of parading their country as "the only democracy in the Middle East."

Anger Rises Over U.S. Tax Dollars for Settlements

Anger has arisen in Palestinian areas over reports that millions of tax-exempt dollars from the U.S. are being funneled towards Israel's illegal settlement building in the Palestinian West Bank -- in flagrant violation of international law.

Tourists Now in Their Land of Birth

Beyond the pernicious well-documented aspects of the Israeli Occupation, all sorts of niggling fragments of Israeli control over Palestinian life, and individual petty cases of nastiness leave new Israeli talk of "gestures" towards peace hollow.

Israel Gets Brutal With Media

Palestinian activists are being jailed, Israeli activists are under surveillance, and the Israeli military is increasingly targeting journalists who cover West Bank protests.

Women Prepare to Set Sail Past Israel

The 'Maryam', an all-female Lebanese aid ship, currently docked in the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli, is getting ready to set sail for Gaza in the next few days. The ship, which aims to break Israel's siege on the Palestinian territory, will carry about 50 aid workers, including some U.S. nuns keen to deliver aid to the long-suffering women and children of Gaza.

MIDEAST: Can’t Digest This Occupation

Nasser Abdulhadi is a mild-mannered man who runs a restaurant. He was always known as the jovial sort. One day, his friends say, he stopped being jovial. He chose instead to fight for a world title for one of his country's national dishes, and through that to gain worldwide recognition for Palestine.

Bees Get Stung by Israel

Sa'id Hillis, 60, has kept bees since he was a boy. Until the Israeli attacks changed his business.

MIDEAST: Israel Chokes Gaza Despite Announced Easing

Israel has received international praise for its decision to ease its crippling blockade on Gaza following the country's deadly assault on a humanitarian flotilla trying to bring desperately needed humanitarian aid to the coastal territory. But according to the UN and human rights organisations, the easing of the blockade is insufficient in meeting Gaza's needs.

EGYPT: Oil, Water and Tourism Don’t Mix

Egypt's Red Sea resort cities have grown up in the shadow of oil development, but with tourism booming and the country's oil reserves drying up, many stakeholders think it is time to exorcise the oil spectre.