ISRAEL: Showing Tolerance for Intolerance

"On Saturday, we as a nation atoned for our sins. I as a Jew feel ashamed of myself. I'm asking for forgiveness," declared Ron Hulday, mayor of this mixed city, immediately at the closing of the Day of Atonement.

MIDEAST: Media Throttled From All Sides

As media freedoms throughout the occupied Palestinian territories continue to decline, human rights groups are urging the international community to pressure Israeli and Palestinian security forces to respect and facilitate the ability of journalists to do their work.

EGYPT: Islamists and Secularists Draw Closer

Egypt, routinely the cradle for new Arab and Islamic ideologies, is now witnessing the birth of yet another line of thought - Islamic Liberalism. The term is touted now as a panacea for the eight-month impasse that has locked Islamists and their secularist rivals in bitter bickering over how this Arab nation should be governed after the fall of former dictator Hosni Mubarak earlier this year.

U.S.: Republican Frontrunner Touts Neo-Conservative Foreign Policy

In his first major foreign policy address of the 2012 presidential campaign, Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney Friday presented a largely neo-conservative platform similar to that pursued by George W. Bush, although he never mentioned the former president by name.

U.S. Move to Block Palestine in UNESCO Likely to Fail

Despite a slim chance of diplomatic victory, the United States is leading a mostly Western attempt to block Palestinian membership in the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

U.S. Congress Blocks Humanitarian, Security Aid to Palestinians

Eager to demonstrate their fidelity to Israel and make good on threats to punish Palestinians for seeking statehood status from the United Nations, U.S. lawmakers are blocking the disbursement of tens of millions of dollars in humanitarian and security assistance for the occupied territories.

MIDEAST: Israel Builds Settlements, and Wants Talks

Days after his half-hearted conciliatory U.N. appearance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already approved the construction of 1,100 flats in occupied East Jerusalem. Yet on Sunday, he threw his support behind the new Mideast Quartet's peace plan with the Palestinians.

Palestine in Criminal Court Triggers Western, Israeli Fears

If Palestine fails to achieve full statehood recognition at the United Nations, the only other viable option is to get "enhanced" observer status with the 193-member General Assembly, the U.N.'s highest policy making body.

DEATH PENALTY: On Popular Demand

The image endures of the death penalty in force across the Arab world because it is considered somehow Islamic, and because most regimes are undeniably autocratic. But campaigners on the ground say the death penalty might just be in place because the people want it. Which would make it in essence a democratic institution.

Foreign Fighters Support Israel’s Settlements

Two weeks ago, an announcement appeared on a French website, calling for "militants with military experience" to participate in a solidarity trip to Israel between Sep. 19 and 25.

U.S.: Politics Throws Palestine Under the Bus

The right-wing government of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu could not be more pleased.

Defying U.S., Palestine Seeks U.N. Recognition for Statehood

If there were any lingering doubts the Palestinians would not be able to garner the support of an overwhelming majority of member states at the United Nations, they were laid to rest when the 193-member General Assembly Friday gave a rousing and rapturous welcome to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Despite Western Boycott, Racism Meet Gets Overwhelming Support

A "boycott" by more than a dozen Western nations, including the United States, Germany, Canada and Israel, failed to derail a high-level meeting on racism and xenophobia hosted by the 193-member General Assembly.

MIDEAST: As a Street Parliament Views Obama

"Welcome to our 'Palestine State Parliament'!" Nidal Bazbaz calls out to a friend who's passing by in between an assembly of older and younger Palestinians. They're seated on plastic chairs, lined up against opposite walls, in an alleyway of the walled Old City.

MIDEAST: Hamas Turning Away From UN Towards Arabs

In the face of the moves by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for recognition of an independent Palestinian state, the Hamas-led foreign ministry in Gaza is forming a new diplomatic strategy that looks to Arab countries in the region such as Egypt and Turkey to apply political pressure on Israel.

DEATH PENALTY: Not in the Name of the Quran

Islamic regimes look for provisions and precedents to carry out the death sentence in the name of Islam. But, says Dr. Mohammad Al-Habash, director of the Islamic Studies Centre in Damascus, they are not looking enough at 13 provisions within the Quran to commute the death sentence to a lesser punishment.

OP-ED: Palestine and the U.N.: A History of Double Standard

Failure to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Israel's 40-year occupation, in the words of former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, would "continue to hurt the reputation of the United Nations and raise questions about its impartiality".

MIDEAST: Palestinians Prepare for Settler Attacks Over UN Vote

Amidst reports that the Israeli military is arming and training Israeli settlers in advance of the Palestinian Authority’s bid to recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations later this week, Palestinian activists in the West Bank have organised emergency response teams to document settler attacks and prevent more from taking place.

MIDEAST: Europe Divided Over Palestinian State

Divisions that have surfaced within the European Union over recognition of the Palestinian Authority as an independent and sovereign state are unlikely to be resolved ahead of a crucial vote in the United Nations next week.

U.S.: Republicans Call for Major Cuts to U.N.

As leaders from around the globe begin gathering in New York City for the annual opening of the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA), Republican lawmakers in Washington are calling for a major overhaul of the world body that would almost certainly result in huge cuts to its budget and operations.

Concrete Impact of Palestine’s U.N. Bid Still Uncertain

Despite the frenzy of media attention bestowed upon Palestine's expected bid for statehood at the United Nations later this month, some doubt the impact it would have on the political complexities of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict or the humanitarian issues and human rights abuses that many Palestinians face regularly.