A Bad Week for Iranian Diplomacy

As U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled a new economic support plan for fledgling democracies in the Middle East and set down principles for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, Tehran called back two ships carrying demonstrators who had intended to show solidarity with beleaguered Shiites in Bahrain.

MIDEAST: When Talks Fail, Try Belly Dance

"Hop-a-li, Hop-a-la!" On the stage of the Arab-Hebrew Theatre established in the ancient Arab port of the vibrant Jewish metropolis, a troupe of Israeli men and women interlaces, belly dancing to a frenetic Hafla tune.

Obama Faces Mounting Arab Disillusionment

On the eve of a much-anticipated address by President Barack Obama on U.S. policy in the Middle East, a new survey suggests that disillusionment with both Obama and Washington's approaches to the region are once again on the rise throughout the Muslim world.

Egypt Hunts Down the Right to Love

Abeer Fakhry, a young Christian woman, had only wanted to live with a man who would love and respect her, and not with her abusive husband. But within months of trying to escape her marriage, and her faith, Abeer finds herself chased by her family, by the Orthodox Christian Church, by the fundamentalist Islamic Salafi Group and, lately, by Egypt’s top army generals.

Israel Prepares to Confront Historical Shifts

Back in August 2000, just weeks after the failed Camp David peace summit and weeks before the outbreak of the second Palestinian Intifadah uprising, Marwan Barghouthi, leader of the Fatah armed forces, laid out his alternative strategy for ending the Israeli occupation.

MIDEAST: Nakba Anger Points to Third Intifadah

Israeli confidence that Nakba day, marked by The Great March on May 15 in the occupied Palestinian territories, Israel and neighbouring Arab countries, would remain under control, has backfired badly.

Expectations Build for Obama Mideast Policy Speech

With Jordan's King Abdullah and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu coming to Washington next week, anticipation of a major Middle East policy speech by President Barack Obama set for Thursday is growing rapidly.

MIDEAST: Music Runs Into Walls

In the West Bank, dissident voices questioning the Palestinian Authority's increasingly authoritarian rule have become rare. But a young musician in Ramallah refuses to hold his tongue.

MIDEAST: Opening a Border, Ending an Era

In a dramatic policy shift late last month, Egypt's post-revolutionary government announced plans to reopen the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip. And on Friday, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians amassed in Cairo's Tahrir Square to demand the decision be carried out without delay.

Within the Arab Left, Contradictions Emerge Over Syria

Though the Arab Spring has heralded newfound hope and optimism across the Middle East, the mood has darkened considerably as entrenched governments have fought back viciously against democratic opposition.

MIDEAST: Egyptian Activists Gear Up For Third Intifadah

Following the February ouster of Egypt’s longstanding President Hosni Mubarak, calls have been circulating in Egypt and throughout the region for a ‘Third Intifadah’ to begin May 15.

Obama Faces Tough Choices on Mideast Diplomacy

With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scheduled to descend on Washington in less than two weeks, President Barack Obama faces some difficult decisions about how to restore the credibility of his promise to achieve a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without triggering a backlash in a Congress that is solidly pro-Israel.

Fatah and Hamas’ Honeymoon Could Face Problems

Despite the euphoria surrounding the recent signing in Cairo of the groundbreaking unity accord between Palestinian rivals Fatah and Hamas, ending their four-year feud, numerous obstacles remain which could impinge on the implementation of a unity government.

MIDEAST: The Indigenous Become Squatters

As plans to demolish a Palestinian Bedouin village to make way for a new, Jewish-only town move forward in Israel’s Negev desert, the Bedouin residents have submitted a motion for the right to appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court.

SYRIA: Obama Pressed to Take Stronger Action Against Assad

Amid a continuing crackdown against opposition forces, U.S. President Barack Obama is coming under growing pressure to impose tougher sanctions against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

EGYPT: After Mubarak, the Military Fist

Thousands of Egyptian civilians, including protesters who helped topple the authoritarian regime of president Hosni Mubarak, have been tried in military courts without due process. "The use of military trials on this scale is without precedent," says Adel Ramadan, a rights lawyer at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR).

Egypt’s Moves Raising Anxiety in Washington

With U.S. lawmakers threatening this week to cut aid to Pakistan over its alleged harbouring of the late Osama bin Laden, concern is growing steadily here over the future of ties with another key predominantly Muslim ally heavily dependent on U.S. aid: Egypt.

MIDEAST: Egypt Plays Best Man at Hamas-Fatah Union

Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah signed a reconciliation agreement in Cairo on Wednesday, paving the way for the formation of a Palestinian national unity government. The move, say local analysts, reflects the changing political equation in the Middle East amid the ongoing wave of Arab popular uprisings.

Israel Gathers Support from ‘Best Enemy’

First Egypt, then Syria, finally the Palestinians – while most Israelis concur with their Prime Minister that the revolutions, upheavals and shifting alliances closing in on their country have postponed peace prospects, remarkably, the evolving events convulsing the region may yet restore their country's battered legitimacy.

Israel Lashes Out at Palestinian Reconciliation

Israel has lashed out at the recent ground-breaking deal in Cairo, which will see unification of the two main Palestinian political factions after four years of bitter infighting, by threatening economic sanctions against the Palestinians.

EGYPT: Press Freedom Comes With a few Red Lines

The collapse of autocratic regimes in Tunisia and Egypt has broken the state’s stranglehold on the local press, but journalists and bloggers must still be careful what they say.