U.S.: Congress Out of Step with Public on Intl Law?

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution Tuesday condemning the Goldstone Report on Israeli and Hamas actions taking during the Gaza War as "irredeemably biased" against Israel and calling on U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to oppose any consideration of the report in multilateral fora, such as the United Nations.

Q&A: ‘This Calm Will Not Last’

Leila Khaled became an instant icon of the Palestinian struggle in 1969, when at 24 she was an operative in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijacking of a Boeing 707, the first in a series of high-profile actions intended to put the Palestinians on the political map.

U.S.: Obama’s Outreach to Muslim World Teetering

U.S. President Barack Obama's extraordinary efforts since his first days in office to reassure Muslims in the Greater Middle East about U.S. intentions in the region have suffered a series of setbacks that threaten to reverse whatever gains he has made over the past 10 months in restoring Washington's badly battered image and influence there.

MIDEAST: Israel Divided Over ‘Illegal’ Children

"Migrant workers bring with them a profusion of diseases - hepatitis, measles, tuberculosis, AIDS and drug addiction: Our critics can be as sanctimonious as they like, but unless we stop the wave of migrant workers, the whole character of the State of Israel, its Jewish character, will be under threat."

MIDEAST: Israelis Show the Light to Palestinian Herders

Hundreds of impoverished Palestinian herders and farmers living in caves and tents in a remote area of the Palestinian West Bank have been provided free electricity due to the ingenuity of two Israeli physicists.

U.S.: Rights Groups Condemn Bid to Quash Goldstone Report

International human rights groups have raised concern over a proposed non-binding resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives which would call on the White House to oppose any future endorsement or consideration of Judge Richard Goldstone's "Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict".

MIDEAST: Harvesting in Death Zone, With a Song

On a quiet October morning, Fida Zaneen, 19, sings a traditional love song as she pulls olives from trees in Beit Hanoun's border region during the annual olive harvest.

MIDEAST: Palestinians File Lawsuits Over Gaza War

As the legal and moral implications of the UN Goldstone report on Israel's military assault on Gaza continue to mount, Gazans are taking matters into their own hands and preparing civil lawsuits.

MIDEAST: Egypt Makes Cultural Clout Count

Egypt has long been recognised as the cultural trendsetter of the Arabic- speaking world. Despite recent challenges to this role with the advent of satellite television, experts say that contemporary Arab culture remains largely defined by Egyptian literature, music, film and television.

MIDEAST: Demolishing Hope for Peace

"We knew something bad was about to happen when we saw the roadblocks being thrown up, and police everywhere. It soon came down the grapevine - the Israelis were demolishing more houses."

US-MIDEAST: J Street Meet Draws Foreign Policy Heavyweights

J Street, the relatively new "pro-Israel, pro-Peace" advocacy group, exceeded expectations for its inaugural conference here in Washington with over 1,500 participants attending the four-day event.

MIDEAST: ‘It’s the Occupation, Stupid’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finds himself embattled on several fronts as he tries - hitherto unsuccessfully - to ward off the enormous international pressure on Israel unleashed by the Goldstone report for its conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza earlier this year.

MIDEAST: Israelis Targeting Grassroots Activists

Israeli authorities are increasingly targeting and intimidating non-violent Palestinian grassroots activists involved in anti-occupation activities who are drawing increased support from the international community.

MIDEAST: Is Jerusalem Burning?

Déjà vu on one of the world's most volatile religious sites, a site deeply revered by both Muslims and Jews.

POLITICS-US: Pro-Israel Group’s Money Trail Veers Hard Right

StandWithUs - an "organization that ensures that Israel's side of the story is told" - has become increasingly aggressive in challenging the "pro-Israel" credentials of moderate Jewish-American groups, going so far as to suggest that receiving money from Arab donors and supporters of Human Rights Watch undermines a group's commitment to Israel and peace.

MIDEAST: Rabbis Take on Settlers

Away from the media spotlight that focuses on the widening chasm between Israelis and Palestinians, a group of Israeli humanists is quietly working to break down barriers with their Palestinian neighbours.

FILM: The Man Is Steel, the Tank Is Only Iron

"War is not made by heroes or Hollywood studs," says director Samuel Maoz. "War is mostly made by young and inexperienced guys. Children that are sent to go after and kill the ones they used to play with. That's what this really is about."

RIGHTS-EGYPT: Invoking Religion Against Liberals

Self-appointed guardians of public morality are invoking an ancient instrument of Islamic jurisprudence against those whose ideas they deem immoral or heretical - or simply to gain fame.

POLITICS: U.N. Body Backs War Crimes Charges on Israel, Hamas

The 47-member Human Rights Council (HRC) approved a resolution Friday endorsing war crimes charges against Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, as spelled out in a report by a four-member international fact-finding mission headed by Justice Richard Goldstone.

POLITICS: U.S. Berated for Shielding Israel on Gaza Killings

A U.S. decision to stall Security Council action against Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas for war crimes during the 22-day conflict in Gaza last December has come under heavy fire both from inside and outside the United Nations.

MIDEAST: Turkey-Israel Rift Good for Palestine

Turkey's cooling relationship with Israel comes in tandem with its improving relations with the Arab and Muslim world, and this development is expected to impact positively on Palestinian politics.