MIDEAST: Olmert’s Peace Plan May Go Down With Him

The State of Israel against the former leader of the State of Israel - for the first time, a former prime minister will soon be in the defendant's chair in a criminal court.

MIDEAST: East Jerusalem Shuts Out Thousands of Prayers

The future of East Jerusalem and of Palestinian access to it has again been brought under the spotlight.

MIDEAST: In a Rotten State

Abu Abed can't make a profit, and although 54 years old, he still has not married. "I can't pay my rent, I can't afford a wedding."

MIDEAST: Can Final Peace Deal Overcome Settlements Roadblock?

The Barack Obama administration - perhaps the president himself - will reportedly be launching a new round of authoritative Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations sometime during the upcoming U.N. General Assembly session, which is scheduled to start in New York on Sep. 15.

MIDEAST: ‘United’ Jerusalem Has Two Faces

Israel says "united" Jerusalem will be the eternal capital of the Jewish state. However, a quick walk across the Green Line which marks the international border dividing the two parts of the city reveals a city very much divided.

MIDEAST: Obama Steers the Peace Train On

It isn't formal yet, but it's bound to be soon - within the coming six weeks, Palestinians and Israelis will again be sitting down around the peace table.

MIDEAST: Critical Healthcare Fails to Recover

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that unless the siege of Gaza is lifted and a political solution implemented, Gaza's badly damaged health system will go from very bad to worse.

MIDEAST: Non-Story Sets Off Ripples of Trouble

It's not so much the proverbial making-a-mountain-out-of-a-molehill, but Israel finds itself climbing out of a stinky dung heap and onto a slippery diplomatic minefield.

LEBANON: Shattered Camp Revives Under Military Eyes

Palestinian refugees at Nahr Al-Bared in North Lebanon are living under tight military siege two years after a war destroyed the refugee camp. It has now become a test case for a new approach in Lebanon's security policy towards Palestinian refugee camps.

MIDEAST: Settlers Push Palestinians to Sleep on the Street

Israel's continued policy of Judaising East Jerusalem in order to establish facts on the ground before the future of that part of the city is decided, has left dozens of Palestinians homeless and sleeping on the streets.

MIDEAST: Republicans Attack Obama on Palestine Policy

Former Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee has been in Israel and the occupied West Bank this week, stridently criticising Pres. Barack Obama's policies of pushing for an Israeli settlement freeze and the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

EGYPT: Differences ‘Narrowing’ Over Nile Waters

Signs are emerging of some narrowing of differences over the sharing of Nile waters.

MIDEAST: Israel Turns Dubiously to Africa

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been busy pursuing one aspect of the Obama Administration's agenda - carrying to Africa the U.S. message of accountability. With a rather different agenda, Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Liberman also has Africa in his sights.

MIDEAST: Embattled Hamas Shows its Moderate Face

The Islamic resistance movement Hamas's rule of Gaza is facing protracted political and military opposition from within Gaza, other Palestinian territories and abroad.

EGYPT: Union Eyes the Silver Bullet

Property tax collectors from across Egypt gathered last week in Cairo to protest fresh attempts by the official state trade union to undermine their independent syndicate.

POLITICS-US: NGOs Call Mubarak to Account for Abuses

Egyptian President Mohammad Hosni Mubarak is visiting Washington this week and will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Jewish American groups.

MIDEAST: Children Have a Way With Miracles

Call it that choice between looking at the half-full or half-empty part of the results. And it is almost half; 55 percent of schoolchildren passed their exams in Gaza this year.

POLITICS-US: J Street’s Muslim Funding for Peace

News reports and right-wing blogs have been repeating reports which claim that Muslims and Arabs are among the donors to the J Street political action committee (PAC) which lobbies American policymakers to work on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and helps raise campaign funds for candidates who share the views of J Street on promoting American leadership in the peace process.

MIDEAST: Big Challenges Ahead for Mahmoud Abbas

Mahmoud Abbas, the 74-year-old leader of the Palestinian Fatah movement, registered a significant achievement in holding the movement’s Sixth General Conference, which has been wrapping up its business in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank this week.

POLITICS-US: Irish Ex-President Awarded Medal Despite Attacks

U.S. President Barack Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to former Irish President Mary Robinson Wednesday, despite a vigorous campaign from hardline supporters of Israel urging him to rescind the award.

MIDEAST: Suddenly, It’s Advantage Fatah, and a Solution

Has the just-ended Fatah party convention, concluded in a cavalcade of personnel change, affected the prospects for a two-state solution that might finally resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?