Q&A: EU Stepping Closer to Israel, Regardless

Israel enjoys closer relations with the European Union than almost any other foreign country - and work on deepening ties with Israel continues, even as its oppression of the Palestinian people worsens.

EGYPT: Plenty of Sun, Nobody Catching any Rays

Egypt receives some of the highest annual solar radiation in the world, yet the desert country remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels.

EGYPT: Bloggers Fly Into Security Trap

Cairo's airport has been unusually busy the past month as Egypt's security apparatus steps up its campaign against online political activists.

LEBANON: No Law for Detained Palestinians

Palestinian refugee Youssef Shaaban was released from prison early this month - after serving 16 years in a Lebanese prison for a crime he did not commit.

MIDEAST: Building Peace on an Incomplete Wall

Beneath the towering eight-metre concrete slabs, an army jeep patrols the Israeli side of the 'security wall' that cuts through Palestinian territory, dividing the occupied West Bank from Israel.

EGYPT: Disputes Rise Over Quotas for Women MPs

Disputes have arisen over new legislation setting a quota for female representatives in parliament. Spokesmen for the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) of President Hosni Mubarak describe the quotas as a milestone for women's rights, but some critics say the move threatens to create more problems than it solves.

MIDEAST: Two Police States, No Solution

What remains of Palestinian civil rights is rapidly being eroded by the dictorial Palestinian governments that respectively control the divided Palestinian territories.

MIDEAST: Fatah’s Leadership Crisis Deepens

Fifty years ago, a small group of Palestinian teachers and engineers living in Kuwait founded a secretive movement aimed at liberating those portions of previously British-ruled Palestine that became the State of Israel in 1948.

U.S.: Pro-Israel Groups Push Back Against Settlements Policy

As the clash between the U.S. and Israeli governments over settlements in the occupied territories intensifies, many of Israel's traditionally staunch defenders in Washington have been pushing back, tentatively but with increasing assertiveness, to urge the Barack Obama administration to alleviate its pressure on Israel.

POLITICS: U.N. to Live or Die by Its Policy Ideas

The United Nations has long been described - rather contemptuously - as one of the world's biggest talking shops.

MIDEAST: Defiant Netanyahu Plays his Jerusalem Card

Israel's newly installed ambassador in Washington says the "disagreement" with the U.S. over Israel's settlement policy will be resolved "soon". Speaking on Israel Radio, Michael Oren was giving his first interview since taking up his post.

MIDEAST: Rampaging Settlers Shatter Fragile Calm

The northern Palestinian West Bank is turning into a flashpoint as Israeli settlers continue to attack Palestinian civilians and their property as part of a "price tag" policy.

EGYPT: Selling Kidneys to Pay the Bills

Karim borrowed money to expand his bakery. When the money ran out, and facing the prospect of imprisonment if unable to repay his debts, the 36-year- old Egyptian baker sold his kidney.

MIDEAST: ‘Let Obama Talk…’

A joke deriding U.S. President Barack Obama is said to be making the rounds in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bureau, according to Aluf Benn, the normally well-informed Ha'aretz diplomatic correspondent: "What do Americans do when anything breaks down in their home - when the sink is blocked, the toilet overflows, or a fuse snaps? Simple: They ask Barack Obama to give a speech and the problem is solved."

MIDEAST: Settlers Grow and Advance

A little village nestled in a valley between several hills in the Bethlehem governorate is today fighting for survival.

MIDEAST: Report Urges Continued U.S. Diplomatic Push

The U.S. should proceed cautiously in its engagement strategy with Iran, while moving quickly toward final-status negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, according to a new report by a team of veteran diplomats and Middle East policymakers.

EGYPT: Father Still Knows Best

Speculation had been rife in recent months that parliament was on the verge of dissolution by order of the presidency. While the rumour ultimately proved unfounded, local analysts say it reflected a rift between the old and new guards of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) of President Hosni Mubarak.

MIDEAST: Soldiers’ Voices Rise Again

Israel continues to brush off allegations of human rights violations during its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza launched at the end of December. A series of reports on such violations through the 22-day campaign come soon after completion of fieldwork by the UN human rights four-person fact-finding team headed by South African jurist Richard Goldstone.

POLITICS: U.S.-Based Leading Rights Group Denies Improprieties

After its May trip to Saudi Arabia recently garnered attention, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has come under a hailstorm of criticism by defenders of Israeli policy who claim that the trip raises ethical questions about HRW's work in the Middle East.

EGYPT: 230 Death Sentences in Six Months

Egyptian courts have handed down unprecedented numbers of death sentences in recent months, most of them for violent crime. "Two hundred and thirty death sentences in six months", read the Jun. 24 headline of independent daily Al- Dustour. "Fifty in the last week alone".

MIGRATION: U.S. to Admit Palestinian Refugees from Iraq

Approximately 1,350 Palestinian refugees from Iraq are being considered for resettlement in the U.S. after being referred to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Programme by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).