RIGHTS: Politics Still Reign Over Principles at U.N.

The United Nations Wednesday commemorated the 60th anniversary of the landmark Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) against the backdrop of widespread political repression - most notably in Zimbabwe, Sudan, Burma (Myanmar), Iraq, Afghanistan and in the Israeli-occupied territories of West Bank and Gaza.

EGYPT: Many Oppose Jewish Festival

Jews from around the world come annually to Egypt to celebrate the birth anniversary of Abu Hassira, a 19th century holy man buried in the Nile Delta. But many local people oppose the celebrations, and this year particularly because of Israel's ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip.

MIDEAST: Gaza Fishermen Play Cat and Mouse with Israeli Navy

Israeli naval commandos recently hauled off three international peace activists off Palestinian fishing boats seven nautical miles off Gaza's coast. They were accompanying 15 Palestinian fishermen attempting to complete a day's fishing without being shot at or arrested by the Israeli navy.

LEBANON: Protected Against Melting Down

With the recent turmoil taking global economies by storm, industrialised countries have witnessed their growth levels slowly erode. How will the regional economy fare as dark clouds congregate over the Levant?

US-MIDEAST: Regional Players Key to Salvaging Peace Process

One of the biggest foreign policy challenges facing the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama will be reinvigorating what looks like a completely stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace process.

POLITICS: Muslim-Majority Nations Back More Independent U.N.

People in seven majority Muslim countries favour a more active United Nations with broader powers, while simultaneously viewing the world body as dominated by the U.S. and failing to deal with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a new poll by WorldPublicOpinion.org, a global network of research centres.

U.S.: Obama Urged to Quickly Engage Iran, Syria

The incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama should move quickly to engage Iran without preconditions and to promote an Israeli-Syrian peace accord, according to two veteran Middle East experts whose views are likely to have influence over Obama's just-announced foreign policy team.

POLITICS: U.N. Assembly Head Hailed for Blasting Israel

The president of the General Assembly, Father Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, dropped a political bombshell last week when he lashed out at Israel for its repressive actions in the occupied territories, including the recent blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

EGYPT: Anti-Piracy Flotillas Rattle Arab Security

Representatives from states bordering the Red Sea met in Cairo last week to forge a common policy against the threat of maritime piracy. But some local commentators say recent deployments of foreign naval forces to the area to combat Somali corsairs could constitute an even greater threat.

POLITICS-US: Right-Wing Lobby Group Loses Its Angel

The right-wing U.S. advocacy group Freedom's Watch is reportedly shutting down as its main funder, Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, becomes one of the high-profile casualties of the global economic downturn.

MIDEAST: Settlers Stay, Or It’s Civil War

The resolution of the protracted Israeli-Palestinian conflict and future stability in the Middle East could hinge on Hebron, a little town in the southern Palestinian West Bank, 30 km south of Jerusalem.

MIDEAST: Palestinian Split Deepens

Palestinian resistance factions were roundly blamed in the mainstream media for their last-minute decision to boycott last week's Egypt-sponsored "comprehensive dialogue" summit, ostensibly aimed at Palestinian national reconciliation. But some independent commentators say the move, led by Gaza-based resistance faction Hamas, was justified.

MIDEAST: On Top of Humanitarian Disaster, A News Blackout

Israel has imposed a virtual news blackout on the Gaza Strip. For the last ten days no foreign journalists have been able to enter the besieged territory to report on the escalating humanitarian crisis caused by Israel's complete closure of Gaza's borders for the last two weeks.

MIDEAST: Palestinian Factions Torture Opponents

Unity talks between the two main Palestinian political factions Hamas and Fatah failed before they even began this week following Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas's refusal to release 400 Hamas prisoners held in PA jails in the West Bank.

EGYPT: Ruling Party Delivers More Disappointment

The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) of President Hosni Mubarak promised a "new style of thinking" at its fifth annual party congress last week, but critics in the opposition say they saw little of it.

FINANCE: Corporate Vows Tested in the West Bank

A company that is a member of the U.N. Global Compact for corporate social responsibility has ties to production in an Israeli settlement on the West Bank considered illegal by the United Nations.

RIGHTS: Women Leaders Reject "State of Living Death"

United in their fight against discrimination and inequality, three women from crisis-struck countries received the 2008 Gruber International Women's Rights Prize - Yanar Mohammed from Iraq, Sapana Pradhan Malla from Nepal, and Nadera Shalhoub-Kervorkian, a Palestinian woman living in the state of Israel.

Q&A: When Europe Was Occupied, And It Resisted

The assault on Chris Davies, Liberal Democrat party spokesman for the environment for the north west of Britain and a member of the European Union's parliamentary delegation to the Palestinian Legislative Council, has delivered a firm political message to the European parliament.

MIDEAST: Arabs Uneasy About Joining Israeli Army

The Israeli government has begun to actively promote voluntary army service for Israeli Arabs. The Knesset, the Israeli parliament, is meanwhile considering plans to make civil service compulsory for all Israeli citizens, including Israeli Arabs.

U.S.: Obama Foreign Policy May Not Require a Clean Break

While much of the world and many of his U.S. supporters are expecting a sharp break with his predecessor's foreign policy after President-elect Barack Obama takes office Jan. 20, they may be surprised by the degree of continuity between the two administrations.

EGYPT: Islamists Hounded, On Campus and Off

Candidates associated with opposition movements, especially the Muslim Brotherhood, were reportedly barred from participating in last month's student union elections in universities across Egypt. Recent weeks have seen dozens of Brotherhood members detained.