MIDEAST: Two Sides to a Withdrawal

The beginning of the pullout of Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip presents two contrasting pictures of two very differently placed people. While the Israelis are looking at comfortable compensation packages, thousands of Palestinians face the threat of starvation as a result of the Israeli pullout.

MIDEAST: Prepare for the World’s Largest Prison

"This plan is good for Israel in any future scenario," Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said of the Gaza pullout. And it may not be as good for Palestinians as it seems.

MIDEAST: An Easy Move Becomes Hard

He is bronzed, carries a pistol prominently on his hip, and generally looks the part but Socrate Soussan does not sound like a typical Jewish settler in Gaza.

POLITICS: Church Targets Five Firms Aiding Israeli Occupation

The U.S. branch of a global church seeking to pressure corporations whose actions support the Israeli military's occupation of Palestinian land has named five multinational corporations to be the target of its divestment efforts.

YEMEN: U.S. Sentence Provokes Fury

Yemen has reacted strongly against the United States after the sentencing of a cleric to 75 years imprisonment by a U.S. court.

LEBANON: Another Dubious Step Towards Reconciliation

Notorious Christian former warlord Samir Geagea was released from prison earlier this week, in what politicians and media alike hailed as a milestone in Lebanon's fledgling national reconciliation process.

MIDEAST: Gaza Will Be ‘Vacated But Still Occupied’

A growing number of Palestinians are beginning to believe that Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip will not mean the end of occupation.

EGYPT: Tourism Industry Braces for Fallout

The local tourism industry is scrambling to assess the economic fallout in the wake of the triple bomb attacks that wrecked the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh July 23, killing more than 80 people including a number of foreign tourists.

LEBANON: It Takes a Long Time to Undo Destruction

This is a city marked by a civil war and moulded by divisions that still run deep within the country and through the fabric of society. With typical Lebanese gusto much has been done over the past 15 years to repair the physical damage, but much more has been done to gloss over the problems that gave rise to the conflict in the first place.

MIDEAST: Where Homeland Means Humiliation

"Before the 2000 Al-Aqsa Intifadah I was very optimistic. I was ambitious and strong, but now I do not feel strong any more. We are all frustrated in our small prison," says Sawsan Aishe, a 24-year-old graduate from An Najah National University in Nablus in the West Bank.

POLITICS-US: Familiar Debate Resumes in Wake of London Bombings

Thursday's London bombings that killed at least 49 people have rekindled a familiar debate in this country on the question first posed after the Sep. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and the Pentagon: "Why do they hate us?"

G8 SUMMIT: Middle East Gets Money and Advice

A three-billion-dollar offer to rebuild the Palestinian economy marked the strongest part of a G8 push at its summit to bring the Middle East around to its way.

EGYPT: Gas Deal Cements Rapprochement With Israel

A recent deal to sell Egyptian natural gas to Israel, while unpopular with the general public here, marks steadily improving diplomatic relations between the historical antagonists.

MIDEAST: Disputes Arise Over Passage to Peace

Less than two months before Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Cairo and Tel Aviv are still hashing out security arrangements that will govern the so-called 'Philadelphi Corridor', the 13km long border road between Egypt and Israel.

RIGHTS-MIDEAST: Israeli Soldiers “Getting Away With Murder” – HRW

Israeli soldiers have killed an average of more than one Palestinian civilian per day since the current intifada uprising began in 2000, but only a handful of cases have even been investigated, according to a new Human Rights Watch (HRW) report.

MIDEAST: Now Vacated Homes Become a Problem

It might have been expected that Israel, not wanting to have pictures broadcast of Palestinians triumphantly entering the evacuated homes of settlers in the Gaza Strip, would want to demolish those homes. It might equally have been expected that the Palestinians, wanting to be seen marching into the homes of their retreating occupiers, would want the houses to remain intact.

LEBANON: General Becoming Kingmaker, Maybe President

Lebanon's formerly anti-Syrian general Michel Aoun is on the verge of outmanoeuvring the country's main anti-Syrian opposition alliance. All eyes are now on the last round of Lebanon's four-stage parliamentary elections, next Sunday in the north.

MIDEAST: Aoun Makes Dramatic Comeback

Former exiled general Michel Aoun made a dramatic comeback in the penultimate round of Lebanon's legislative elections, sweeping 21 seats out of the 58 contested.

POLITICS-US: "Evolution" Preferred Over "Revolution" in Arab Lands

The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush should back up its pro-democracy rhetoric in the Middle East with more action and consistency, according to new bipartisan report that also urges Washington to encourage "evolutionary," rather than "revolutionary" change in Arab lands.

SYRIA: All Set For A Great Shuffle Forward

As Syria's Baath party gathers in Damascus to grapple with the issue of reforms, delegates may not have the luxury of quiet contemplation that the country's president Bashar Assad urged on them during his opening speech on Monday.

MIDEAST: Murder of Journalist Points to Rising Crisis

The prominent anti-Syrian journalist Samir Kassir was killed in a car explosion in a Christian residential neighbourhood of Beirut Thursday morning, in an attack that drew widespread condemnation.