Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Samira Shackle
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The battle for Jerusalem
Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world, and one of the holiest, containing sites sacred to Christians, Jews, and Muslims. This historic and religious significance to all three Abrahamic religions has made the status of Jerusalem a particular sticking point in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Although Israel...
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Qatar brings the Taliban in from the cold. What next?
In 2014, American troops will pull out of Afghanistan after 12 years. Ahead of this deadline, the US plans to sit at a negotiating table with the Islamic insurgents it has been fighting. These talks between the US, Afghanistan, and the Taliban were due to get underway this week,...
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More questions about whether a two-state solution is still possible, or even desirable
Naftali Bennett was, in many ways, the star of Israel’s last election campaign. The politician, who heads up the Jewish Home party, was the embodiment of the new breed of settler politicians: educated, urbane, but packing no punches about his extreme right-wing, nationalist views. That was in evidence last week,...
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African union suspends Egypt for coup
Events in Egypt this week have been nothing if not fast-moving. On Wednesday, Mohammed Morsi, the country’s first democratically elected president in six decades, was overthrown. It has been seen by some as a continuation of the revolution which toppled long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak in 2011, and by some...
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Erdogan's Egyptian dilemma
The ousting of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi by the military has left western politicians and commentators unsure of how to react. They oppose military dictatorships, yet were deeply suspicious of Morsi’s Islamist policies. The US and the EU have stopped short of calling events in Egypt a “coup” and...
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Gaza after the military return in Egypt
When the Muslim Brotherhood came to power in Egypt in 2011, it was widely viewed as a huge boost for Hamas, the party in power in Gaza. The Brotherhood has long-standing political and ideological links to Hamas, providing support over the course of many years. By that token, the...
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What are negotiations for?
You can’t fault John Kerry for trying. The US secretary of state has just completed his sixth visit in four months to the Middle East, attempting to restart face-to-face negotiations between Israel and Palestine. His visit, to Amman in Jordan, was focused on winning support from the Arab League group...
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No-one knows how to end the conflict in Syria
The aftermath of the Arab Spring is still being felt across the Middle East. In recent weeks, Egypt has taken centre stage, deflecting attention from the bloody civil war in Syria. More than two years after protesters called for president Bashar al-Assad to resign, 100,000 lives have been lost...
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Diplomatic stalemate in Cairo
Ever since Mohammed Morsi was deposed on 3 July, Egypt has been in a state of crisis. An interim government has taken over, but thousands of protesters remain on the streets, calling for Morsi to be reinstated. Meanwhile, Morsi is imprisoned at an undisclosed location, along with some of his...
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Russia protestations unlikely to impact on plans for Syria
According to this morning’s newspapers, the US and UK are finalising plans for a military strike on Syria. The attack is a response to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime last Wednesday. According to medical charity Medicins Sans Frontieres, three hospitals it supports in Damascus...
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The failure of Oslo the result of bad faith
Today marks the 20-year anniversary of the Oslo Accords, the 1993 attempt to set up a framework that would end the Israel-Palestine conflict. It was the first time that a face-to-face agreement had been reached between the government of Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO). The hesitant handshake between...
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Despite the rhetoric, Iran and the US are unlikely to become close allies
For years, the relationship between America and Iran has been characterised by mutual distrust and outright hostility. During Barack Obama’s presidency, the decade-long tension over Iran’s nuclear programme has escalated. The US and its allies have imposed sanctions and even made veiled threats of using force, over fears that Iran...
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J Street or AIPAC, the message remains the same
The power of lobby groups in Washington has been well-documented. Whether their interest is in oil, tobacco, or international affairs, these unelected bodies have significant power over both parties and individual politicians. Perhaps one of the most well-known lobbying groups is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which advocates...
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Iran's diplomatic offensive puts Israel in awkward spot
On Thursday 26 September, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met in New York. It was part of a wider meeting between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, plus Germany (the so-called “five plus one” group)....
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Netanyahu risks isolation on the world stage
The last few weeks have seen a softening of rhetoric between the leaders of Iran and the USA. The new Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has been on something of charm offensive, promising that his country does not want to make a nuclear bomb, and insisting that he is committed...
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If more evidence were to emerge of Israeli involvement in spying the damage could be huge
Ever since whistle-blower Edward Snowden leaked documents pertaining to the US National Security Agency’s (NSA) programme of mass surveillance, the revelations and diplomatic rifts just keep coming. Last week, there was outrage in France and Germany after it emerged that the US had monitored millions of phone calls made...
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Tentative diplomatic progress but the prospects remain bleak in Syria
Most regional, domestic, and international powers agree that there is no military solution to the conflict in Syria – but the path to peace talks has been far from easy. In the latest development, the main opposition group, the Syrian National Council has said that they will attend international...
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Egypt's new constitution unlikely to put an end to country's internal conflict
Over the last few years, Egypt has been home to repeated political turmoil. During the Arab Spring revolution in 2011, long-time military dictator Hosni Mubarak was toppled. Subsequent elections saw the Muslim Brotherhood, headed by Mohammed Morsi, take control of the country. They, in turn, were toppled in July...
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When money precedes human rights: Israel's killer drones
The international arms trade is impenetrable at best. Deals between different companies and governments are rarely widely reported outside the specialised business press, and the details of such deals are often arcane. Everyone involved has an interest in this lack of scrutiny; the sale and development of arms is...
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EU gestures will not change reality on the ground
The question of how to secure peace between Israel and Palestine, and what international powers do to secure it has vexed successive generations of politicians and diplomats. In recent months, peace talks have resumed, initiated by the US Secretary of State, John Kerry. It took significant effort to get both...
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As the Geneva conference approaches, Syria's factions continue to fight
The conflict in Syria is nothing if not complicated. Over the course of the conflict, which has now raged for two and a half years, the opposition to President Bashar Al-Assad has been splintered and multifaceted. It is difficult to speak about the rebels as a singular group, ranging...
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Learning Hebrew in Gaza reflects the political context
For the first time in twenty years, Hebrew is on the curriculum in Hamas-run schools in the Gaza Strip. Around 750 ninth-grade students are learning the language of Israel, under a pilot scheme that could be rolled out to other schools in the coming years. The Islamic University in...
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Is there a hierarchy of human suffering that demands action in some places but not in others?
The last week has seen a major push for military action in Syria from the UK and US governments. The impetus for western involvement in the two-year civil war came from the alleged chemical attack on 21 August, for which the regime is presumed to be responsible. US secretary...
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Israel tightens its blockade of Gaza for 'security reasons'
Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip has been a huge point of contention since it began in 2007. The blockade covers land, sea, and air, and is supported by Egypt, which largely sealed its borders to Gaza after Hamas came to victory in 2006. Israel maintains that the blockade...