Commentary & Analysis

Is there any difference between the forthcoming presidential elections in Egypt and Syria? The Europe Union apparently believes that there is. While the EU has dismissed the Syrian process...

A week after over 500 anti-coup protesters were sentenced to death by Field Marshall Abdul Fattah Al Sisi's regime in Egypt, the British Prime Minister David Cameron has launched...

It was not just the numbers that shocked the world but the manner in which it was done, when Judge Saeed Yusuf Al-Jazzar took just two sittings to sentence...

The obituary was short and candid. We regret the passing of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC); may it rest in peace. Though terminally ill for some time, some of...

They originated in different capitals but all were linked by a common cause: Egypt's proscription of Hamas "activities" on its territory; Israel's announcement that it intercepted an Iranian ship...

Since the July 2013 coup Egypt's judiciary has undergone a complete transformation. Once renowned as a pillar of justice, it has become a rubber stamp used by the military...

Something remarkable happened in Egypt this week. The military junta that deposed the country's first democratically-elected president, Mohamed Morsi, and is now putting him on trial for a plethora...

Soon after the signing of the Wye River Agreement in 1998 Israel's minister of infrastructure in the first Netanyahu government, the late, unlamented Ariel Sharon, urged settlers to "seize...

The charges against deposed President Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood co-defendants are a sad reminder of all that has gone wrong in Egypt since July last year. Those...

There is nothing imaginary about Israel's threat to attack Gaza. It is real; both the Hamas-led administration and civilian population in the enclave have had to live with it...

Has the Israeli government crossed a red line in its dealings with the US? It is a reasonable assumption after Defence Minister Moshe Ya'alon's recent derisory comments about Secretary...

If he succeeds with his current "peace" initiative, John Kerry would have killed three birds, not two, with one stone. With the stroke of a pen his "proposed framework"...

"Be like the fruit tree," advised Hassan Al-Banna. "When people hurl stones at you, off-load your fruits on them." This was one of the guiding principles that the founder...

Israel's international isolation has finally become a reality. Within the past week this was cemented by the absence of senior Israeli politicians from Nelson Mandela's funeral, followed in rapid...

There are certain events in the life of nations that define their history for generations. In South Africa, the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre and the 1976 Soweto Uprising are prime...

US Secretary of State John Kerry's current visit to Palestine was foreshadowed by a familiar dark cloud; every such high-level American visit results in more pressure on the Palestinian...

This week's decision by the Israeli daily Maariv to publish a report which claimed that John Kerry supported the organisers of the Freedom Flotilla was significant in many respects....

Nothing is working for Egypt's military junta. They have dug themselves into a deep hole and can't get out. Minister of Interior Muhammad Ibrahim is frustrated by his inability...

As happened in 2000, the Palestine-Israel negotiations are about to end with another eruption of civil unrest because of Jerusalem. The main difference on this occasion is that the...

Rampant political instability and deadly civil wars in the Middle East have turned the Mediterranean Sea into a graveyard. More than 500 refugees have been drowned while trying to...

It has become an almost established tradition for political analysts to review the first 100 days of any president or administration. This is the case with elected governments as...

President Obama's address at the UN General Assembly must have been a welcome relief to Egypt's de facto rulers. Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy described it as "positive" and reflective...

Even by their dreadfully low media standards, it was the most ridiculous attempt to mislead public opinion. Many viewed it as an insult to the Egyptian people's intelligence. The...

One of the great myths-in-the-making doing the rounds in Egypt today is that General Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi is a latter day Gamal Abdul Nasser. This may be a fair...

In a Wall Street Journal article last week, three journalists reported on Saudi Prince Bandar's play for authority in Syria. The journalists were unable to contact Prince Bandar to...

It is more than ironic that the success of the Muslim Brotherhood has been a cause of its misfortune. After winning five elections since 2011, its detractors in the...

The numbers game was an important part of the 3 July coup in Egypt, implicating the army, political and youth groups involved in the 30 June demonstration, local media,...

Israelis did not have to wait long to find another 'national treasure' in Egypt. For several weeks now their national media has been awash with commentaries on Egypt. Most...

Last weekend the Guardian newspaper reported the tragic story of six young Egyptians who drowned off the Sicilian coast. Aged between 17 and 23 years old, they were on...

Palestinians of all political persuasions welcomed the release of 26 prisoners last night. They are the first of 104 pre-Oslo life prisoners due to be released over the next...

To many observers, the crisis in Egypt today bears a striking resemblance to that of 1954. The main actors are the same, as are the issues. Back then, there...

Whatever illusions General Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi had that Google Earth would endorse his political project have now been buried. On the same day that he delivered his controversial speech...