Commentary & Analysis

At the end of 2012, there were 4,656 Palestinian political prisoners being held in Israeli prisons and detention centres. That figure includes 178 administrative detainees, 11 women and 177...

When Benjamin Netanyahu launched his election campaign this week he taunted the world community and cocked a snook at international law with a defiant pledge to build more settlements...

The most common explanation for the political impasse in Egypt is that it stems from an ideological tussle between Islamists and liberals. That is, however, only one side of...

On Saturday, Egyptians will go the polls for the fifth time since the overthrow of the Mubarak dictatorship. The constitutional referendum marks another step in advancing the gains of...

The latest crisis to sweep Egypt has inflicted considerable damage, and now threatens the country's transition to democracy. The rules of political competition have not been followed, and politics...

Cracks are appearing in the diplomatic wall that has long protected Israel from international censure. Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu was given a reality check this week when he met...

On the 65th anniversary of the UN partition resolution which allotted to a minority of Jews most of the land of Palestine, the Palestinians have returned to the world...

The US and Britain stand behind Israel's onslaught on Gaza. Justice requires a change in the balance of forces on the ground The way western politicians and media have...

The latest Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has prompted several European countries and the US to reaffirm their position of unwavering support for the aggressor. William Hague, Britain's...

On 12 October we referred to an alert by the Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, that his people will pay the price for Israel's early elections. Even then, the daily...

Hope and change have been the defining slogans of Barack Obama's political career. In his inimitable way he has now convinced the American electorate twice that he is capable...

Ahead of the Israeli elections next January, a merger between the parties of the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and the foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has been announced. They are...

There is nothing like the anger of a Palestinian refugee told that his right to return is compromised. Mahmoud Abbas was reminded of this following his recent interview with...

Until the eleventh hour it seemed that the visit would be derailed. On Monday, Israeli jets carried out three waves of attacks on Gaza, raising security concerns over whether...

The olive harvest has always been a time of heart-warming celebration in Palestine. It gives a sense of fulfilment to families and communities alike. In recent years, however, the...

So much has been written about the deplorable case of the young Tunisian woman raped by two policemen that there is little to be added. We all await the...

In most countries, elections are purely internal affairs. In Israel, though, things are different; elections often have horrible consequences for the Palestinians living under the brutal Israeli occupation. The...

Last month, the South African international lawyer, Professor John Dugard, spoke at the Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine fringe meeting during the party's annual conference in Brighton, co-sponsored by...

A vicious war of words has broken out in the top echelons of the Israeli political establishment. The troika which forms Israel's ruling coalition is turning in on itself....

Amid the flurry of international concern over the European economic crisis, the American elections, the controversy surrounding Iran and the fallout from the Arab spring, it is important not...

Confirmation that Khalid Meshaal will not contest another term at the helm of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has prompted much speculation about his likely successor. The transitional process...

For the first time in 19 years the Palestine Liberation Organisation/Palestinian Authority has raised publicly the possibility of revoking the Oslo accords with Israel. Several press reports have quoted...

Efforts by Western politicians to help Benjamin Netanyahu climb down from his high horse are not working. He is outraged because they have refused to fix "red lines" for...

The international system is often accused of failing to give adequate early warning; of being myopic and not furnishing the appropriate powers with data and analysis that would allow...

"The Palestine spring has begun and we are with what the people say and demand." These were the words of President Mahmoud Abbas as he addressed an Arab League...

Forget for a while the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Iran. Ignore the attendance of President Muhammed Morsi, the first visit to Tehran by an Egyptian president in 33...

A crucial shift is now taking place in the Middle East towards the conflict in Syria. The Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi's call for Arab-Iranian-Turkish dialogue over the crisis and...

When the United Nations General Assembly convenes for its annual meeting next month, the PLO/PA will make a request for "non-member state" status. Even if successful, the move would...

Two exceptional developments took place in the Middle East this week; neither Egypt nor Israel had witnessed anything like them before. Never in the past sixty years has a...

There is something very sinister about Israel's attacks on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. They bring back memories of the campaign that preceded the demise of the late Yasser Arafat....

The future of democracy in Syria is the subject of many concerns: people are worried about the treatment of minorities and women, possible acts of revenge, and the likelihood...

After exactly a month in office, President Mohamed Morsi's honeymoon period has come to an abrupt end. Diplomatic snares are popping up in all directions. That his earliest foreign...