Al Monitor
Director General of Community Media Network, a media NGO that works in Jordan and the Palestinian territories; columnist for Al Monitor; former director of the Institute of Modern Media at Al Quds University in Jerusalem and former Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University (2007-2008)
Tensions Escalate between Israelis and Palestinians The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians reached new heights today in the wake of killings of teenagers on both sides of the divide in the West Bank. This morning Israel began to mobilize troops in the area of the Gaza strip; reportedly it’s in response to a sharp increase in shelling by Hamas into Israeli territory over the last 24 hours. The current flare-up of violence was sparked by 2 brutal incidents: first the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers near Hebron in the West Bank, followed by what some describe as a revenge killing of a young Palestinian boy from East Jerusalem.
Will President Obama Raise New Hopes for Middle East Peace? As President Obama plunged back into the perils of Middle East diplomacy , the White House worked hard to lower expectations. But in his visit with Palestinians in Ramallah and his speech in Jerusalem to Israeli students were all about hope for peace and the necessity of a two-state solution. The President backed a Palestinian state at the same time supporting Israel almost without reservation. He condemned earlier rocket fire from Gaza into Southern Israel that broke a three-month cease-fire. He called settlements in the occupied West Bank "counterproductive," and urged young Israelis to pressure an older generation of political leaders. We hear excerpts and a variety of reactions.
UN Votes to Give Palestine Non-Member Observer State Status Yesterday, the General Assembly gave the Palestinian Territories new status at the United Nations. Opposition, including that of the US, mustered just nine voters against 138. Last night, Israel took steps toward expanding settlements in disputed East Jerusalem. UN Ambassador Susan Rice faulted the resolution for placing "further obstacles in the path to peace…Today's grand pronouncements will soon fade, and the Palestinian people will wake up tomorrow and find that little about their lives has changed."
Palestinians Seize the World Stage To a standing ovation from the General Assembly, PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas applied for full Palestinian membership in the United Nations today. On the streets of Ramallah, rapturous crowds waved flags and cheered a speech that attacked Israel as an occupying power defiant of UN resolutions. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu , in turn, attacked "militant Islam" and said peace will not be achieved by UN resolutions but only by negotiations between the parties. Will today's actions renew the peace process? What are the implications for American diplomacy in the Middle East?
Israel, the West Bank and the Palestinians at the UN On of the biggest protests in the history of Israel is a development that's not being covered much in the US news media. What's at stake for the Netanyahu government? What does it have to do with settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem?
Israel, the West Bank and the Palestinians at the UN Israel's month-long protest movement has spread beyond Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Some 30,000 protesters turned out this weekend in Haifa, 10,000 in Beersheba and thousands more in smaller cities. The total was less than the 300,000 in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem a week ago, but enough to demonstrate widespread unhappiness. The biggest protests in Israeli history are taking place as the United Nations prepares to vote on demands for statehood from the Palestinian Authority. Mahmoud Abbas has called for mass action leading up to a possible showdown next month. What's at stake for Prime Minister Netanyahu and new settlements in the West Bank?
Do the Middle East Peace Talks Have a Future? President Obama said renewing direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians might produce peace in a year. But just three months later, they aren't talking at all and it's back to shuttle diplomacy. Last Friday, Hillary Clinton said the US would continue peace efforts, even after Israel turned down a controversial American offer of billions in high-tech fighter planes in exchange for a three-month freeze on settlement-building in the West Bank.
Do the Middle East Peace Talks Have a Future? Just three months after President Obama took credit for renewing direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians, they're not talking at all. Palestinians demanded a freeze on Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem, but even America's offer of billions in fighter jets could not get Israel to agree. Hillary Clinton says it's time to talk about "core issues," and George Mitchell is back in the region, but US policy is not entirely clear. Was pushing for the settlement freeze a blunder? Has Israeli intransigence further isolated it from the rest of the world?
After 10 Days, No Let-up in Gaza The invasion of Gaza is ten days old and there's no sign of a slowdown as Hamas vows to continue firing rockets across the border and Israel vows to continue until they stop. More than 500 Palestinians have died in the past 10 days; 2600 have been wounded. Five Israelis have died from Hamas rocket fire. While European leaders work for a ceasefire, the US says it has to be "durable and sustainable." We update the fighting and the diplomacy.
There Is No Let-up in the Fighting in Gaza The invasion of Gaza is 10 days old, and there's no sign of a slowdown. Israel says the invasion will go on until Hamas can no longer fire rockets over the border. Hamas says the rockets won't stop. More than 500 Palestinians have died in the past 10 days; 2600 have been wounded. Five Israelis have died from Hamas rocket fire. While European leaders work for a ceasefire, the US says it has to be " durable and sustainable ." We update the fighting and the diplomacy.
Obama in Israel and the West Bank Barack Obama threaded his way through a minefield today, from Jerusalem's Holocaust memorial and Sderot, an Israeli town near the border with Gaza and a frequent target of Palestinian rocket fire, to Ramallah on the Palestinian West Bank. In Israel, John McCain is a known quantity and there's anxiety about what changes Obama might bring. Change is just what the Palestinians hope for. The Democratic presidential hopeful reaffirmed the special relationship with Israel and promised to work toward a Palestinian state. Did he get the reactions his campaign was looking for? What's the likely impact on American voters?
The week that wouldn't quit Will next week get even weirder? (Special one-hour episode)
President Trump: US to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord Trump says he was elected to serve Pittsburgh, not Paris.
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
