Corrie Verdict Another Example Of Israeli Courts' Double Standard An Israeli court blames Rachel Corrie for her own death, joining a trend of judicial indifference to the deaths of Palestinians and international activists, Yossi Gurvitz writes for Al-Monitor. The verdict shows, again, the unwillingness of the Israeli judicial system — both military and civilian — to rein in the military. Israel
For Palestinian Kids in Hebron, Little Joy on Back-to-School Day Catching up with friends, showing off new clothes and getting new books — for most kids, the first day of school is exciting. But for Palestinian children who live in or go to school in the Old City of Hebron, the day is nothing to look forward to. Lena Odgaard reports for Al-Monitor. Palestine
Visit to Revolution ‘Birthplace’ Shows Yemen Still on Edge Eighteen months after Yemen's revolution, some worry the country is slipping backward. Nafeesa Syeed talks to activists, politicians and everyday people in Taiz, the intellectual heart of the revolution, about their fear that Saleh's remnants have too much control, Iran and the US are fighting on their soil and women's rights are being ignored. Yemen
Kurdish Militant Attacks Escalate While Turkish Politicians Bicker Attacks by Kurdish separatists in Turkey are becoming bolder and more frequent, but the government and opposition political parties appear to be at a loss as to how to curb the violence. Tulin Daloglu writes that all the Turkish political factions are using the PKK as a political football, blaming each other for supporting the PKK’s ideology. Turkey
How Much Would a Romney Win Alter US Policy in the Mideast? The Arab world is beginning to consider the differences between Mitt Romney and President Obama, writes Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, noting that Romney's election would mean the return of the hawks from President George W. Bush's administration. Pan Arab
Will Morsi Offer Change for Gaza? The Rafah border crossing was closed Aug. 5 after an attack on an Egyptian security site in the Sinai peninsula. Gazaans were upset over the temporary closure since they had pinned high hopes on the regime change in Egypt. Sophie Claudet and Saleh Jadallah write for Al-Monitor. Egypt
US-Israeli Relations in Crisis? No! Through a simple process of empirically based elimination we can isolate "The Crisis." It goes by the name of Benjamin Netanyahu, Alon Pinkas writes for Al-Monitor. His toxic and definitely devoid-of-trust relationship with President Obama goes back to May 2009. But there's no crisis between the two countries and its other players. Israel
Lebanese Band Cancels Gig With Chili Peppers in Beirut Lebanese band Mashrou Leila has pulled out of opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who are due to play in Tel Aviv on Sept. 10, in solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Patrick Galey writes that the gig would have meant huge exposure for the band and all Lebanese alternative music, and the decision has set social media in the region ablaze. Lebanon
Israeli Talk of Attacking Iran Damages Relationship with US Avner Cohen writes for Al-Monitor that the endless war talk from Israel this summer has passed the point of saturation and became ineffective, reminding him of the old Clint Eastwood film "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." One thing is clear: the level of mistrust between Netanyahu and Obama has hit a low point not seen for decades. Israel
Five Challenges Facing Egypt's Liberals Egypt’s liberals and moderates may have helped spark the revolution that brought down President Hosni Mubarak’s regime, but they’ve have lost out in the new post-Mubarak political order. Bassem Sabry, writing for Al-Monitor, offers five key issues the opposition should address. Egypt
Syrian People's Wallets, Psyches Damaged by Civil Strife The recent intensification of violence in Syria’s two main cities has practically brought commerce to a standstill. Business owners aren’t seeing the profits to inject back into the market; meanwhile, the protracted and dangerous state of Syria’s unrelenting crisis has made those with cash anxious to save it, further freezing economic conditions. Syria
How Iran Covered the NAM Summit In an overview of Iranian media coverage of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran, Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi describes subtle digs at the government, the portrayal of Mohammed Morsi’s criticisms of Syria and the official depictions of the Egyptian president’s NAM speech. Iran
Why Shimon Peres Still Matters Coming after almost every former chief of Israel’s defense and intelligence agencies — and a few of the serving chiefs as well — have already expressed publicly or semi-publicly their opposition to a strike against Iran, Shimon Peres’ intervention raises a good question: Why does he matter? Shai Feldman provides answers for Al-Monitor. Israel
At Non-Aligned Helm, Iran Will Drive Its Own Agenda Iran sees its chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement as a three-year window of opportunity to pursue several goals through its signature blend of pragmatic and subversive foreign policies: defeat international sanctions, resolve the Syrian conflict to its advantage and win support for its nuclear agenda, writes Banafsheh Keynoush. Iran
Iranian People Act More Resigned Than Revolutionary These Days While Tehran is actually becoming slightly more livable, pessimism reigns, Barbara Slavin reports for Al-Monitor. What's most striking is the growing feeling that life will not get better anytime soon. "We may as well enjoy life because who knows what will happen tomorrow?” was the way one Tehrani put it. Iran
