Archives for July, 2015

Civil defence members and civilians search for survivors under the rubble of a site hit by what activists said were barrel bombs dropped by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo, Syria June 21, 2015. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail - RTX1HGJ7

Aleppo once again in the eye of the storm

It is total chaos in Aleppo where the regime and the opposition are fighting to reign supreme.

Gaza’s drama series hopes to compete in pan-Arab market

During the month of Ramadan, Arab channels screen several TV series, and the Gaza Strip hopes to take part in this regional field by producing comedy and drama shows.

Sunni fighters who have joined Shi'ite militia groups known collectively as Hashid Shaabi (Popular Mobilization), who are allied with Iraqi forces against the Islamic State, gesture with their weapons in al-Alam Salahuddin province March 17, 2015. Iraq paused its Tikrit offensive on Monday and officials called for more air strikes against Islamic State militants, while an officer said Kurdish forces sustained two more chlorine gas attacks by insurgents. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL

Why Iraq needs to depoliticize their Popular Mobilization Units

Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units are made up of several groups whose political interests differ, clashing sometimes, which is causing the units to shift focus from the most urgent need — fighting the Islamic State.

A Bedouin boy rides his bike through the 'unrecognised' village of Um Al-Hiram in southern Israel's Negev desert, October 16, 2014. For decades Arab Bedouins have eked out a meagre existence in the Negev desert, living without mains water, electricity or sanitation, and largely under the government's radar, but now Israel wants to move some 40,000 Bedouins from more than 30 'unrecognised' villages into government-built townships. Legislation underpinning the proposed mass uprooting was put on hold late last

Negev Bedouin await forced evictions

The residents of unrecognized Negev villages have for years suffered discrimination and neglect by the Israeli government, which is now threatening them with mass forced evictions and relocation under the Prawer Plan.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gestures as he speaks during the opening ceremony of a park in the West Bank city of Ramallah April 5, 2015. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman - RTR4W5UM

PA tightens purse strings on Hamas

In a report by the Palestinian Legislative Council’s Oversight and Human Rights Committee, the Palestinian Authority is accused of neglecting Gaza’s financial needs, while it is witnessing the deterioration of its people’s living conditions.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech during a ceremony marking the 39th anniversary of the Entebbe or Yonatan operation at the Yitzhak Rabin Center in Tel Aviv July 9, 2015. Netanyahu's brother Yonatan was killed while leading the 1976 raid to rescue hijacked Israeli hostages from Entebbe, Uganda. REUTERS/Baz Ratner - RTX1JSBJ

Bibi no Rabin

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently lauded the leadership of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin for his courage in launching the 1976 Operation Entebbe, though he himself has never followed him in making historic decisions.

Barbed wire is seen on Zikim beach, Israel near the border with northern Gaza (seen in background) July 9, 2015. Two Israeli citizens are being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday, a situation that could lead to demands for a prisoner exchange between Israel and the Islamist militant group. Hamas, which took control of the Palestinian coastal enclave in 2007 and fought three wars with Israel since then, declined to confirm or deny it had the captives. REUTERS

Israel-Hamas prisoner exchange deal hits snag

Public acknowledgment that an Israeli man is allegedly being held in Gaza has complicated negotiations between Israel and Hamas for his return, along with the remains of two IDF soldiers, in exchange for Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails.

Iran reform must start at home

A nuclear deal may strengthen the position of those in Iran who believe that better relations with the West can improve, not weaken, Iran's influence in the region.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry talks to journalists in front of Palais Coburg, the hotel where the Iran nuclear talks meetings are being held in Vienna, Austria July 9, 2015. The United States and other major powers are not in a rush reach a nuclear agreement with Iran, though Washington and its partners will not negotiate with Tehran indefinitely, Kerry said on Thursday. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger - RTX1JS36

Iranian nuclear talks go on even if 'clock strikes midnight'

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Iran nuclear deal must withstand the test of time and "we will not be rushed" as negotiations continue past a US congressional deadline.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks at the New York University (NYU) Center on International Cooperation in New York April 29, 2015. Iran's foreign minister on Wednesday offered assurances that Tehran is committed to maintaining freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf in the aftermath of the seizure of a commercial ship by Iranian forces a day earlier. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson - RTX1AUQZ

Zarif's comeback spawns hashtag

After Iran's top nuclear negotiator Mohammad Javad Zarif reportedly said "Never threaten an Iranian" during the nuclear talks, Iranians took to Twitter to respond.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman (L-3rd L) meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (2nd R) at a hotel in Vienna, Austria June 28, 2015. Kerry is joining negotiations from six powers and Iran seeking an agreement under which Tehran would curb its nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions that have crippled its economy. REUTERS/Carlos Barria - RTX1I3WB

Is US pursuing Iran regime change in nuclear deal?

A former adviser to nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili wrote that the United States has not abandoned its previous strategies with respect to Iran within the nuclear talks.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani takes a question during a news conference on the sidelines of the 69th United Nations General Assembly at United Nations Headquarters in New York September 26, 2014. Rouhani said on Friday "courageous decisions" must be made to clinch a long-term nuclear agreement and that any deal without the lifting of all sanctions against Tehran was "unacceptable". REUTERS/Adrees Latif (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR47VPF

Iran, P5+1 face Security Council conundrum

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will have problems if Iranian expectations regarding the timing of lifting sanctions are not managed.

An elderly woman leaves a charity food assistance center after receiving her ration in Yemen's capital Sanaa July 1, 2015. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah - RTX1INNM

The world fails Yemen

As Yemen languishes in the highest-level humanitarian crisis the UN recognizes, the situation is not helped by an unbalanced and ineffectual Security Council resolution.

Iraqi Vice President Nuri al-Maliki (C) speaks with Hamid al-Jazaeiri (R), Deputy Commander General of Saraya al-Khorasani, at a ceremony honouring fighters of the group who died during their fight against the Islamic State, in Baghdad February 21, 2015. Families, military personnel and delegates attended the event in Baghdad to honour fighters of the Iraqi Shi'ite militia group formed in 2013 in response to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's call to fight Sunni jihadists in Syria and later in

Is Maliki making a comeback?

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is being criticized for sowing sectarianism and using animosity among various Iraqi factions as a way to find a way back to power.

Palestinian Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat (C) and Maen Rashid Areikat (2nd R), chief of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) delegation in Washington, arrive to meet with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the State Department in Washington September 3, 2014. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR44TZ1

Palestinian leadership faces foggy future

A lack of progress in the peace talks, the absence of reconciliation and an aging president have once again forced discussion on the future of Palestinian leadership.

A Musaharati, or dawn awakener, strikes his drum to wake observant Muslims for their overnight 'sahur', or last meal, before the day's fast in Sidon's Old City in southern Lebanon just before dawn August 27, 2010. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and conducting sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho (LEBANON - Tags: RELIGION) - RTR2HLGA

Gaza's Ramadan drummers

The dire economic situation in the Gaza Strip is making the monthlong job of the musaharati, who wakes people before dawn to break the Ramadan fast, one of the most dependable sources of income all year.