These are good days for Lebanon. The country is relatively stable, stocks are up, and the tourists are back. The government is semi-functional, business is booming, and construction is everywhere. The people of Lebanon are showing the world what they are capable of when their country is not at war. But many Lebanese are fearful […]
As readers know because I write about this on a far too regular basis, the Palestinians are embarking on a state building initiative that would erect institutions in the territories for a future state. This effort has been dubbed as unilateral actions and the Palestinians taking control of their destiny (cue music from Star Wars). […]
A war has been brewing in Israel and battles have been fought- in the food fight that is. Recently, Lebanese chefs have tried to reclaim hummus by breaking the world record for creating the largest vat of the chickpea-mush. Israeli chefs countered and used an unused satellite dish to claim the title as their own. […]
These are the questions that many Iranians are asking after watching the recent appearances of Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, where in the backdrops prepared for official ceremonies, the colors of Iran’s flag appear to have been changed from red, white and green to red, white and blue. In his New York Times‘ blog, Robert Mackay […]
In a television statement on Tuesday, Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said that Iran has “no problem” sending out its stocks of low-enriched uranium abroad for processing in exchange for nuclear fuel rods. While this is a step forward in the nuclear stalemate going on between Iran and the West, there is also plenty of reasons […]
The Jewish and pro-Israel agendas do not always correlate, but the lobbying organizations often promote similar measures and advocate identical approaches from the U.S. government. JTA surveyed the major lobbying organizations on their agendas for 2010, with the major common theme being advocacy to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The U.S. is currently […]
Israeli films have garnered significant attention in the past, particularly with the internationally acclaimed Waltz with Bashir that depicted Israel’s role in the Beirut during the early 80’s. As a follow up that movie, the film Lebanon provided a glimpse into a tank and the claustrophobia of Israeli soldiers during war. Prior to release of […]
In order to return the biblical species of deer now known as the Persian Fallow Deer to Israel an espionage mission was set up by an Israeli general who was also a zealous conservationist. This particular deer species used to roam the Judean Hills for centuries and is frequently mentioned in the Bible as a […]
Iranian filmmakers- despite heavy restrictions – have over the years provided an intriguing and provocative look at Iran’s dynamic social, religious, and political culture. Reza Aslan explains in his article, Iran’s Cinematic Revolution, what sets Iranian cinema apart from others: The irony is that part of what makes Iranian cinema so unique are the ingenious […]
On January 24th, a Russian-made Iranian passenger aircraft carrying 157 passengers and 13 crew crash-landed in northeastern Iran injuring at least 46 people. The Taban Air aeroplane caught fire upon landing at Mashhad airport at 7:20am local time. Iran has a bloody aviation history. Last July, a Caspian Airlines jet carrying 168 people crashed into […]
With elections to the Iraqi Parliament looming on the horizon (set for March 7, 2010), my next few posts will focus on aspects of political parties, security, terrorism and government responsibility for peacekeeping. The more we as Americans know about the parties running, what they stand for and the chances that security can ensure a […]
Ok. It is official. There are more urgent matters than mediating between Israel and its neighbors. For ten years now, the U.S. has exercised little to no pressure on Israel to go back to the negotiations table. During the Bush years, we witnessed absolute disengagement of the U.S. from the so-called peace process. During the […]
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