Online Journal: Middle East Current Affairs, the Israel-Palestinian Conflict, Democracy and Civil Society
Volume I
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2002 and 2001:
You only understand when it happens to someone you know
Ami Isseroff Dec 18, 2002
Yesterday (December 17) my friend was arrested. He is being held without charges. It took an entire day to find out
where he is being held. "Not possible" you say, "We live in
a democracy." It is possible,
and it happened. My friend is a Palestinian. He is not likely to be a terrorist. He helps run the
Hope Flowers school that has become an international byword for
peace and coexistence. Nonetheless, his house was nearly destroyed. Tonight he sleeps somewhere in a jail in Gush Etzion.
His worried family in Bethlehem will not sleep. More
Israeli Elections: The Roadmap Ahead Ami Isseroff
Dec 15, 2002
Polls predict an easy victory for the right-wing government of Ariel
Sharon, but the reality of international politics, and the looming Quartet roadmap, indicate a rocky future for its hard
line policies. It
will be much harder for Israel to follow the roadmap with Ariel Sharon and the Likud in the driver's seat.
More
Knight without a
Horse: The Lesson is Over Stupid! Mohamed Mosaad
Dec 5, 2002
Twenty-two Arab TV channels broadcast the infamous soap opera “Knight Without A
Horse” each day. On the other side of the Atlantic, the greatest power in the world declares its total rejection of this
racist soap opera and demands that Arab countries stop broadcasting it.
More
Rites of
Wailing Mohamed Mosaad
Nov 29, 2002
Not long ago, the morning newspapers brought to us the usual sad news,
which came this time from Bali. Tourists’ bodies, or rather pieces of bodies, flew everywhere stained with their blood,
smoke and the terrorists’ gunpowder. More
Of Murder and Suicide Ami Isseroff
Nov 15, 2002
This week, a Palestinian terrorist of the Al-Aqsa brigades infiltrated Kibbutz Metzer, inside "green line" Israel, and
murdered five innocent people, including two children of the Ohayun family, their mother who tried to shield them, a
visitor and the secretary of the kibbutz...More
Elections in Israel Ami
Isseroff Nov 5, 2002
On November 5, 2002, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced that he is dissolving the Israeli parliament and
calling for new elections. The announcement followed resignation of Israel Labor party ministers last week. Ariel
Sharon's government now has only 55 or 57 votes out of the 61 needed for a majority in the Knesset (parliament) and
therefore could not continue. More
Our
need for "A Culture of Compromise" Tarek
Heggy Oct 27, 02
A few years ago, I discovered that there is no equivalent in the Arabic language,
classical or colloquial, for the English word ‘compromise’, which is most commonly translated into Arabic in the form
of two words, literally meaning ‘halfway solution’. I went through all the old and new dictionaries and lexicons I
could lay my hands on in a futile search for an Arabic word corresponding to this common English word, which exists,
with minor variations in spelling, in all European languages, whether of the Latin, Germanic, Hellenic or Slavic
families. More
The Lesson of Iraq: A New Principle Mohamed Mosaad
Oct 22, 02
... Arabs should not pretend to speak on behalf of the Iraqis, whose authentic voice no one has heard since Saddam
Hussein seized power in that country. What we can learn from the Iraqi issue is this new principle:
"Change your tyrannical ruler before the US changes him for you."
Choose the government that you want, rather than letting the Americans choose rulers that
they want. More
7 Years Since the Rabin Assassination: The
Fruits of Yigal Amir's "Victory"
Ami Isseroff
Oct 16, 02
Seven years after the
assassination of Israeli Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin, we need to ask ourselves if Yigal Amir, his assassin, is gaining his objective after all.
More
The
Future: Should We Wait
For It…or Create it? Tarek Heggy
Oct 14, 02
... instead of placing our faith in the only real constants in our world, which are science, strategic interests and
humanity, we choose to wallow in nostalgia, clinging to pan-nationalism and narrow parochialism as though they were
immutable truths... What we need to realize before it is too late is that our static mind-set can only lead to greater
loss, while a dynamic approach based on active participation can do just the opposite.
More
Muqata Madness
Ami Isseroff Sept 28, 02
Together with my son, who has just finished six years of army service, I watched
the news of the Israeli decision to besiege Yasser Arafat in the Muqata compound in Ramallah. A great feeling of despair
overcame us. It is like understanding that your beloved parents, on whom you depend for guidance, have lost their mental
competence. More.
Coexistence: The Seeds of Peace Experience Rachel Culley
Sept 25, 02
“Will they ever learn to live
together?” ... I have seen it happen: I’ve seen Israelis and Palestinians come to the realization that they are both
human beings, and both sides are suffering. I’ve seen them overturn their personal biases, and explore both versions of
a historical event. More
For a
more rational approach to peace and
normalization Ammar
Abdulhamid
As a 35-year-old Arab, I have learned
not to put too much faith in my leaders' ability to rise to my expectations, no matter how reasonable and modest they
happen to be. I have also learned that any regional leader, Arab or Israeli, who thinks that a solution to the conflict
can be accomplished by military means is an idiot, albeit a dangerous one.
More
September 11, 2001
Ami Isseroff
Sept 11, 02
Americans entered a new world on
September 11, 2001. It is a world where history
can touch you, at any moment. Reality can land in your bedroom in the form of a Scud missile or an Israeli tank shell,
or walk down the street as a suicide bomber. It can knock at your door wearing a uniform and ransack your house. More
The One Narrative
Crisis - Mohamed Mosaad
Sept 5, 02
In the Arab world, the Israel-Palestinian conflict is the universal
explanation of all woes, substituting for debate and constructive action on other urgent problems.
More
Slam on the Brakes:
Stop the Momentum of Settlement
Ami Isseroff
Aug 19, 02
"17,000 new settlers this year," crows the Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) Council advertisement, "Yesha is in a
momentum of settlement." Israel Broadcasting Authority allowed this ad, previously banned, but nixed a counter-ad by
Peace Now as "political." Settlements are being pushed into the Israeli public consensus. More
Our SOB-
Democracy in Egypt and the Conviction of
Professor Saad Eddin Ibrahim
Ami Isseroff Aug
4, 02
Democracy and human rights in Egypt are embarrassing issues for both left
and right, but the US and Israel will eventually pay the price of supporting repressive regimes.
More
Ariel Sharon is overstaying his welcome in office -
Josh
Pollack,
July 24, 02
I was sickened when I heard about the IDF's assassination of a leading terrorist in Gaza, not because of his death, but
because of the many others killed in the process. Worse yet was Ariel Sharon's crowing over this "success."
Worst of all was his rote expression of regret at the deaths of so many innocent bystanders, including so many children.
He's letting us all know exactly how little he cares. More
The Arab-Israeli Conflict: Between
Reason and Hysteria -
Tarek Heggy -
July 9, 02
...I am well aware that in writing this article I am inviting
trouble...But the task of any intellectual who is consistent with himself is ... to write what he believes can
contribute to creating a future better than the dark days our region has lived through for over half a century...
More
Arab Peace Activism Dr Mohamed Mosaad
July 4, 02
Dr Mohamed Mosaad asks why there is no Arab peace activism, comparable to the Israeli peace movement.
More
The
View From Ground Zero Harold Evans June 19, 02
Truth and terror: Harold Evans, the former
editor of The Sunday Times, editorial director of US News and World Report and author of The American Century, on
the chilling paradoxes of the global village. More
Reformist Delusions Ami Isseroff,
June 5, 02They
only have only each other! Mohamed Mosaad
May 14, 02
When the dust of the current Middle Eastern War settles down, the Israelis as well as the Palestinians will discover
that they have always been together and alone! More
Nothing Happened Mohamed Mosaad
May 5 02'If you were born where they were born'
Tony Klug April 24 02My Perspective Wasseem
Rock April 24 02
I believe that in the Israeli-Palestinian struggle both parties have failed to acknowledge one important point; that is,
that both parties are victims. More
Yuval: “My hope is for co-existence between Israel and Palestine. I think this would be good for the whole region.
Vivian: “
Peace and freedom for both countries,” says Vivian. “And for myself I’d like to study abroad and get an MA in International Relations.” More. David Lisbona Mar 13 02Palestinians are not killing “Jews”, neither have they ever killed Jews, because they were Jewish. Nor are Jews killing Palestinians because they are so. It’s a fight for recognition for both, for a place under the same sun. Just as Jews did kill and fight for their own land before, so do others. Palestinians do live in peace under Israel as we speak, have dealt with them always and have learned Hebrew in their schools, forced to do so perhaps, but nevertheless have done so. As did Jews before them, long before. And moderates do communicate everyday on mutually agreeable issues of peace and justice. Palestinians or Arabs are not anti-Semitic, nor are Jews so against all logic. More
By Mohamed Mosaad, Tamir Soreq and Fared Ibrahim Mar 01 02WAKE UP. IT CAN GET WORSE By Ahmed Humeid
Feb 7 02We are lost in the details of the news. We lost view of the bigger picture and the abyss we¹re being dragged into. More
DON'T JUST STAND THERE By Ami Isseroff
Feb 7 02By Ahmed Humeid
Nov 6 01AMERICAN POLICY IN THE MIDDLE EAST: Getting What You Pay For (an Israeli view) By Ami Isseroff
Oct 28 01Camp David Commentary -
By Ralph Seliger
Octr 8 01One, by outgoing NEW YORK TIMES Israel correspondent, Deborah Sontag, said less than met the eye upon initial reading. It trivialized events by dwelling upon Ehud Barak's personality flaws and some diplomatic slights visited upon Yasser Arafat (e.g., Chelsea Clinton chose to sit next to Barak at dinner, rather than Arafat). Sontag's piece was powerfully critiqued in a NEW REPUBLIC article by Robert Satloff. More
By Ami Isseroff
Sept 27 01
No substantive official summaries or proposals were forthcoming from the still-born Camp David
negotiations for the final settlement of the Palestine-Israel conflict. Some facts and speculations are reviewed
elsewhere at Mideastweb ( http://www.mideastweb.org/campdavid2.htm ). The vacuum of fact,
the possibility of propaganda gain, and the interest of the public, have invited a host of speculations and allegations
that cannot be evaluated objectively, due to lack of evidence. The result is a series of “projective tests” in
which each commentator reads their own biases into the events. More
THE INFERNAL SCAPEGOAT
By Tony Klug
Sept 25 01
The scapegoat is a recurring theme of Jewish
history. In biblical times, it was a real goat upon which the Jewish high priest cast all the sins of the people. In
exile, it was frequently the Jews themselves, denounced and vilified for the misdeeds of others. Now it is the turn of
Yasser Arafat, the Jewish state's erstwhile partner for peace and currently its supreme villain.
More
MORE MIDDLE EAST FRUSTRATIONS By Samer
Kurdi
Aug 31 01
I read, to my horror, that over 70% of the Israeli public supports the
government's assassination policy, and just about the same percentage wants even tougher action on the Palestinians.
I don't know if I can explain these figures, which completely astound me. Certainly it is shaped in part by the perception of most Israelis that Barak offered Arafat "an extremely generous offer", the most that any Israeli leader has ever offered, and that Arafat declined and "chose" to launch the Intifada... More
A STRATEGY FOR PEACE: SUPPORT ISRAEL AND PALESTINE By Ami Isseroff
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