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Middle East

Spanish Festival Admits Mistake And Recants

The Rototom Sunsplash Reggae Festival in Spain has apologized for having dropped the Jewish American singer Matisyahu from its program. Matisyahu had been scheduled to perform at the Valencia-based festival on August 22, but was disinvited when he declined to endorse Palestinian statehood. Pressure was brought to bear on the festival — an advocate of […]

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Middle East

Netanyahu Is Not A Peacemaker

Susan Rice, President Barack Obama’s national security advisor, put it bluntly. “We look to the next Israeli government, and the Palestinian Authority, to demonstrate — through policies and actions — a genuine commitment to a two-state solution,” she said in April, shortly after Benjamin Netanyahu won reelection as Israel’s prime minister. Wendy Sherman, the U.S. […]

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Middle East

Islamic State Is On A Roll

Describing Islamic State as “nimble” and “opportunistic,” President Barack Obama recently warned that the struggle to defeat it will be lengthy and replete with setbacks. “This will not be quick,” he said. “This is a long-term campaign.” Obama, of course, is right. Islamic State, a Sunni jihadist organization intent on forming a caliphate, has cut a […]

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Middle East

Has Syria Destroyed All Its Chemical Weapons?

Syria supposedly destroyed its stock of chemical weapons, all 1,300 tons of it, under an agreement reached by the United States and Russia two years ago. But there are strong indications that Syria, embroiled in a civil war that has claimed the lives of some 250,000 combatants and civilians since 2011, has not relinquished its […]

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Middle East

Obama Tries To Sell Iran Nuclear Deal

Proceeding on the assumption that the best defence is a good offence, President Barack Obama has launched an aggressive public relations campaign to sell the Iran nuclear agreement to the divided U.S. Congress. Congress has until September 17 to review the controversial accord and decide whether it should be approved or rejected. The Republican Party, […]

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Middle East

Egypt Moves Further Away From Democracy

John Kerry, the U.S. secretary of state, had a clear message for Egypt, a key Arab ally, when he visited Cairo on August 1. Warning the authoritarian Egyptian government that it could lose its battle against domestic terrorism unless it shows far more respect for human rights, he said, “The success of our fight against […]

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Middle East

Words Are Not Enough

Israeli leaders have universally condemned the brutal murder of 18-month-old Palestinian toddler Ali Saad Dawabsha, who was killed on July 31 when terrorists firebombed his home in the West Bank village of Duma, near Nablus. The firebombing injured his parents and four-year-old brother as well. This ghastly incident evokes memories of the kidnapping and murder […]

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Middle East

The Jonathan Pollard Affair

Many Israelis have welcomed the news that Jonathan Pollard, the long-imprisoned spy, will be released on parole on November 20. Pollard has the dubious distinction of having been the only American to receive a life sentence for passing classified information to a U.S. ally. He has spent the past 30 years in jail on charges […]

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Middle East

Huckabee’s Humbug

The landmark nuclear agreement signed by the six major powers and Iran on July 14 was fundamentally an exercise in compromise, requiring Iran to curb and mothball its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. According to U.S. President Barack Obama, it cuts off Iran’s pathway to joining the exclusive nuclear club, of which Israel […]

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Middle East

Israel Launches Campaign To Derail Iran Deal

Much to U.S. President Barack Obama’s annoyance and even anger, the Israeli government is pressing ahead with efforts to derail the nuclear agreement the United States and five other major powers signed with Iran in Vienna on July 14. Israel, having denounced the accord as a long-range threat to its national security, is working with […]