The embattled president of Syria, Bashar Assad, claims the uprising destroying his nation is really an existential battle between the forces of secular nationalism and global jihadism. He has a point. The rebellion, which broke out three years ago come March, began as a peaceful protest movement demanding an end to arbitrary one-party Baathist rule, […]
The future status of the West Bank is a bone of contention in contemporary Israel, dividing friends and families along diametrically opposing lines. Some Israelis would give up all or parts of it in the interests of achieving a peace treaty with the Palestinians, who comprise the vast majority of its population. Still others, a […]
President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally in the Arab world, next month. Before he leaves Washington, D.C., he should read Karen Elliott House’s substantive book, On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines — And Future, published by Alfred A. Knopf. One of the most penetrating works […]
John Kerry should be commended for his herculean efforts to break the Gordian knot of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Not since the days of Henry Kissinger and James Baker has a U.S. secretary of state done so much, so quickly, to try to advance the prospect of peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Since the 1967 […]
Incitement and peace don’t mix, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said recently, referring to a persistent and disturbing pattern in which Israel and Jews are demonized and delegitimized by the institutions of the Palestinian Authority, the representative body of the Palestinians currently engaged in peace talks with the Israeli government. Charging that the PA’s campaign of […]
Say this for Bangladesh newspaper editor Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury: He’s an incredibly courageous man. Recently, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for his supposedly subversive articles and his abortive attempt to visit Israel, which citizens of this Asian nation are not permitted to visit. He plans to appeal, but will probably have […]
On Jan. 19, Prime Minister Stephen Harper will begin a four-day visit to Israel. He will be greeted like a rock star when he addresses the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, and becomes the first Canadian leader to do so. “I (will be) pleased and proud to host the prime minister of Canada, a brave and true friend of […]
David Landau’s biography of the late Ariel (Arik) Sharon could not have been better timed. I received Arik: The Life of Ariel Sharon (Alfred A. Knopf), by Israeli journalist David Landau, a few days before his death on Jan. 11. It’s a massive book, running to more than 500 pages, and it’s well worth reading. […]
Ariel (Arik) Sharon was an iconic warrior and politician, an Israeli who exemplified the rough-hewn patriotism, tenacious fighting spirit and stubborn spirit of a nation born in and shaped by war. Sharon died in Tel Aviv on Jan. 11 at the age of 85, eight years after a massive stroke felled him. A Sabra whose […]
In the face of deep skepticism from both sides, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry claims that Israel and the Palestinian Authority have made considerable headway since the resumption of bilateral peace talks five months ago. “I believe we are closer than we have been in years to bringing the peace and prosperity that all […]