The opening act in stand-up comedy or music concerts is arguably the hardest as it involves warming up a “cold” audience. To some degree, President Pranab Mukherjee faced this thankless task by becoming the first Indian president to visit Israel. Traditionally, presidential visits don’t attract much attention. But the six-day tour of Jordan, Palestine and […]
The importance of Modi’s visit to Israel cannot be underestimated. Modi will become the first sitting Indian Prime Minister to visit the country. His visit will also come after a decade of relative political neglect from the Congress-led UPA government. Various UPA ministers visited Israel over the last decade, including a very symbolic visit in […]
In an interview, the U.S. president defends his pact with Tehran, argues ISIS is not winning, warns Saudi Arabia not to pursue a nuclear-weapons program, and anguishes about Israel. Read Here – The Atlantic
America’s tentative return to the battlefields of Iraq, however reminiscent it is of unfinished American business there, is also a deadly reminder that the Arab world is still trying to sort out the unfinished business of the Ottoman Empire, a century after it collapsed. Read Here – The New York Times
Irrespective of its rhetoric to the contrary, throughout the last four decades, the Egyptian government’s policies towards the Palestinians have signalled a marked departure from its historic reputation as a regional leader determined to challenge Israeli hegemony. Read Here – AlJazeera
This is the first time the Palestinians have followed through to form a government. It is supposed to reunite the divided territories and prepare for overdue elections after six months. Read More
Because Israel is the strongest and the PNA the weakest and defenceless, Tel Aviv now negotiates, even as it expands its colonies, to make the ‘two-state solution’ totally unfeasible Read Here – Gulf News
Judging from their reactions to the deal that world powers signed with Iran in Geneva early Sunday morning, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama live in different worlds. Read Here – Jerusalem Post
The United States is facing the worst of all worlds in the Middle East: interventions that erode Washington’s prestige and popularity but fail to exert enough influence to secure U.S. interests. If Secretary of State John Kerry‘s effort to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks is to succeed — and if the United States is to secure its […]
Nobody ever accused John Kerry of lacking in self-belief. Nor are they ever likely to. This week, for the fourth time since taking over from Hillary Clinton in February, Kerry arrives for talks in Israel and Palestine, where he hopes to twitch the corpse of two-state peace talks back to life. His chances are not […]
looking beyond borders 