Israel-Palestine
August 2021 – Israel will not lift its blockade of Gaza until Hamas is removed from power, but Hamas will not fall so long as there is a blockade. This is just one of the many tragic, circular paradoxes in which Gaza is entrapped.
Remembering Jewish Arabists and Arab Jews
June 2021 – In these polarised times, the social, political and cultural influence and fluid identities of Arab Jews and Jewish Arabists is largely forgotten when it should be commemorated and celebrated.
May 2021 – Gaza’s traumatised children are paying the heaviest price for the endless wars raining down on them. Israel, Hamas and the international community have all failed them.
Palestinian exiles: When home becomes a foreign land
January 2020 – While Palestinians living in the diaspora are physically separated from Palestine, those who remain in the homeland often feel a sense of psychological or spiritual alienation, not to mention an overwhelming dream to roam free.
Living in a nightmare: Gaza’s unending tragedy
December 2019 – Trauma, depression, destitution and hopelessness are the daily realities with which Gaza’s besieged population must contend.
Racists exploit BDS and Israel to advance their agendas of hatred
May 2019 – As recent motions in the German Bundestag and US Congress reveal, both the BDS and pro-Israel movements are exploited by racists as fig leafs to further their agendas. These racists must be exposed and challenged.
Voting for Palestinian empowerment in Jerusalem
October 2018 – Despite the dogmatic reactions from the politically orthodox, Aziz Abu Sarah’s aborted mayoral bid is the latest manifestation of the Palestinian struggle’s shift towards a civil-rights movement.
Bad blood or blood libel: When is criticism of Israel anti-Semitic?
September 2018 – While critics of Israel can be anti-Semitic, many who criticise Israel harbour a deep respect of and love for Jews. Similarly, supporting the Jewish state is not necessarily a manifestation of philo-Semitism and can stem from anti-Semitic motives.
Did Obama navigate Israeli-Palestinian negotiations without a map?
July 2018 – The Obama administration was reportedly unaware of the true extent of Israeli settlement activity. This reveals either a monumental level of ignorance or a post-facto attempt to justify the failure of the Kerry peace initiative.
The Jerusalem embassy syndrome
May 2018 – The problem is not the new US embassy in Jerusalem. The problem is the reality which surrounds and underpins it.
Israeli pilgrim in Prophet Muhammad’s house
December 2017 – A visit by an Israeli Jewish blogger to some of Islam‘s holiest sites has stirred up controversy and anger. But should it have?
December 2017 – In their reactions to Donald Trump’s hypocritical Jerusalem declaration, many Arab and Muslims leaders have exhibited their own grotesque double standards.
A US embassy in Jerusalem changes nothing and everything
December 2017 – Donald Trump’s announcement on Jerusalem changes nothing on the ground but everything on the horizon. It is the final death certificate of the peace process. Now it’s time for something completely different.
The sound of religious discord
November 2016 – We need to reach a future in which the religious freedom of Muslims who wish to hear the call to prayer does not infringe upon the peace of mind of non-Muslims and non-practising Muslims.
The case for non-violence in Israel-Palestine
October 2016 – Although violence is all too often the path of least resistance, Israelis and Palestinians urgently need to navigate a peaceful path out of the quagmire.
Israel declares war on peaceful activism
October 2016 – The Israeli government fears and combats peace and rights activists with greater gusto and urgency than armed extremists.
September 2016 – Like the Berlin Wall and other political barriers, the Israeli wall has witnessed an explosion of protest art on its concrete canvas.
FICTION: Escaping terror firma – Part 1
August 2016 – Poetry and song talk of soaring free as a bird, but the heavens are where hell resides. People talk of taking wing, but, me, I’d rather take fin, be free as a fish.
Ayman Odeh: “We reject the equation that it is all Jews against all Arabs”
August 2016 – As the Israeli Knesset declares war on its Palestinian members, Ayman Odeh believes the only way forward is through a joint Arab-Jewish struggle.
Lieberman, Netanyahu and Dr Strangelove
June 2016 – The appointment of Avigdor Lieberman as Israel’s defence minister is like the plot of a nihlistic black comedy.
Podcast: The Israeli passion for Arabic music
March 2016 – Mizrahi Jews are reviving the Arabic music of their heritage and fusing it with new influences, which is proving popular with young Palestinians.
March 2016 – A new Palestinian film fictionalises the plight of female Palestinian prisoners of conscience in Israel: from hunger-striking to child birth.
March 2016 – The world is paying the price for Boutros Boutros-Ghali’s foiled attempts to reform the United Nations into an effective force to resolve conflicts.
Podcast: Palestine’s poster girls
January 2016 – The changing depiction of women in Palestinian political art reflects the shifting perceptions of their role and position in society.
January 2016 – Netanyahu must dismantle the six states within a state Israel has created and grant every Arab and Jew full equality.
When Palestinian women take up arms
December 2015 – The shock elicited by Palestinian women taking up arms is due to local sexism and orientalist stereotyping, not historical or social reality.
The Hitlerisation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
November 2015 – Netanyahu’s allegation that the mufti masterminded the Holocaust mark a troubling escalation in the Nazification of the Israeli-Palestinian war of words.
November 2015 – The UN Security Council has a long track record of failing to resolve conflicts. Now it is also in danger of bringing the major powers to blows.
Violence, the path of least resistance
October 2015 – Despite the proven futility of blood-letting for both Israelis and Palestinians, violence is exercising an irresistible magnetic force.
October 2015 – The “peace of the brave” has given way to the peace of the grave. It’s time to abandon Oslo in favour of a civil rights struggle for equality.
Al-Aqsa: Spiritual battleground
September 2015 – For Muslims and Jews to share peacefully and justly the Holy Sanctuary/Temple Mount requires the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The ghost of conflicts past, present and future
September 2015 – With all the wars and conflicts raging in the Middle East, collective trauma carries very serious consequences for the region.
September 2015 – Despite what religious fanatics believe, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not a “holy war” – far from it.
From Gaza’s sinking boat to the Tahini Sea
August 2015 – Gazans Amer and Saleh felt “condemned to failure”, so they decided to escape to Europe. Sadly, their aborted endeavour ended in narrowly averted death.
One year on: The curing power of solar energy
August 2015 – Gaza’s devastated infrastructure and fuel shortages cause avoidable deaths. A crowd-funded initiative will save lives with solar power in hospitals.
August 2015 – “Dance is resistance. It’s the most refined way for us, the Palestinian people, to express our cause… Dance is a form of liberation.”
Pride and prejudice in the Holy Land
August 2015 – The rise in violent Jewish extremism shows how safeguarding justice only for a minority is leading to a situation of injustice for the majority.
Starving the body to feed the cause
July 2015 – Hunger striking in prison taught Sulaiman Khatib a lot about his body, his mind and the importance of peaceful, non-violent activism.
One year on: Gazans feel the pain of being abandoned by Egypt
July 2015 – Although the Israeli siege of Gaza hurts more materially, the Egyptian blockade is more painful emotionally. It is also counterproductive.
One year on: Gaza, life with hard labour
July 2015 – With rubble Gaza’s only growth industry, people are unable to pick up the pieces of their broken lives, face psychological ruin and dream of escape.
Egyptian Jews and love triangles
July 2015 – Despite outlandish conspiracy theories, a Ramadan TV drama about Egypt’s lost Jewish community is not a missive to Israel but an ode to pluralism.
One year on: Gaza’s hidden psychological ruins
July 2015 – It is not just the landscape that is scarred and devastated, Gaza is an emotional and mental wreck teetering on the verge of psychological ruin.
Putting Palestine on the culinary map
June 2015 – The most delicious way to a society’s soul is through its stomach, believes the creator of Palestine on a Plate.
The occupational handicaps of being Palestinian
May 2015 – Living with disability is always a challenge but if you’re a Palestinian living under Israeli occupation you are doubly handicapped.
Netanyahu and the Middle East: The risky business of “business as usual”
March 2015 – Netanyahu’s re-election promises “business as usual”. But this is an extremely risky venture on the Iranian-Israeli and Israeli-Palestinian fronts.
Spring of hope amid winter of despair
March 2015 – For Palestinians in Israel, the recent race for the Knesset was both the worst of elections and the best.
The mystery of Arab joy at Netanyahu’s re-election
March 2015 – When Netanyahu’s election victory was declared, rather than grieve, Arabs in Israel were out on the streets celebrating.
Voting for Palestinian liberation
March 2015 – Active and effective Arab political participation in the next Knesset can be a game changer, shifting the Palestinian struggle towards civil rights.
The concealed links between Israel’s “invisible” citizens
February 2015 – An electoral campaign video targeted at Israel’s “invisible” poor unwittingly highlights the long-neglected links between Mizrahi Jews and Arabs.
Filmmakers are moving away from the headline conflict to shed light on real life in Palestine as lived by actual Palestinians, both real and fictional.
A civil way out of the Israeli-Palestinian quagmire
November 2014 – How do you end the Israeli occupation without ending the occupation? Through a struggle for equal civil rights for Jews and Arabs.
Intimate enemies, future friends
November 2014 – As I cycle amid the growing cycle of violence, I believe peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians is plausible and possible.
The latest on Intimate Enemies, Khaled Diab’s book of the Palestinian and Israeli peoples, which explores the human lives behind the headline conflict.
Lost in confrontation in the Holy Land
November 2014 – As tensions mount, it’s hard to believe that Israelis and Palestinians share a lot in common – even the dreams of their great writers.
Political baggage and state insecurity at Ben Gurion airport
November 2014 – Ethnic profiling at Israel’s airport are not about state security but the insecurity of the state, and are an infringement of fundamental rights.
Israel and Egypt’s insane alliance against Gaza
August 2014 – Despite Egypt’s mediating role, it is no impartial broker on Gaza. It shares Israel’s view that Hamas can be crushed and suffocated into submission.
The missing link: Re-connecting Gaza with the West Bank
July 2014 – Gaza and the West Bank are effectively on different planets. Connecting them must be part of any lasting solution and would make a world of difference.
Palestinian resistance: The gun or the olive branch?
July 2014 – The death and destruction inflicted by Israel’s assault on Gaza point to the futility of Palestinian armed resistance. Peaceful resistance is the way.
Marching for Gaza and towards the third intifada
July 2014 – Does the largest Palestinian protest in recent memory, along with weeks of unrest, indicate that the long-expected next intifada is here?
Arab leaders as human shields in Gaza
July 2014 – In order bring a halt to the multiplying human tragedy in Gaza, the Arab League should convene an emergency summit there.
July 2014 – The horrific murders of Israeli and Palestinian teens should drive home how violence is futile and burdens coming generations with future bloodshed.
Promised lands and chosen peoples
July 2014 – Protestants are the chosen people and Western Europe and America their Promised Lands, according to Israelism and Christian Zionism.
The power of Palestinian literature to write wrongs
June 2014 – The power of Palestinian literature lies in its ability to make a word of difference, gradually shifting perceptions and, through them, reality.
From the Chronikles – 2048: A peace odyssey
May 2048 – A century after war broke out, jubilant Israeli and Palestinian crowds celebrate each other’s independence as they march hand-in-hand into the future.
Gaza’s forsaken and forgotten people
April 2014 – Gaza’s humanitarian disaster and the rising tensions there are forgotten by the world. Principle and pragmatism demand an end to the blockade.
Gunship diplomacy, rockets and Gaza’s forgotten tragedy
March 2014 – The other tragedies make it is easy to forget Gaza. But with a humanitarian crisis and rising tensions, it’s time to end the Israeli-Egyptian blockade.
Al-Aqsa/Temple Mount: Ground zero or common ground?
March 2014 – Jerusalem’s holiest site is again provoking tension and controversy. But could it also bridge the chasm between Israelis and Palestinians?
Palestinian history ✝ – Christians are Arab too
March 2014 – Despite what some in the Knesset think, Christians in Israel are Arabs too and have been prominent in Palestinian politics, society and culture.
Reimagining Palestine: Inserting the human dimension
March 2014 – The outside world primarily see Palestinians as two-dimensional heroes or villains. A new generation of artists and writers is adding a vital third dimension, the human.
Spain, return and the other 1492
February 2014 – Spain’s recognition of the Jews it expelled ignores another historical crime: the Muslims forced out of Andalusia.
Can the boycott against Israel succeed… and how?
February 2014 – The furore surrounding Scarlett Johansson’s SodaStream endorsement raises the question to what extent BDS can help end the occupation… and how.
January 2014 – As John Kerry’s efforts appear doomed, Palestinian and Israeli peace activists are left with an impossible challenge: peace how? Ask the people.
The trials and tribulations of a Palestinian Mandela
December 2013 – Although I wish there were a Palestinian Nelson, I suspect that Israel-Palestine is not ready for someone like him… not yet, at least.
A peace of the people, by the people, for the people
December 2013 – Palestinians and Israelis don’t need more US diplomacy but a people’s peace process… and this requires mutual understanding and humanisation.
Israel-Palestine: a book of the people
November 2013 – In Israel-Palestine, a peace without the people has left two peoples without peace. That’s why I’m writing a book about these most intimate of enemies.
The Arab-Israeli war of narratives
October 2013 – On the 40th anniversary of the 1973 war, Egyptians and Israelis still cannot agree on the conflict’s name, date or outcome.
Israel, the puppet master with no strings
August 2013 – Why is Israel, despite being a minor player, is seen by so many Egyptians and others in the region as the master puppeteer behind the crisis in Egypt?
Beauty in the eye of the political storm
July 2013 – Can the skin-deep world of the Miss Israel beauty pageant help combat the ugly face of discrimination and prejudice against Palestinians in Israel?
Muhammad al-Durrah and the other ‘blood libel’
May 2013 – By suggesting that Muhammad al-Durrah’s death was staged, Israel’s government may not be the victim of a ‘blood libel’ but the originator of one.
May 2013 – A shop called Hitler in Egypt raises some uncomfortable questions about Arab perceptions of the Nazi dictator.
Obama, enough listening, it’s time to act
March 2013 – Barack Obama’s plan to “listen” when he visits Israel and Palestine is not enough, the US president must take act to launch a people’s peace process.
Reading between the lines of the Middle Eastern media
February 2013- Despite its bottom ranking in the Press Freedom Index, the Middle Eastern media is freer than it appears at first sight.
Palestinian liberation through the Israeli ballot box
January 2013 – Despite their marginalisation or disenfranchisement in Israeli politics, Palestinians can use Israel’s democratic tools to their advantage.
Israeli elections: When there’s nothing left to lose
January 2013 – With Israel expected to elect its most right-wing government ever, what can progressive Arab and Jewish voters do to challenge the status quo?
December 2012 – My time in Israel and Palestine, where everything is politics, has taught me that it is the human that is holy, not the land.
Occupational hazards in the West Bank
December 2012 – While the world’s attention was turned to Gaza, stealthier military manoeuvres in the West Bank were pushing more Palestinians off their land.
Israel and Gaza: When attack is the worst form of defence
November 2012 – As the fog of war distort people’s vision and compassion, can Israeli and Palestinian reject the strategy of violence offered by their leaderships?
The Arab world’s missed opportunities
November 2012 – Early Arab rejectionism and division unwittingly helped to build Israel and to lose Palestine, with the Palestinian people paying the heavy price.
Israel’s missed opportunities for peace
October 2012 – Israel has squandered so many opportunities for peace that its very identity as a ‘Jewish state’ is in jeopardy.
October 2012 – Israeli settlements are one of the greatest obstacles to peace, but could settlers also help build a Palestinian state?
The non-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
October 2012 – With the two-state solution relegated to the dustbin of history, the time has arrived to consider equal citizenship for Palestinians and Israelis.
The stick of boycott v the carrot of recognition
October 2012 – The targeted boycott of Israel should be complemented with Arab recognition of the Jewish state and grassroots engagement with ordinary Israelis.
Israel’s Wizard of Oz on the anarchy of Jewish civilisation
September 2012 – Israeli novelist Amos Oz believes that Jewish civilisation is founded on dissent and non-conformity, but how true is this?
Learning about the Holocaust… in Arabic
September 2012 – A joint trip to Jerusalem’s Holocaust Memorial provides Palestinians and Israelis with lessons in tragedy, pain and mutual respect.
School resumes with tough lessons for Bedouin kids
September 2012 – With their school slated for demolition, the children of Khan al-Ahmar wonder whether Israel believes that Bedouins do not deserve an education.
September 2012 – Children are the innocent victims and future perpetrators of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For their sake, a political solution must be found.
August 2012 – Is it possible for Israelis and Palestinians to find common refuge in their shared notions of exile and return?
Holy month, holy city, unholy Egyptian
August 2012 – Even for a non-believing Egyptian, Ramadan in Jerusalem – where the three Abrahamic faiths coincide and oft collide – is a fascinating experience.
Nearly sisters: the common cause of Israeli and Palestinian women
August 2012 – The fog of war obscures the similar challenges facing women in Israel and Palestine and how the conflict hinders them from finding common cause.
اغسطس 2012 – يعتقد ساسون سومخ، الشاعر والكاتب وصديق الأديب المصري الراحل نجيب محفوظ، ان الأدب يتسامى على السياسة
Half a day with the ‘last Arab Jew’
August 2012 – Sasson Somekh, critic and friend of the late Egyptian Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz, believes literature transcends politics and can bridge cultures.
Israel and Egypt’s other revolution
July 2012 – The creation of Israel sparked a revolution in Egypt, and Nasser, the legendary champion of the Arab cause, once sought peace with the Jewish state.
July 2012 – Living behind the ‘Zion Curtain’ reveals how alike Israelis and Palestinians are and how ordinary people must build common ground on this shared land.
Principle and pragmatism demand end to Gaza blockade
June 2012 – Both humanity and self-interest should compel Israel to end its inhumane siege of Gaza.
Safeguarding Arab media heritage… in Israel
June 2012 – The world’s largest Arabic-language press archive is located in Israel. Should Arabs use it or boycott it?
Rethinking the right of return
May 2012 – Palestinians understandably dream of return, but focusing on the right of return is standing in the way of other, more vital rights.
The battle for Palestinian memory
May 2012 – Palestinians run the risk of forgetting the Nakba and there are those who do not wish us to remember it. But our future freedom depends on our memory.
Video: Personal Palestine – Part 1: A disappearing world
May 2012 – In part I of this Palestinian great-grandmother’s story, she tells of the tranquil Jerusalem in which she spent her youth until disaster struck.
Mustafa Barghouti: “We are heading towards a Palestinian Spring”
May 2012 – Palestinian reformer Mustafa Barghouti on the demise of the peace process, the death of the two-state option and the dawning of the Palestinian Spring.
March 2012 – Africans in the Holy Land are challenging the whitewashing of their identities and are taking greater pride in their heritage.
Civil rights and wrongs in the Palestinian struggle
March 2012 – Young Palestinian activists are drawing inspiration from the civil rights movement, but are reluctant to redefine their struggle along similar lines.
Shlomo Sand: “I am not a Jew. I am an Israeli.”
March 2012 – Bestselling Israeli historian Shlomo Sand identity politics, political despair, why Lieberman is right… and drowning sorrows with Mahmoud Darwish.
‘Reel’ freedom in East Jerusalem
March 2012 – The reopening of a landmark East Jerusalem cinema could provide local Palestinians with a much-needed dose of ‘reel’ freedom. Read in Arabic
February 2012 – Despite the ugly war of words between Israelis and Arabs, Israel does also get some good press in the Arab world and has some surprising admirers.
February 2012 – Salama is young, unemployed and so cut off by Israeli settlements that he has almost nowhere to go and no friends to hang out with except his brother.
Travelling without political baggage
February 2012 – Israelis and Palestinians travelling together without their political baggage can help pave the way to the mutual respect eventual peace requires.
January 2012 – As Israeli-Palestinian peace talks fail again, it is time to build a New Canaan of diversity, tolerance and peace based on reimagined identities.
Hacking away at Arab and Israeli stereotypes
January 2012 – Cyber attacks on Israel shock those who see Arabs as backward, but there are less hostile ways to hack away at mutual stereotypes.
January 2012 – The banning of a Jewish festival this year in Egypt is wrong, both from a secular and religious perspective.
The power of Palestinian ingenuity
January 2012 – Outsiders are more likely to associate Palestine with statehood-pending than patent-pending, but innovation is crucial to building a better future.
Hebron settlers: The art of peace
January 2012 – The settlers in Hebron are widely regarded as the enemies of peace. That’s why I, as an Egyptian, decided it was essential to get to know them.
Part II – From secular America to religious Hebron
Part III – “We are not extremists”
Part IV – “I don’t like Tel Aviv, does that mean we should tear Tel Aviv down”
Part V – Palestinian people do not exist, are “PR bluff”
Part VI – Living with Palestinian “dhimmis”
December 2011 – The Holy Land is where Christmas began. But with the relative decline of Christianity there, does the yuletide still retain its spirit?
December 2011 – Following the successful Palestinian ‘freedom rides’, it’s time for Israeli ‘freedom riders’ to cross the barriers between the two peoples.
Israel’s Ahmadinejad and Iran’s Netanyahu
December 2011 – Ahmadinejad and Netanyahu are so alike it is hard to tell them apart. The best way to neutralise them is through a nuclear weapons-free Middle East.
November 2011 – Palestinian ‘freedom riders’ defiantly boarded a bus to Jerusalem. So is the next stop for the Palestinian struggle a mass civil rights movement?
Avoiding the ultimate price tag in Israel
October 2011 – With the rise in Jewish fanaticism, Israelis are faced with a paradox: peace with the Palestinians could stoke conflict within their own ranks but avoiding full-blown civil war requires an end to the occupation.
October 2011 – Although alcohol is ‘haraam’, Muslim societies have rarely managed to stay on the wagon, and vital parts of their culture have developed under the influence.
October 2011 – Left-wing Israelis do not buy Netanyahu’s scare tactics and look forward to living side by side with an independent Palestine.
Walking on the moon in Ramallah
September 2011 – As an Israeli and a Jew, Ramallah once seemed to be as distant as outer space. So joining the crowds celebrating the Palestinian UN bid was like a small step for a man but a giant leap for my mind.
A civil compromise to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
September 2011 – With the Palestinian bid to join the UN likely to get them nowhere, there is a more civil way out of the impasse that will give both Israelis and Palestinians what they want.
September 2011 – As a rare Egyptian in Jerusalem, I have felt something akin to being a B-list celebrity.
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- Photo: ©Khaled Diab
September 2011 – This special report features Palestinian, Israeli and other interested and knowledgeable voices who air their views on the significance and ramifications of the Palestinian quest to seek UN recognition.
Egypt and Israel: cold peace or cold war?
September 2011 – Relations between Israel and post-revolution Egypt are proving tetchy – but ordinary people hold the keys to peace.
September 2011 – Recognising the good qualities of the other side can be a first step to healing Arab-Israeli wounds.
Confessions of a ‘self-hating Arab’
August 2011 – Only self-hating Arabs and Jews can save the Middle East from itself.
Egypt, Israel and Palestine: towards the promised land of peace?
August 2011 – It is high time for Israelis and Palestinians – with grassroots support from Egyptians – to unlock their latent people’s power and forge a popular peace.
August 2011 – Ramadan is when Muslims fast and feast, but the holy month has something to offer those of other faiths, or none.
Can peace be as simple as child’s play?
August 2011 – Palestinian and Israeli children are victims of the conflict they have inherited. So can joint schools help them learn to live together?
Riding the school bus together in Jerusalem
July 2011 – Bilingual Hebrew-Arabic schooling has the potential to build bridges between Palestinians and Israelis. So why aren’t there more of them? Arabic version
July 2011 – Both time and space are running out for the two-state solution. If Israelis wish to preserve the Jewish identity of their state, they need to act now to create a Palestinian state.
July 2011 – Israelis and Arabs tend to believe that they share little in common. But in reality they are more alike than they like to admit.
Which comes first: Palestine or the Palestinians?
June 2011 – Rather than grant them statehood, Palestinian plans to go to the UN could backfire. Instead, come September, the Palestinians should formally hand over control of the Occupied Territories to Israel and demand full citizenship.
June 2011 – Can Israelis and Palestinians learn something about building bridges between divided communities from the Egyptian revolution?
Jerusalem: the city where peace lost its way
June 2011 – Although it is called the ‘House of Peace’, Jerusalem’s reality is that of conflict and dwindling hope. But can this divided city ever live up to its name?
June 2011 – Rather than an almost miraculous blessing, Israel’s six-day victory in 1967 has proven to be a naksa for Israelis and Arabs alike.
Reinventing the Palestinian struggle
May 2011 – Inspired by the Arab spring, a new generation of Palestinians plan to fight the occupation with olive branches.
Recognising the weakness of mutual rejectionism
May 2011 – Palestinian reconciliation offers a golden opportunity for a peace deal. But reaching one requires Israelis, Palestinians and the international community to recognise some hard facts.
February 2011 – The Egyptian revolution could usher in freedom to the Middle East, but Arabs and Israelis must break free of the chains of prejudice, history and fear.
February 2011 – A democratic Egypt will not go to war with Israel, but for the cold peace to thaw, Israel must ends its occupation.
توجهات جديدة للنزاع العربي الإسرائيلي
ديسمبر 2010 – تتجاوز القضية الأخلاقية لصالح زيادة التفاهم في أهميتها قضية انتهاك حقوق النشر، حسب رأي الصحفي خالد دياب، رداً على قرصنة ترجمة رواية مصرية مشهورة إلى العبرية
EU: from soft to soft power of Israel
November 2010 – Rather than quietly walking down the aisle with Israel, the EU should harness its formidable ‘soft power’ to promote peace.
Novel approaches to the Arab-Israeli conflict
November 2010 – Despite infringing on the author’s copyright and wishes, the unauthorised Hebrew translation of a bestselling Egyptian novel highlights how the word can help blunt the sword.
October 2010 – Should organisations raising money for foreign militaries or to perpetuate occupations enjoy charitable status?
قرارات المحاكم الأخيرة في مصر وإسرائيل تُظهِر مدى الشك الذي وصل إليه اليهود والعرب الإسرائيليين
September 2010 – Arabs and Israelis tend to view personal relationships that cross the divide between them with suspicion, perhaps because individual love has the power to undermine collective hate.
Peace summit or the height of folly?
August 2010 – Can an activists’ peace summit at the top of Mont Blanc help bridge the abyss of Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
July 2010 – A return to an ancestral homeland is a dream that’s long inspired diasporas – often with troubling results.
Love and loathing in the Middle East
June 2010 – By calling Egyptians who marry Israelis traitors, Egypt has betrayed a group of vulnerable people who are guilty of little more than loving across enemy lines.
May 2010 – Jordanian journalists believe they do not enjoy enough freedom – a malaise shared with the rest of the Middle East. But why?
سبيل للخروج من فوضى الشرق الأوسط
يناقش خالد دياب بأن انتشار الأسلحة النووية سوف يستمر طالما استمرّينا في التعامل مع ترسانة إسرائيل النووية
A way out of the Middle East’s critical mess
May 2010 – As Barack Obama seeks to tackle the proliferation of nuclear weapons, it is high time for Israel to dismantle its nuclear arsenal.
March 2010 – The Camp David accords between Egypt and Israel remain controversial, but Arabs and Israelis can draw lessons from Anwar el-Sadat’s quest for peace.
January 2010 – Israel is building a new anti-migrant barrier along its Egyptian border – leaving Mubarak’s regime with one problem fewer.
التسوية الفلسطينية عبر الصندوق الانتخابي
قد حان الوقت لمحمود عباس أن يذهب بكرامته وفتح المجال للشعب لكي يقررعبر صندوق الاقتراع
Palestinian reconciliation through the ballot box
October 2009 – To break the destructive deadlock between Fatah and Hamas, Mahmoud Abbas should step down as Palestinian president, call immediate elections and organise referenda on the future course of the Palestinian struggle.
Middle East: a Belgian solution?
October 2009 – Northern Ireland offers one model for Israeli-Palestinian peace. But a dose of Belgian pragmatism wouldn’t go amiss either.
يمثل صعود حماس والليكود ويسرائيل بيتنا إلى السلطة تصلّباً مخيفاً للرؤى الوطنية لا يبشر بالخير للمستقبل. بدلاً من أن تستحوذ عليهم كيفيّة تصادم هوياتهم، يحتاج الإسرائيليون والفلسطينيون لأن يركزوا المزيد من الاهتمام على النواحي التي تتداخل حياتهم عبرها
August 2009 – Instead of obsessing over how their identities clash, Israelis and Palestinians need to focus more attention on where they mesh.
Who’s responsible for the Arab world’s mess?
August 2009 – A UN report has reignited the controversy over who is to blame for the sorry state of the Arab world: Arabs or the West?
Grassroots change we CAN believe in
June 2009 – One of Barack Obama’s winning campaign slogans was “change we can believe in”. And with his presidency, everything has changed and nothing has changed when it comes to US foreign policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
تغيير على مستوى الجذور نستطيع أن نؤمن به
كان أحد شعارات حملة باراك أوباما الناجحة “تغيير نستطيع أن نؤمن به”. ومع توليه الرئاسة، تغير كل شيء، إلا أن شيئاً لم يتغير بالنسبة لسياسة الولايات المتحدة الخارجية تجاه النزاع الإسرائيلي الفلسطيني
April 2009 – A new book lifts the veil off Israel’s Arab face and shows how, like the Palestinians, Middle Eastern Jews fell victim to political forces beyond their control.
April 2009 – Although the Israeli-Palestinian media battlefield is bitter and deeply entrenched, journalists have a responsibility to venture into the no man’s land between the two sides, even if it means getting caught in the crossfire.
رغم أن ساحة الحرب الإعلامية الإسرائيلية الفلسطينية تشوبها المرارة وهي متحصنة جيداً، إلا أن على الصحفيين مسؤولية المغامرة في الأرض الحرام بين الجانبين، حتى لو عنى ذلك الوقوع في خط مرمى النار
The Middle East media frontline
March 2009 – Pro-Israelis and pro-Palestinian need to join forces and find common ground in the no-man’s-land of the media battlefield. Read talk
February 2009 – The Dutch have employed some novel flower power to persuade Israel to relax its embargo on Gaza. Now it’s time to end the blockade.
February 2009 – As the dust settles on Gaza, is the best vision for the future of the Middle East a one, two or three-state solution?
January 2009 – The economic rewards of peace are supposed to lure Israelis and Palestinians away from conflict. But what if war is its own reward?
January 2009 – Rafah, a city divided between Gaza and Egypt, and between war and peace, prays for the opening of the border crossing.
September 2008 – Belief in the sacredness of the holy land has long bedevilled the quest for peace. It’s time to challenge the ‘God veto’.
September 2008 – With neither a two-state or bi-national solution imminent, Palestinians and their Israeli allies should attend to civil rights.
August 2008 – Israeli voters should give their next leader a clear mandate to negotiate an equitable peace with Syria.
August 2008 – A return to the negotiating table is encouraging, but Syria will have to make a daring gesture to win Israeli public sympathy.
The human cost of cluster bombs
September 2008 – Cluster bombs continue to hurt people and their livelihoods years after they were dropped.
Disarming the bomb in the basement
August 2008 – Israel’s weapons policy jeopardises the country’s own security and undermines efforts to create a nuclear-free Middle East.
Israeli elections: When there’s nothing left to lose
