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Middle East roundup

A miscellany of reports and commentary on the Middle East - which never seems to move out of the spotlight:

  • Iranian President Amhadinejad's visit to Lebanon underscores just how George W. Bush's vision of a new Middle East has been so thoroughly discredited. Bottom line: "First, Iran is not nearly as isolated as Washington would like; secondly, the Bush Administration efforts to vanquish Tehran and its allies have failed; and, finally, the balance of forces in the region today prompts even U.S.-allied Arab regimes to engage pragmatically with a greatly expanded Iranian regional role. Tony Karon writing on Time
  • Upcoming elections in Bahrain, Jordan, and Egypt are unlikely to change anything in their respective societies. Yet in both Egypt and Jordan in particular, opposition forces connected to the Muslim Brotherhood generally reckon that participation in a rigged system is still better than boycotting, lest any political space is abandoned for the future. The Economist
  • "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that “Israel is a Jewish state, yet it maintains equality and grants rights to all its citizens.” He is so wrong.

    I head the parliamentary committee on hiring Arabs in the public service. The Arabs constitute 20% of the population, yet make up roughly 6.5% of all public service employees. This figure says it all. It is very from equality and expresses social exclusion, marginalization, neglect, and mostly discrimination.

    There is almost no area of life here where equality between Arabs and Jews prevails – not in education, not in infrastructure, not in agriculture, not in industry, not in sports, not in employment, and most certainly not in earmarking land or in planning and construction." ynet news.com
  • "Ending an unofficial freeze on the construction of new building in East Jerusalem, Israel's Housing Minsitry announced that it is approving the construction of 238 new homes in a Jewish neighborhood. EastJerusalem had not been included in the Israeli governments temporary slowdown in settlement construction -- announced last November -- but the government had unofficially halted building in the area, which it claims as part of Israel's capital.

    The announcement is likely to deal a significant blow to the latest round of peace talks, which began in September. Palestinian negotiators have threatened to pull out of the U.S.-sponsored talks unless the settlement freeze is extended.

    "This announcement is a very clear-cut indication that the choice of Mr. Netanyahu is settlements, not peace," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said.The Israeli prime minister's office has not yet commented on the announcement." The FP Morning Brief



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