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Analysis: Meshal loses control of Hamas military wing as authority moves to Gaza leadership
Though he is expected to keep his position following an internal Hamas vote in the next few weeks, Khaled Mashaal, leader in exile of the Islamist movement, has lost his control over both the budget and the military wing which are now controlled by the Gaza-based leadership. This reflects a larger shift of authority within … Continue reading
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Jonathan Schanzer argues that the West Bank, under President Mahmoud Abbas’s authority, is becoming a police state. His allegations are based primarily on a number of crackdowns on free speech, mainly journalists, newspapers and TV stations that have been critical of president Abbas in the last few years. All evidence seems to tell us that these crackdowns … Continue reading
In this article, Gareth Porter analyses Iran’s strategy for negotiations with the United States, for the past ten years. He explains how uranium enrichment and the subsequent development of nuclear capabilities act as the main bargaining chip in Iran’s negotiation strategy with the United States. He also gives us the aims of the Iranian strategy and what their demands to … Continue reading
Doron Rosenblum argues that contrarily to Netanyahu’s views, Israel is not getting stronger but in fact weaker or as he puts it “more fragile”. Rosenblum says that Israel “appears enclosed in a bizarre egocentric bubble” and is suffering from “existential anxiety”, because it sees every move or political process to critic the government as a conspiracy against the … Continue reading
The article analyses the current situation in Gaza, after more than 5 years of Hamas administration. Palestinians who are interviewed say that, when they elected Hamas 5 years ago, they expected more of the party. They are disappointed that the economic situation only seem to have gotten worse, and that Hamas officials mainly work for their own … Continue reading
Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States and founder of the Carter Center, argues that a two-state solution is in Israel’s best interests. According to Carter, Israel’s policies are nevertheless directed towards one “greater Israel” from the River Jordan towards the Mediterranean Sea. He argues that this one state solution would eventually lead to either Israelis … Continue reading
The author of the article, MJ Rosenberg, argues that so called “pro-Israel” policy makers in mainly the US are not lobbying in favor of a well-working state of Israel, but just in favor of Israeli policies that are mainly targeted at repressing Palestinians. His main argument is that Israel can only survive if the two-state … Continue reading
The Assad government will have to face a full scale insurgency – foreign sponsored – , a “neo-mujahideen” struggle that looms over Syria according to Victor Kotsev. He argues that countries with the greatest stakes in Syria, namely: Turkey, United States and Russia and of course Syria itself are all using the failed ceasefire and … Continue reading
While the rest of the region is subject to intense movements of protest, Noah Browning attempts to explain why such massive demonstrations did not take place in the Palestinian territories. According to the author, it is the division of the Palestinian leadership, the lack of support for movements of protests against Israel by this very … Continue reading
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