Aug
30
2004
The past few weeks have shown that Palestinian president Yaser Arafat can’t be put into a predictable box. Just when it was thought that Arafat was on the ropes and going down, he emerged stronger than before. And just when people thought that the up and coming Mohammad Dahlan was down and out (some even predicted that he would be killed if he stepped foot in Ramallah’s Muqata’a) he gets invited to a one on one meeting with Arafat. The first meeting has been followed by a second meeting on Wednesday and the rumor now is that he is being considered again for the position of interior minister within the reform cabinet that Arafat and Abu Ala’a are under pressure to deliver. Continue Reading »
Aug
27
2004
The hunger strike initiated by thousands of Palestinian prisoners on Aug. 15 is a powerful non-violent act. While no one expects Israeli officials to welcome this act of protest, the utterances of senior Israeli officials wishing the Palestinian prisoners to starve to death and stating that they will refrain from providing hospitalization to the prisoners whose health is deteriorating is sickening. Continue Reading »
Aug
07
2004
No one is indifferent to Al Jazeera, the Qatari-based Arab satellite television station. You can sense the blood of U.S. officials boil when they discuss it. To be sure, in the context of the dream of all Arabs being united and independent of foreign control, Al Jazeera is undeniably partial to Arab aspirations. But that does not make its news reporting untruthful. Continue Reading »