Palestine: halfway point The Israel/Palestine talks led by John Kerry are now roughly halfway through their allotted nine months. Secrecy has been well maintained, but they appear to be passing through a crisis point, though pushed out of the headlines by news about Syria and Iran, as well as the Arafat story and the acquittal …
Jordan survives Reports of John Kerry’s brief visit to Jordan during his latest Middle East tour concentrate mainly on his meeting with the Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and his visit to a Syrian refugee camp.
Israel unsettled Recent political developments, above all the possibility of a thaw in US/Iranian relations and more generally a feeling of loss of control in Washington, have disconcerted Israeli opinion.
Jordan under pressure The kingdom of Jordan has always lived under the shadow of Syria, larger and widely perceived in the Arab world as more legitimate.
Lebanon: refugee burden grows An International Support Group for Lebanon was inaugurated in New York on 25 September, chaired by the UN Secretary-General and including Lebanon, US, UK, France, Russia, China, the EU, the Arab League, the World Bank and various UN agencies. A summary of the first meeting is at link.
Lebanon: waiting on Syria Of all Syria’s neighbours Lebanon is the most painfully affected by the civil war. The massive flow of refugees is putting Lebanese resources under unbearable strain.
Palestine: talking Very little information has been available about direct talks between Israeli and Palestinian delegations which have been meeting continuously since 29 July.
Israel and Saudi Arabia: unlikely partners The stagnant and relatively predictable Middle East scene of recent years has been rudely disturbed, following the Arab Spring, by the election of an Iranian president who appears to seek a more conciliatory policy towards both the Arab world and the wider world, the unpredictability of post-Mubarak Egypt, the …
Israel: a villa in the jungle In an article in the Guardian of 20 August the Israeli journalist Aluf Benn describes the normality of life in Israel contrasting with a deadly crackdown on protests in Egypt, civil war in Syria, car bombs in Lebanon, a refugee crisis in Jordan and sectarian war in Iraq.
Palestine: talks to begin Following initial meetings in Washington last month what Reuters calls “the real discussions” start today 14 August “with Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni facing Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat in Jerusalem’s King David Hotel.
