The occupation severely endangers, not enhances, Israel’s national security
The Israeli argument against the establishment of a Palestinian state on the grounds of national security concerns is baseless as it not only defies the... Read More
Palestine
A rare chance to chart a new course toward peace
There has never been an Israeli government representing the entire political spectrum from the extreme left to the extreme right. This offers a rare chance... Read More
A third Israeli-Hamas war – what’s next?
Now that a third Israeli-Hamas war has ended as inconclusively as the two previous wars, will both sides prepare for the next one, or let... Read More
There will be no peace without a process of reconciliation
No one should have the illusion that once a ceasefire is established, Israel and the Palestinians should or can negotiate a peace agreement. Given the... Read More
Jerusalem: a flashpoint for conflict or microcosm of peace
Regardless of how the current and future violent conflicts between Israel and the Palestinians in Jerusalem will end, there will be no Israeli-Palestinian peace unless... Read More
Biden’s mideast strategy and its geopolitical implications
The Biden administration’s new Middle East strategy is forcing regional powers to reassess their geostrategic interests and act in a manner that might end several... Read More
As a democracy, Israel shows no moral tenet: El-Halabi’s outcry for justice
It is a stain on Israel – a country that claims to be a beacon of democracy in the Middle East – to engage in... Read More
Normalization alone is not a path for Israeli-Palestinian peace
The current situation is not sustainable, certainly not in the long run. The sooner Israelis and Palestinians realize that they are stuck with one another,... Read More
The last chance for a viable two-state solution
The confluence of regional and international events offers the last chance for a viable two-state solution. Time favors neither side. The Palestinians must not miss... Read More
Israel and Palestinians: architects of their own destruction
If Israel proceeds with its plans of annexation and the Palestinians continue to hold onto their dead-end position, the result is all but certain. Continuing... Read More
The moral devastation of the continued occupation
To be sure, while Israel resorts to utilitarian arguments to justify its treatment of the Palestinians, in the process Israel reveals the classic pitfall of... Read More
Trump’s and Netanyahu’s folly
Preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state and enshrining the dream of Greater Israel that Netanyahu championed will be the nightmare of the right-wing Israelis,... Read More
Israel – a successful experiement?
The case of Israel makes us reflect on the challenges of the coexistence of different religious communities, with their own beliefs and traditions and, sometimes,... Read More
Netanyahu’s defunct strategy to keep Hamas at bay
There are many cynics who believe that peace between Israel and Hamas is nothing but an illusion. On the contrary, anyone who maintains that the... Read More
Should the US stop enabling Israel?
Given that only the US can persuade, pressure, or coerce Israel to agree to a two-state solution, the US must bear the moral responsibility to... Read More
Netanyahu is destroying both Israel and the Palestinians
To be sure, Netanyahu betrayed the very reason behind Israel’s creation—to live in peace, provide a safe refuge for the Jews, and foster strong and... Read More
The deal or the debacle of the century?
We are still waiting for the unveiling of Trump’s grandiose peace plans, which by all accounts is tailor-made to suit Netanyahu’s vision that precludes a... Read More
The Palestinian refugees – right vs. reality
The prospect of a two-state solution remains the only practical option, based on the 1967 line with significant land swaps. There is nothing new about... Read More
“The right of return” – to where?
A resolution to the refugee problem will also contribute greatly to resolving the conflict with Hamas, as the continuing humanitarian crisis has been fueling the... Read More
Israel and the Palestinian conflict – lessons from the peacekeeper’s toolbox
State-building in Gaza is essential, but it has a Catch-22 quality: there can be non state-building with Hamas but (for as long as they are... Read More
The law of shame that defies Jewish values
This deplorable new law forfeits the Jews’ dream of having a real democratic state in which they take pride; a just and benevolent state at... Read More
Protests in Gaza – changed perceptions from India
The worsening security situation that India faces today at its borders regions is making it see the violence in Gaza through the lens of Kashmir,... Read More
Hamas will invite war in the search for a long-term solution
Those who suggest that Hamas is irredeemable, as many Israelis contend, are simply wrong. Notwithstanding their public statements to the contrary, Hamas knows that Israel... Read More
An open letter to Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar
In the end, Mr. Haniyeh and Mr. Sinwar, you and successive Israeli leaders have made many fatal mistakes by missing repeated opportunities to end the... Read More
An open letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu
You, Mr. Netanyahu, have a solemn responsibility to end this conflict because not a single Israeli or Palestinian should die in a blood-soaked conflict that... Read More
Ain Al-Hilweh redux – what’s still Palestinian in those refugee camps?
Today, some 51 years following the establishment of Palestinian refugee camps on Lebanese soil (Ain al-Hilweh was among the first), we must ask ourselves a... Read More
Seventy years of Palestinian resistance since the establishment of the state of Israel
This month marks not only 70 years since the establishment of Israel and the Palestinian Nakba, but 70 years of ongoing Palestinian resistance.
Israeli and Hamas leaders must face the bitter reality
Israel and Hamas must drop any demand that cannot realistically be met, as it only casts serious doubts about each other’s ultimate intentions. Sadly, though,... Read More
The US’ enablement jeopardizes Israel’s future
Further enablement of Israel by the US will be the kiss of death to an Israeli-Palestinian peace and will make Israel a pariah state surrounded... Read More
When geopolitical conditions and moral values converge
There is no real adversary today that can potentially destroy Israel. Israel’s greatest enemy comes from within – its misguided leaders, whose blind messianic mission... Read More
Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the prospect of a two-state solution
Trump’s declaration does not in any way foreclose the Palestinians’ aspiration to establish their own capital in East Jerusalem, while maintaining the unity of Jerusalem... Read More
Will the Palestinians ever play their cards right?
Notwithstanding the deplorable Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the blockade over Gaza, blaming Israel solely for the Palestinians’ misfortunes while refusing to look... Read More
Gaza – a disaster in the making
The socio-economic conditions in Gaza are so horrendous that if nothing is done immediately, the whole area is bound to explode in the face of... Read More
Mapping hope in the Israel-Palestine conflict
Two graduate researchers have launched an ambitious project to map levels of hope (or hopelessness) for peace in the Israel-Palestine conflict, with the aim of... Read More
Israel’s intrusion into Palestinian Territories – reality or delusion?
It is community engagements and mediation that can pave the way for peaceful settlement of Israel-Palestine conflict, and not subjective political commentaries.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the role of President Macron
If President Macron wishes to assert himself on the international stage, as he has shown recently, he should convene, with the support of the European... Read More
After fifty years of occupation, what’s next – an open letter to President Mahmoud Abbas
I am known for calling on ending the occupation in any form, but I am also known to call it as I see it. This,... Read More
The unfinished Six Day War – an open letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu
History will not be kind to you, Mr. Netanyahu, unless you change course. It is time to reflect, because the destiny of the nation of... Read More
Fifty years of immoral occupation
It is time for both sides to rise and demand that their leaders compromise and come to terms with a reality that neither can change,... Read More
Trump’s ‘historic’ visit to the Middle East – much ado about nothing
Trump’s visit to the region was full of opulence and symbolism, with little or no substance. There was no progress in in the search for... Read More
Reviving Israeli-Palestinian talks now will go nowhere
There are three major impediments to Israeli-Palestinian peace process that must largely be mitigated before the resumption of any negotiations: a) there is profound distrust... Read More
The disunity of Israel’s opposition parties is serving the occupation
Whereas right-wing Israeli governments have maintained the occupation by any means available, including the use of force, the Israeli opposition parties from the left and... Read More
Israeli and Palestinian women must raise the banner of revolt
After 70 years, the tragedy of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must come to an end. Israeli and Palestinian women have the power to raise the banner... Read More
Can Israel fight a war on three fronts? A nightmarish scenario
Due to the increasing Iranian threat, Netanyahu should do everything in his power to negotiate a peace agreement with the Palestinians now in the context of... Read More
Trump and Netanyahu – embracing illusions, ignoring reality
What Netanyahu and Trump have demonstrated during their press conference was that both seem to revel in illusions where they find a zone of real... Read More
There will be no Palestinian state under Netanyahu’s watch
If Trump is serious about his desire to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for Israel’s own sake, he must demand that Netanyahu commit himself to create... Read More
Relocating the American Embassy to Jerusalem
Relocating the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem unconditionally will be a de facto recognition of Jerusalem, east and west, as the capital of... Read More
The shortcomings of the International Conference for Peace
The conference for peace between Israel and the Palestinians initiated by the French government that took place on January 15 in Paris could have made... Read More
Trump: “close the open hand out of love”
Trump’s appointments, coupled with a campaign promise to relocate the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, may well translate to unfettered support for settlements and the... Read More
Ensuring the success of the French initiative
The French Initiative to convene an international conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on January 15th is a momentous opportunity to offer a new approach that... Read More
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict – to where?
Every day that passes, the conflict becomes more intractable and creates new facts on the ground that may well be irreversible. A two-state solution remains... Read More
Lieberman – demonstrate your credibility
It takes a strong and determined leader to go against the current, and only by engaging Lieberman will the Palestinians be able not only to... Read More
Statesmanship versus demagoguery
Netanyahu will do well to think whether he wants to be remembered as the statesman who realized Peres’ dream, or the demagogue who led his... Read More
‘Hell is truth seen too late’
After seventy years of continuing violent conflict, the time has come to end the hellish conditions that the Israelis and Palestinians have created for themselves... Read More
The settlements – self-entrapment of existential proportions
Israel’s continued settlement activity – whether retroactively approving ‘unauthorized’ outposts or advancing plans for new units as was recently announced – represents yet another nail in the... Read More
Incentives and peace – part 2
Unless distrust, insecurity, and illusions are first addressed, no incentives – however sweeping and compelling – will motivate Israel and the Palestinians to make the critical concessions needed to... Read More
Incentives and peace – part 1
Unless distrust, insecurity, and illusions are first addressed, no incentives – however sweeping and compelling – will motivate Israel and the Palestinians to make the critical concessions needed to... Read More
UNSCR 1325 in practice – Israeli and Palestinian women speak up
In a world where women’s voices often are left out in matters of war and peace, one initiative is channeling the voices of Palestinian and... Read More
A movement to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
What is needed now is a mass mobilization of the people, led by major political figures who are committed to finding a solution to the... Read More
Moving beyond the Quartet
The Arab Peace Initiative (API) should not be considered as a mere device for directing the negotiating process, but rather as the central framework for... Read More
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