I and thou and death
The “Two State Solution” is a slogan not a solution. By David B. Kanin Washington has defaulted to the tried and failed idea... Read More
Israel
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
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
Israel is engaged in systematic self-destruction
No one can impose any moratorium on the Israeli freedom to discuss any number of views on any issue. This is one of the central... 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
Netanyahu personifies the corrupting force of power
In an open letter to Netanyahu in October, I wrote “It’s time for you to go. There is nothing you can do that others cannot... Read More
Israel’s fractured democracy and its repercussions
To be sure, whereas Israel made tremendous strides in just about all walks of life, Israel’s democracy is faltering. After 71 years of existence, the... 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
Risk of Israeli-Iranian war still looms high
There is nothing in the current crises with Iran that cannot be resolved through negotiations. But the continuing threats and counter-threats will gain increasing traction... Read More
The election will obliterate the face of Israel as we know it
Unlike any previous right-wing Israeli government, the formation of a new government under Netanyahu may well be the most decisive and consequential for Israel as... Read More
Warsaw Process toward a Conference on Security and Cooperation in the Middle East
From a city that suffered from violence and destruction during the Second World War, there goes out a banner of peace held by Citizens of... Read More
The betrayal of Israel’s historic promise
The new generation of Israeli leaders have a solemn duty to seek the unification of world Jewry, end the conflict with Palestinians, and champion the... Read More
Time to dump Netanyahu
The upcoming parliamentary election offers Israelis a historic opportunity to rid themselves of the revisionist, nationalist, and blindly zealous leaders like Netanyahu who have steered... 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 only Jewish state in the Middle East
Israel is proving to the world that it is most certainly not a state of all its citizens.
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
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.
Israel at seventy – time to celebrate and time to lament
No military might, fences, or walls will provide Israel the safety and security it seeks. Only peace forged from a position of strength would guarantee... Read More
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
“Army of Islam” – Erdogan’s plot against Israel
How many more sinister steps can Erdogan take before the EU and the US recognize that he is a threat against Western strategic interests? He... Read More
Is a war between Israel and Iran/Hezbollah imminent? – part two
The irony is that none of the players involved directly or indirectly in the civil war in Syria want to escalate the conflict by threatening... Read More
Is a war between Israel and Iran/Hezbollah imminent?
Hezbollah, with the full support of Iran, will maintain its threatening posture toward Israel by continuing its efforts to increase its stockpile of weapons, but... Read More
Donald and Bibi – the Blues Brothers
The following is a satirical would-be conversation between Prime Minister Netanyahu (Bibi) and President Trump (Donald) during Netanyahu’s upcoming visit to the White House on... 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.
Lebanon in the eye of the regional storm
Hizbollah’s proven armed capability in Syria, Israel’s perceived political defeat in 2006, coupled with a possible US and Saudi green light, may make confrontation inevitable.
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
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