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Middle East Tag

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on March 17, 2020 30 Comments
Iran is "scaling back" on terrorist activities in the Middle East due to coronavirus outbreak, the Israel Defense Forces indicated on Monday. "There are countries who have gotten it way worse than us with this corona[virus] story, and as a result their activities are at a slower pace," IDF Spokesman Hidai Zilberman told reporters without naming Iran.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on January 26, 2020 27 Comments
Never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity, Palestinian leadership has decided to thwart U.S. President Donald Trump's peace plan by inciting mass protests, media reports suggest. "Palestinian officials warned over the weekend that US President Donald Trump’s plan for Mideast peace, which is expected to be announced on Tuesday, would spark a new wave of mass protests in the West Bank and Gaza Strip," the Jerusalem Post reported.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on December 12, 2019 8 Comments
Israel is heading for a third election in eleven months after repeated rounds of negotiations failed to yield a coalition government. In consecutive elections, which took place in April and September, neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party nor the opposition Blue and White alliance managed to secure a majority in a 120-seat Knesset, Israel's parliament.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on November 12, 2019 11 Comments
The climate cult group known as Extinction Rebellion is now taking its city-shutdown antics to the Middle East.
Off-shoots of the group that advocates peaceful protest as a way to pile on pressure to curb global warming are sprouting from Beirut to Doha, as activists in the oil-rich region want governments to ditch fossil fuels for renewable energy sources.

Posted by David Gerstman on May 21, 2019 10 Comments
Top Palestinian business leaders are following the lead of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and refusing to attend next month's economic workshop in Bahrain, The New York Times reported Monday. The report noted the objections of several prominent Palestinian businessmen. Their primary complaint echoed that of the PA: economic incentives cannot replace the necessary political elements of the peace process, the ending of the Israeli occupation.

Posted by David Gerstman on February 21, 2019 17 Comments
Once upon a time, not too long ago, The Washington Post was a somewhat reasonable voice on matters of foreign policy, especially regarding the Middle East. Since it supported the nuclear deal with Iran in 2015, and fought Donald Trump's election the following year, its views have become increasingly marginal.

Posted by Mary Chastain on November 24, 2017 6 Comments
Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammed bin Salman sat down with Thomas Friedman of The New York Times and offered up some very choice words for Iran's leader:
Iran’s “supreme leader is the new Hitler of the Middle East,” said M.B.S. “But we learned from Europe that appeasement doesn’t work. We don’t want the new Hitler in Iran to repeat what happened in Europe in the Middle East.” What matters most, though, is what Saudi Arabia does at home to build its strength and economy.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on November 16, 2017 0 Comments
In what amounts to a significant policy shift, Indian public sector companies are bidding for Israeli offshore oil and gas fields. A consortium led by India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is seeking drilling rights in 24 offshore blocks in Israel’s Mediterranean waters, Indian and Israeli newspapers reported on Wednesday. Last month, India's Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan indicated his country's intention to bid for Israeli oil-and-gas blocks. According to Israeli media reports, a high-ranking Indian delegation visited Israel in September "to discuss taking part in the tender for blocks in the Mediterranean Sea and Israeli officials said they were pleased with the visit."

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on September 25, 2017 10 Comments
Last week, we blogged about today's Kuridsh Independence referendum.  Yesterday's Kurdish independence rally attracted an enormous crowd, perhaps foreshadowing nearly 80% of the reported 3.9 million registered voters turning out at the polls today. Jubilant Kurds described today as "the best day of their life" and some even took to flying the Brazilian flag because there were no Kurdish ones left.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 05, 2017 16 Comments
Officials in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have all announced the countries have severed diplomatic ties with Qatar due to terrorism and extremism. From The Guardian:
The official state news agency, citing an official source, said Saudi Arabia had decided to sever diplomatic and consular relations with Qatar “proceeding from the exercise of its sovereign right guaranteed by international law and the protection of national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism”.
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