Mideast

Education, jobs must be MidEast priority - UAE min

Sat, 25 May 2013 07:47:00 GMT

Source: www.arabianbusiness.com --- Saturday, May 25, 2013
UAE economy minister says gov'ts must fulfil aspirations of key under-25 year old demographic ...

Little Support in Washington for Kerry’s Mideast Efforts

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:27:06 GMT

Source: www.lobelog.com --- Friday, May 24, 2013
by Mitchell Plitnick While Secretary of State John Kerry was in Israel declaring his aim to “exhaust all the possibilities of peace” to try to stop wasting the Obama Administration’s time and energy on the futile effort to find a resolution to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, Congress was illustrating once again why the United States cannot play a constructive role in this conflict. Congressional activity this month has been largely focused on Iran and, to a lesser degree, Syria. But a few events demonstrated that, despite President Barack Obama’s lofty goals and rhetoric about peace, Congress has continued its long-term, bi-partisan shift to the right on this issue. Interestingly, one of the most illustrative examples was actually a bill in support of peace and a two-state solution to the conflict. That bill, H.Res.238 , titled “Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding United States efforts to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace,” was brought by California Democrat Barbara Lee, one of the most ardent pro-peace voices in Congress. The bill is mostly unremarkable; it does nothing more than re-state what is, ostensibly, long-standing US policy. Yet, if anyone was paying any attention to the bill, they would notice that one of the provisions “calls on the Israeli Government to cease support for and to prevent further settlement expansion in the Occupied Territories.” This is, of course, official US po ...

Mideast must take hard decisions: Kerry

Sat, 25 May 2013 00:14:01 GMT

Source: www.sbs.com.au --- Friday, May 24, 2013
US Secretary of State John Kerry has been pressing Israel and the Palestinians to resume direct peace talks that broke down in September 2010. ...

Ending Mideast Visit, Kerry Calls for Leadership

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:56:57 GMT

Source: www.nytimes.com --- Friday, May 24, 2013
After meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials, Secretary of State John Kerry urged them to “demonstrate leadership” to find a way back to direct peace talks. ...

The Mideast Crack-Up | Tablet Magazine By David Samuels Q: Our...

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:37:25 GMT

Source: crisisgroup.tumblr.com --- Friday, May 24, 2013
The Mideast Crack-Up | Tablet Magazine By David Samuels Q: Our current maps of the Middle East were drawn by British and French cartographers after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I. Are the lines on those maps about to change? Or is this simply a moment of local bloodshed that will get cleaned up once governments—in Baghdad, Damascus, Washington, Ankara, Jerusalem, Moscow, Beirut, Beijing, Ramallah, etc.—draft a few well-worded accords? Nathan Thrall: Long-lasting as many minority regimes proved to be, it hardly seems the case, as David Goldman suggests, that they were the “only possible stable government.” Egypt since the 1952 revolution lasted longer than minority regimes elsewhere in the region, yet it was not ruled by Copts. The Saudi regime has outlasted rivals, yet it is not made up of Saudi Shiites. Iran is not governed by Azeris. Turkey is not under Kurdish control, and Palestinian citizens of Israel have not taken over the Jewish state. Without doubt we are witnessing the strongest challenge yet posed to the post-Ottoman order in the Levant. With every passing day, Syria comes to more closely resemble an earlier period in its history, when the French briefly divided the territory into statelets containing Druze, Alawite, Sunni, and Maronite majorities—the last of which survived to became modern-day Lebanon. The current Syrian civil war threatens to spill over into Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, ...

Kerry Focuses On Mideast Peace Talks, Not Settlements

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:59:57 GMT

Source: swtimes.com --- Friday, May 24, 2013
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Kerry Holds Talks in Bid to Revive Mideast Peace Process

Fri, 24 May 2013 02:11:08 GMT

Source: www.nytimes.com --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
Secretary of State John Kerry ramped up efforts, saying, “This moment is a critical one for the region and particularly for Israel, for Palestine and for Jordan.” ...

U.S. willing to keep Assad in the picture to avoid threat of all-out Mideast war ~ Haaretz

Thu, 23 May 2013 22:52:00 GMT

Source: stopmakingsense.org --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
by Zvi Bar’el Haaretz ‘The rationale for avoiding foreign military intervention in Syria , which is based on the fear of an outbreak of regional war, continues to lose relevance. The chances for a negotiated solution to the conflict between the rebels and the regime of Syrian leader Bashar Assad are poor and the tragic humanitarian crisis hasn’t yet moved even one of the world powers to action. Barring a decisive military outcome in the near future, the Syrian civil war is likely to continue for years and lead to violent spillovers in neighboring countries like the recent terror attacks in Turkey, the power struggles in Lebanon, the threat of Al-Qaida in Jordan and fire directed at Israel. In fact, just on Tuesday, Syria took responsibility for the first time for fire directed toward Israeli army vehicles. More seriously, Israel is already involved in the conflict and is threatening to topple the Assad regime. The Turkish army is maintaining a level of high preparedness along its border with Syria. The strengthening forces of the Jordanian army are prepared to respond, and Iran and Hezbollah are already participating in battles. Under such conditions, the initiative to determine when and if to set off the regional powder keg has fallen into Assad’s hands. The recognition of this threat is what stands at the center of the United States’ agreement to leave Assad in power as long as negotiations will be conducted with the rebels. Th ...

WHO: Competition, rules dispute mar efforts to combat new Mideast virus that has killed 22

Thu, 23 May 2013 21:47:10 GMT

Source: www.startribune.com --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
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Mideast Christians unite in prayer for abducted bishops

Thu, 23 May 2013 20:55:00 GMT

Source: www.catholicnewsagency.com --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
Aleppo, Syria, May 23, 2013 / 02:55 pm ( CNA/EWTN News ).- Orthodox and Catholic Christians in the Middle East gathered this week to pray for and appeal for the realease of two Orthodox bishops who were kidnapped in Syria one month ago. “We renew our request for the abductees to...release the two Archbishops without hurting their health or physical situation; and release all other abducted priests and innocent civilians,” the Syriac and Greek Orthodox archdioceses of Aleppo said May 22. “We trust that the mercy of the one God whom we all believe in, will guide the abductees and induce them to release the Archbishops without any pre-conditions, because there is no price equals the freedom of the two Archbishops, and no condition equals their safe return to their communities and churches.” Just over a month ago, on April 22, Archbishop John Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church and Archbishop Paul Yagizi of the Greek Orthodox Church were kidnapped by armed men who killed their driver, Deacon Fatha' Allah Kabboud. The bishops were abducted on their way back from the Turkish border, where they were negotiating the release of two priests, Fathers Michael Kayyal and Maher Mahfouz, who had themselves been kidnapped Feb. 9. Last weekend, Christians in Aleppo gathered for an ecumenical prayer service at the city's Greek Orthodox cathedral. It was attended by Bishop Antoine Audo, the Chaldean Catholic bishop of the Aleppo eparchy. He told ...

Kerry, Hague Try to Revive Mideast Talks

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:35:19 GMT

Source: www.voatibetanenglish.com --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
The top diplomats of the United States and Britain have made a joint attempt to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks by shuttling between Jerusalem and Ramallah to meet the leaders of both sides. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and British Foreign Secretary William Hague held separate meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, saying they hope to make progress in restarting the negotiations. The two diplomats also met separately with Palestinian President ... ...

Mideast situation/Palestinian question - Special Coordinator Serry briefs SecCo - Verbatim record (excerpts) 22/05/2013

Thu, 23 May 2013 18:00:56 GMT

Source: unispal.un.org --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
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Kerry at Mideast corner of optimism and skepticism

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:38:20 GMT

Source: security.blogs.cnn.com --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
By Elise Labott, reporting from Jerusalem If there is one thing Israelis and Palestinians can agree on, it's that John Kerry doesn't lack enthusiasm. Arriving in Israel on Thursday on his fourth trip since taking office, the secretary of state seems determined that shuttle diplomacy will be enough to coax Israelis and Palestinians into restarting long-stalled talks. Kerry has made it clear the Israeli-Palestinian issue will be the centerpiece of his tenure as America's top diplomat and hopes solving it will be his legacy. He has spent more time on this issue than any other, is in almost daily contact with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and speaks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas several times a week. Kerry is confident he is the man to solve the conflict, now a half-century-old. Kerry feels the decades he has spent working on this issue and longstanding relationships with the regional leaders has earned him the trust needed to hammer home a deal. But U.S. officials lament that Kerry still acts like a senator - mostly working the issue with input from only a few close aides and leaving the majority of the State Department's senior staffers out of the loop. Even with the parties themselves, Kerry has been tight-lipped about his peace plan. But Israeli and Palestinian officials say he has begun to lay out broad strokes on how to get the parties back to the table. The package Kerry is working on is said to include ...

Mideast situation/Palestine question - SecCo 6969th meeting - Provisional agenda 22/05/2013

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:59:33 GMT

Source: unispal.un.org --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
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In Mideast, Kerry Plays Down Pessimism on Peace

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:51:12 GMT

Source: www.nytimes.com --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
On his fourth visit to the area in two months, Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged the doubts being expressed on both sides over his chances of revitalizing the peace process. ...

Hague: Mideast peace a priority

Thu, 23 May 2013 14:56:36 GMT

Source: www.maannews.net --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
Date 23/05/2013, 17:16 (Jerusalem) ...

Kerry in Mideast, Looks to Jump-Start Peace Talks

Thu, 23 May 2013 13:25:00 GMT

Source: www.voanews.com --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is holding another round of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders aimed at getting the two sides to restart their stalled peace negotiations. ...

U.S., Israel raise hopes for Mideast peace restart

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:52:01 GMT

Source: www.washingtontimes.com --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
JERUSALEM (AP) — The United States and Israel raised hopes Thursday for a restart of the Middle East peace process, despite little tangible progress so far from U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry's 2-month-old effort to get Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table. As they met in ... ...

In Jerusalem, Kerry and Netanyahu raise hopes for possible Mideast peace talks restart

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

Source: www.canada.com --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
JERUSALEM - The United States and Israel raised hopes Thursday for a restart of the Middle East peace process, despite little tangible progress so far from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's two-month-old effort to get Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table. ...

US, Israel raise hopes for Mideast peace restart

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:37:49 GMT

Source: www.denverpost.com --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
JERUSALEM—The United States and Israel raised hopes Thursday for a restart of the Middle East peace process, despite little tangible progress so far from U. ...