Israel and Turkey Announce Agreement to Restore Diplomatic Ties J. Dana Stuster, Foreign Policy  27 June 2016  Image: Israel and Turkey Announce Agreement to Restore Diplomatic Ties, Foreign Policy  Israel and Turkey formally announced an agreement to normalize diplomatic relations today. The agreement, which was finalized yesterday and has been hinted at by diplomats for weeks, will renew official diplomatic ties, including the exchange of

Palestinian, 15, Killed as Israeli Forces Sought to Halt Stone Throwing Isabel Kershner and Irit Pazner Garshowitz, The New York Times  21 June 2016  Image: A night raid by the Israeli army on the West Bank last week. Photograph: Abed Al Hashlamoun/EPA JERUSALEM — Israeli forces opened fire at a Palestinian car in the occupied West Bank early Tuesday, killing one Palestinian teenager and wounding four others, according to relatives and Palestinian

A Palestinian teen killed an Israeli mom. Now their families struggle with why. William Booth and Ruth Eglash, The Washington Post  31 May 2016  Image: The husband and son of Dafna Meir, 38, mourn as they stand beside her body during her funeral in Jerusalem in January. (Ronen Zvulun/Reuters) OTNIEL, West Bank — Natan Meir sat on the couch, his teenage daughter curled beside him, wrapped in a blanket, though the day was warm. He said the nights

As Hamas Tunnels Back Into Israel, Palestinians Are Afraid, Too    By DIAA HADID and MAJD AL WAHEIDI, The New York Times 21 May 2016 Image: Salma Najjar outside a makeshift shelter on the rubble of her home in Khuzaa in the Gaza Strip in October 2014, after the war between Israel and Hamas. Hamas is rebuilding tunnels from Gaza into Israel, and residents are worried about Israeli bombs dropping on their homes once again. Credit Wissam

In Blow to Hezbollah, Senior Commander Killed in Syria Hugh Naylor, The Washington Post 18 May, 2016 Image: An undated handout photo released on May 13, 2016, by Hezbollah's media office shows Mustafa Badreddine at an undisclosed location. (Agence France-Presse via Getty Images) BEIRUT — A Hezbollah commander described as the leader of its militia forces in Syria was killed in a mysterious blast in Damascus, the group said Friday. The explosion

The Outrage of Comparing Israel to the Nazis Seth Frantzman, The Algemeiner 10 May 2016 Image: Comparing lesser events to the meticulously planned genocide of Europe’s Jews in the Holocaust is both cheapening and a cheap trick, says the author. (Illustrative.) Photo: Wikimedia Commons.   At a UN meeting last Friday, the Venezuelan ambassador Rafael Ramirez listened to a presentation by an Israeli human rights organization about attacks on

Image: A Gathering of Bloggers – The Why About This, One United World. retrieved from www.thewhyaboutthis.com Burma/Myanmar: The first bill proposed by the incoming government of Myanmar’s new Parliament, led by the National League for Democracy, created a new position in the government for Aung San Suu Kyi, that of state counsellor. This position, one that has been compared to that of a Prime Minister, would skirt the constitutional ban

Top IDF General Calls Islamic State 'Our Enemy' Aron Heller, Haaretz Daily Newspaper 03 February  2016   Israel is sharing intelligence with allies battling the Islamic State despite remaining on the sidelines of Syria's civil war, a top Israeli general says, calling the terrorist group 'our enemy.'   A top IDF general said Wednesday that the Islamic State group is "our enemy" and that Israel is sharing intelligence with allies battling

The United States Should Admit It No Longer Has a Middle East Policy Stephen W. Malt, Foreign Policy 29 January 2016   If the current — and future — U.S. administration wants to battle the Islamic State, save Syria, and keep ties with Israel, it’s got to ditch the Cold War playbook. Do you know what the United States should do in the Middle East? The answer to that question used to be pretty obvious, but not anymore. For most of the past

American Blackmail By Sarah Stern, Israel Hayom 10 January 2016   Yossi Melman, noted Israeli author and security analyst, who is certainly no right-winger, wrote a piece in a recent edition of The Jerusalem Report which opens with: "The U.S administration is concerned about the possibility of a new confrontation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the International Atomic Energy Agency's latest nuclear shenanigans. 'We hope