A Hezbollah-Run Lebanon, but No Panic in Israel

by Isabel Kershner,  The New York Times For Israel, the prospect of a government in Lebanon backed by Hezbollah, one of Israel’s worst enemies, seemed to be the realization of a nightmare. Yet some analysts here said it was not necessarily an immediate cause for alarm. The previous Beirut government, led by Saad Hariri, “never…

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Latest Chapter in Mideast Tension: Mitchell vs. Ross

by NATHAN GUTTMAN, FORWARD —  The Israeli-Palestinian peace process may be near collapse, but the Washington turf wars surrounding it are still going strong, according to sources involved in the negotiations. The administration’s top Middle East hands — special envoy George Mitchell and White House adviser Dennis Ross — are increasingly at loggerheads, these sources…

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The U.N. Gangs Up on Israel—Again

by  ALAN M. DERSHOWITZ, WALL STREET JOURNAL —  Only a U.S. veto can prevent the adoption of a resolution that will make peace harder to achieve. Although I have opposed Israel’s civilian settlements in the West Bank since 1973, I strongly believe that the United States should veto a resolution currently before the U.N. Security Council…

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Peru formally recognizes Palestinian state

by Emet Report Peru said on Monday it had recognized a Palestinian state, joining a growing number of Latin American countries in making an endorsement the United States has called premature. Israel has warned that declarations by Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Bolivia, Ecuador and Guyana could undermine the Middle East peace process.  Peruvian Foreign Minister…

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‘Palestine papers’ bring more embarrassment to Arab leaders

by Sheera Frenkel, Jewish World Review Reaction to a trove of secret documents from Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations was fast and furious Monday, as Palestinians sought to defend or attack their leaders amid allegations that they had offered serious concessions on key issues. In Ramallah, the capital of the Palestinian Authority, a crowd rampaged against the…

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The Palestine Papers: Why didn't the Palestinians sign an agreement?

RYAN JONES, ISRAEL TODAY —  The British newspaper The Guardian and the pan-Arab news network Al-Jazeera created an uproar in the region on Sunday when they published previously classified documents detailing peace negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders over the past decade. The published documents have been dubbed “The Palestine Papers,” and they reveal that…

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Obama to withhold veto from Palestinian UN move to condemn Israeli settlements

by DEBKAfile Israel and the US are set for a collision if President Barack Obama stands by his refusal to veto a Palestinian-Arab motion due to be tabled at the UN Security Council condemning Israel for its settlement policy in the West Bank and Jerusalem, debkafile’s Washington sources report. If he did, he would be…

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PA says Al-Jazeera is declaring war on them

by Khaled Abu Toameh, JPost A senior Palestinian Authority official in Ramallah on Sunday strongly condemned the Al-Jazeera TV network for publishing hundreds of documents concerning the peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis. “Al-Jazeera has declared war on the Palestinians,” the official told The Jerusalem Post. “This station serves the interests of the enemies of…

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Huge cache of confidential Palestinian documents leaked

by Herb Keinon, JPost With the Palestinian Authority making an international incident over every plan to build in Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem beyond the Green Line, a cache of some 1,600 documents –mostly from the Palestinian Negotiating Unit — shows that in 2008 the PA was willing to recognize eventual Israeli control over all those…

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Copts, Christians, Jews and Other Minorities in the Middle East

by Franck Salameh, Hudson NY Happy New Year, even though this promises to be a year that is neither Happy nor Blessed for the world’s Coptic community. The Copts, the ancient Christians of modern Egypt, who can trace their proud roots back to Pharaonic times, have been undergoing a fierce and systematic eradication of their…

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