Jordan’s King Abdullah II wants Washington to “rebuild trust “after US President Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The king believes that East Jerusalem must be the capital of Palestine. According to him, from now on the US has a “major challenge to overcome”. “Friends occasionally have disagreements,” Mike Pence said ruefully in his comments on the outcome of…
On 21 August 1969, an Australian citizen called Denis Rohan set fire to an 800-year-old wooden pulpit, a gift to al-Aqsa mosque from the Islamic hero Saladin (1137-1193), who led the military campaign against the Crusaders. Apart from being considered mentally ill, Rohan thought he was acting on divine instructions. These were to enable the…
Anti-US protests erupted almost immediately after Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital – with greater demonstrations expected across the Muslim world, united in their support of the Palestinian cause. Palestinians were first to take to the streets following Trump’s Jerusalem decision – a potentially fatal blow to their future statehood ambitions – as…
Saudi Arabia is bypassing Jordan in its headlong rush to normalise relations with Israel, offering concessions on Palestinian refugees which could endanger the stability of the Hashemite kingdom, and compromise its status as the custodian of the holy sites in Jerusalem, a senior official close to the royal court in Amman has told Middle East…
Except for the State of Israel and the Kingdom of Jordan, there isn’t one state in Western Asia that is viable inside its present borders at a 20-year horizon. All the powers with interests in the region want to kick the problem down the road, and that is why the whole world (excepting Israel) wants…
Saudi Arabia came close to “conquering” Qatar, according to a recent email purportedly sent by the Emirati ambassador to the US, Yousef al-Otaiba. The claim came in a new batch of leaked emails, released online overnight on Wednesday, by an unknown party. In a May 2017 email thread with former US diplomat Elliot Abrams, Otaiba…
