Saudi conduct of its ill-fated war in Yemen coupled with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s alignment with the Trump administration and Israel, and his often coercive approach to diplomatic relations, has opened the door to challenges of the kingdom’s moral leadership of the Sunni Muslim world, a legitimizing pillar of the ruling Al Saud family’s…
Israeli ceasefire terms are one-way, demanding everything, giving nothing in return but empty promises – breached every time made. They’re all about affording to itself the right to use indiscriminate, disproportionate force against defenseless Palestinian civilians – the right to kill, maim, and otherwise brutalize them with impunity, while denying them the right of self-defense….
Britain seems to be going through a period of ritual flagellation. The Labour Party is tearing itself apart in order to assuage charges of anti-Semitism that seem to rain down on it from all sides. But in order to understand the true motivation behind Labour’s anti-Semitism charges, it’s important to focus less on the actual…
Years ago, I had a friendly discussion with Ariel Sharon. I told him: “I am first of all an Israeli. After that I am a Jew.” He responded heatedly: “I am first of all a Jew, and only after that an Israeli!” That may look like an abstract debate. But in reality, this is the…
Hindsight is unfair – but it might tell the truth. First, Donald Trump proclaims Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, thus depriving the Palestinians of their capital in the east of the city. The Palestinians are appalled. Mahmoud Abbas says he will no longer talk to the United States. So Trump rages that “we pay…
With multiple Middle Eastern disputes threatening to spill out of control, United Arab Emirates minister of state for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash acknowledged what many in the Middle East have long said privately: the UAE’s recently-found assertiveness and determination to punch above its weight stems from its inability to rely on traditional allies like the…
