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In-Depth Coverage

Original Commentaries

08/07/08
How to Deal with Jerusalem  —Lt. Col. (Res.) Ron Shatzberg, Project Director, Economic Cooperation Foundation. Interview with Middle East Bulletin.
08/07/08
How to Deal with Jerusalem  —
08/05/08
Why Did Maliki Call for a Timeline?  —by Christopher Kojm who teaches at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and is a former senior advisor to the Iraq Study Group. Original Commentary for Middle East Bulletin.

Setting the Record Straight

Already Divided

“Even the Arab minority in the city has shown its preference for living under Israeli rule, as many have moved to the Israeli side of the security barrier being built around Jerusalem. Their choice is reasonable, as Jerusalem offers the quality of life of a modern western city while only a few kilometers away the norm is a third world standard of living, chaos and religious intolerance. An undivided Jerusalem is the best guarantee of a better life for all Jerusalemites.”
—Nathan Diament, Director of Public Policy, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, July 23, 2008 versus
  • “Those who believe that Jerusalem should not be divided, and mean by that that the Arab neighborhoods should not be separated from the city, should be the first to insist that an active policy be adopted by the government and the municipality to improve the lot of local Arab residents. Barring that, Jerusalem will continue to remain a divided city.”
    —Moshe Arens, former Israeli defense and foreign minister (Likud), “A Story of Neglect,” Haaretz, July 28, 2008

    • Middle East Analysis

    The U.S. Walked Away

    June 18, 2007

    Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar Assad (AP)

    “Well, I think the administration walked away from the issues, serious consideration of issues, between the state of Israel and Palestine. Up until this administration, there always was a senior American on the ground trying to — not often successfully, but trying to broker some type of arrangements. This administration walked away from that.

    “And then when they had a situation where they could have strongly supported Mahmoud Abbas after the death of his predecessor, they vacillated. They continue to vacillate…

    “So there’s a series of, I think, mistakes. But the most difficult criticism, the most serious one, is that they simply sort of stepped away from it too long.”

    –Sen. Jack Reed, Chairman, Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, Senate Armed Services Committee, Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, June 17, 2007