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In-Depth Coverage

Original Commentaries

11/13/08
The View from Gaza  —Taghreed El-Khodary, New York Times journalist in Gaza and Harvard University Nieman Fellow (2005-2006). Interviewed by Middle East Bulletin.
11/04/08
Getting on the Right Track  —Dalia Rabin, chairperson, Rabin Center, and daughter of the late Yitzhak Rabin. Interview with Middle East Bulletin.
10/23/08
Bottom-Up Meets Top-Down for Progress  —Robert Danin, Head of Mission, Office of Quartet Representative Tony Blair and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs. Interview with Middle East Bulletin.

Setting the Record Straight

U.S. Policy Strengthens Iran

"Simply put, without permanent bases in Iraq, a nuclear capable Islamic Republic cannot be contained."
—Michael Rubin, resident scholar, American Enterprise Institute, "Can a Nuclear Iran Be Contained or Deterred?" Middle Eastern Outlook, November 5, 2008 versus
  • “[B]y attacking Iraq, we automatically made Iran a regional power. We took out their major adversary in Iraq, and we neutralized, if only temporarily, the Taliban, on the other side. And so now we see not only that they are regional powers, but clearly indications of aspirations to be perhaps a hegemon in the area, their role in Iraq, their role in Syria, in Lebanon as well. And I can tell you, and I think you’ve heard it already, that there is real fear among the GCC countries about where all of this is going. All of them have minorities, in one case it’s not a minority, it’s a majority of Shias, and as the Sheika correctly pointed out, they can’t exchange Iran for some place else.”
    —General Joseph P. Hoar (USMC, Ret.), former commander of U.S. Central Command (1991-94), National Council On U.S.-Arab Relations, 17th Annual Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference, October 30, 2008

    • Middle East Analysis

    Palestinian and Israeli Co-existence Education Programs

    July 20, 2007

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

    Givat Haviva
    Founded in 1949, Givat Haviva’s youth programs bring together young Jewish and Arab Israelis for peace education through mediated discussion, athletics, and the arts. Their “Children Teaching Children” program pairs Arab Israeli and Jewish Israeli middle school classes for dialogue and exchange, and is part of the formal Israeli education curriculum.

    Hand in Hand
    Hand in Hand operates three bi-lingual schools for Jewish and Arab Israeli students in Jerusalem, Galilee and Wadi Ara. In each classroom, pairs of Jewish and Arab teachers follow an educational model based on diversity, community involvement, and democracy promotion.

    MEET (Middle East Education Through Technology)
    A computer science and business program for gifted Palestinian and Israeli students. The three-year program, held in Jerusalem, is planned and run by MIT students and faculty as well as local Palestinian and Israeli staff.

    Neve Shalom – Wahat al-Salam
    Cooperative Israeli-Palestinian village, equi-distant from Jerusalem and Ramallah. Operates a multi-cultural and bi-lingual educational system for local children to promote tolerance and cross cultural understanding.

    PeaceChild Israel
    Co-existence education program promoting democratic values, tolerance and respect through theatre and arts workshops for Jewish and Arab Israeli teenagers. A member of Peace Child International.

    Peace Research Institute in the Middle East
    Israeli and Palestinian academics pursuing peacemaking through joint research efforts. Their current projects include promoting the side-by-side teaching of Palestinian and Israeli historical narratives in Israeli and Palestinian high schools.

    Seeds of Peace
    International organization seeking to empower future leaders in regions of conflict. Youth from across the Arab world, Israel and the Palestinian territories attend summer camp programs together and build on those programs to practice co-existence, cultural exchange, and conflict resolution.