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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

    The Barrier by the Numbers

    September 7, 2007

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

    Construction began: 2002

    Total length: 712 kilometers

    Length completed: 413 km (as of April 2007); 62 km are under construction; 237 km are planned, but not yet constructed.

    Estimated Cost: 13-15 billion NIS (3.1-3.6 billion USD)

    Key legal rulings regarding the barrier: In the 2004 case of Beit Sourik Village Council v. Government of Israel, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the route of the barrier created by the Israeli military did harm to the Palestinian population disproportionate to the security needs of the state and ordered it altered. This doctrine of proportionality also guided the 2005 case Ma’arabe v. Prime Minister of Israel, which declared that the security barrier was legal (countering a 2004 ICJ ruling), but that its route could not unreasonably impinge on the rights of Palestinians. Most recently, the doctrine was applied to the case of the Palestinian village of Bil’in, leading to a court order to re-route the barrier.

    Materials used: Barbed wire, electronic detection systems, anti-vehicle trenches, dirt and sand strips for tracking footprints and vehicles. 20 miles of the barrier are made up of concrete walls, mostly in urban areas where they take up less space and protect against snipers.

    20% = Portion of barrier that follows the Green Line (as of April 2007)

    16% = Percentage of West Bank contained on Israeli side of barrier in 2003 trajectory

    8.5% = Percentage of West Bank contained on Israeli side of barrier in current trajectory

    110,000 = Number of Palestinians living between Green Line and barrier (out of 2.4 million total in West Bank)

    171, 000 = Number of Israelis living between Green Line and barrier (out of 407,000 total in West Bank)