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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

    Costs and Benefits

    October 31, 2007

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

    Philip H. Gordon, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy at Brookings Institution and former Director for European Affairs at the U.S. National Security Council (1998-1999), House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia Hearing, October 23, 2007:

    “So long as the Iranians believe the United States is implacably opposed to their country, no matter what they do, they are unlikely to compromise on the nuclear issue. If on the other hand, Iranians can be convinced not only that there are high costs of pursuing nuclear weapons, but also concrete benefits for not doing so, then I think there’s a chance an agreement can be reached.”