JERUSALEM — One of the many strange features of the Sept. 6 event involving Israeli overflights of Syrian airspace is the peculiar route through which the world has gradually discovered what happened — or what might have happened — on that possibly fateful night. Normally, one would expect Israeli reporters, the ones with the best contacts, sources and understanding of Israeli operations, to uncover and report details about such a secretive operation. Not this time. The much-discussed operation, now described by Israeli journalists in half-mocking tone as “The alleged air strike that the IDF did or did not carry out […]

Iraq’s refugees tell heartbreaking accounts of suffering, displacement, and shattered dreams, but these refugees represent more than mere human interest stories. Collectively, the outpouring of millions of Iraqi refugees into a very small number of neighboring countries poses a dramatic security threat to the Middle East, and there is no sign that threat is going away. In the lead up to the Iraq war, most of the U.S. government discussion about refugees assumed that refugee flows would be sudden, massive and brief. When more than a million Kurds fled Iraq into Turkey and Iran in 1991 to avoid Saddam’s wrath, […]

Every Monday at 10 p.m. for the past several weeks, millions of Iranians have been hunkering down in front of the “Bearded Box” — as Iranians like to call Iran’s state-controlled television, since bearded clerics are so often all there is to see on it. They are tuning in, however, not in order to listen to yet another representative of the state clergy, but rather to follow a TV series on the persecution of the Jews in the 1940s. Even the Wall Street Journal has enthusiastically reported on the series: underscoring thereby that Iran’s state-controlled television — unlike the President […]

In his role as national security adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie is one of the key figures in the Iraqi government. Shortly before General David H. Petraeus presented his Iraq report to the U.S. Congress on Sept. 10, reporter Urs Gehriger of the Swiss weekly Die Weltwoche met with Rubaie at his home in Baghdad. In a 90-minute interview, the British-trained neurologist spoke about progress in Iraq, continuing challenges, and the consequences of a withdrawal of American troops. World Politics Review presents this wide-ranging interview for the first time in English. -o- Next week will be a crucial moment for Iraq. General […]

TEL AVIV, Israel — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in the Middle East this week, and while her stay in the region may be short, her to-do list is very, very long. Just two months before a Mideast peace conference is scheduled to be held in Washington, the meeting’s exact purpose, agenda, and list of participants remains the subject of much speculation. Indeed, recent rumor even has it that the November conference might not take place at all, because the Palestinians are doubtful about its prospects. Palestinian reticence to attend the conference may still turn out to be a […]

JERUSALEM — The people who write books about what has come to be known as “asymmetrical warfare” could fill many chapters by examining Israeli frustration with Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli towns. One full chapter could be written about what happened this Wednesday, when the Israeli government decided on a new set of measures to try to stop the rocket fire, only to find their decision to name Gaza an “enemy entity” managed to upset just about everyone, from Palestinians to Israelis, along every point on the political spectrum. Almost every day Palestinians have been firing Qassam rockets into Israeli […]

The Iraqi armed forces are struggling to become self-sufficient in the face of constant insurgent attacks, a dearth of experienced leaders and in a divisive political environment. Several years after the establishment of Baghdad’s new army and air force, U.S. and British forces still take the lead in most combat operations in Iraq. But in two key areas — armored trucks and counterinsurgency aircraft — the Iraqi military is actually more advanced than its American partner, reflecting key differences in the two nations’ overall military strategies. Armored Trucks In April 2006, the U.S. Department of Defense solicited bids from American […]

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Arriving at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, you might be forgiven for thinking you had landed in the Middle East: In addition to English and Malaysian Bahasa, arrival and departure announcements are made in high-flown Arabic, just one indication that Malaysia is fast becoming a favorite holiday destination for Arabs. From June to October, Arab tourists increasingly flee the furnace-like temperatures of the Gulf for Malaysia’s green landscape and pristine coastal waters. While many hotels all over the country — from Kota Kinabalu in Sabah to Langkawi near the Thai border — cater to Arab tourists during […]

JERUSALEM — When a Palestinian rocket hit a training base in Israel on Sept. 11, sending 67 soldiers to the hospital, many in Israel, in Gaza, and beyond thought it would be the event that would launch a full-scale Israeli invasion of Gaza to put an end to the rocket attacks once and for all. Hamas quickly began evacuating key locations, and many in Gaza began stocking up on food and water, fearing a massive Israeli response. Instead, what they heard was thundering demands for action from the Israeli right, followed by a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert […]

Editor’s Note: Rights & Wrongs is a weekly column covering the world’s major human rights-related happenings. It is written by regular WPR contributor Juliette Terzieff. DETAINED IRANIAN-AMERICAN LOOKS TO HEAD HOME — A spokesman for Iran’s judiciary confirmed detained Iranian-American consultant Kian Tajbakhsh likely will soon be free to return home after months in Iran’s Evin prison. The statement from Ali Reza Jamshidi came during a state-organized visit for journalists to view conditions at the much-maligned facility, where brief interaction with a reportedly well-looking Tajbakhsh was allowed. Authorities have not filed official charges against Tajbakhsh, an urban planning consultant for […]

JERUSALEM — In Israel, a country where everyone has an opinion and every home has at least one senior military expert, the events that (may or may not have) transpired in Syria last Thursday have fueled a frantic round of nervous speculation and analysis. Last week, Syrian authorities announced they had fired anti-aircraft weapons at Israeli planes illegally flying over their territory. At the time, Israeli officials refused to comment. Since then, the entire government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has maintained complete silence on the issue, displaying a level of discipline that has left Israelis utterly amazed. The government […]

A Palestinian woman walks by a display of Islamic headscarves for sale at a shop in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Feb. 28, 2007 (AP photo by Muhammed Muheisen).

The strict morality of life in Ramallah, where honor killings might be performed when pregnancies occur outside of marriage, means navigating the issue of sex is extremely fraught. Young people must balance the images they receive from the outside world and their continual anxiety about committing sin if they should follow their natural urges before marriage. RAMALLAH, West Bank — On first glance, the city of Ramallah in the West Bank appears boring: conservative and chaste. Most women wear headscarves and quickly avert their eyes when men are watching. There is nothing flirtatious about the gesture. In the course of […]

When President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran described the Holocaust as a “myth” and hosted a Holocaust revisionist conference in Tehran in December 2006, he was warmly cheered in the Third World and severely castigated in the United States and Europe. Yet most Western pundits largely failed to grasp the significance of the assault. They limited themselves to outrage and righteous indignation. Ahmadinejad’s fulminations were, on the one hand, jeered as “paranoid” and, on the other, described as on par with his other threats to destroy Israel — pardon, “the Zionist entity.” In other words, Western commentators dismissed the Iranian President […]

BEIRUT, Lebanon – Uncertainty about Lebanon’s political stability in an atmosphere of increasing sectarian division and rumors that Hezbollah is beefing up for an offensive against Israel are testing the allegiances of women loyal to the paramilitary group. Given the influence of women in Hezbollah, their ambivalence has the potential to spread further and ultimately shake the foundation of its political support among Lebanon’s Shiites. While tens of thousands gathered last month to commemorate the anniversary of Hezbollah’s self-declared “divine victory” against Israel (which left more than 1,200 Lebanese and 150 Israelis dead), some Hezbollah supporters question whether the sectarian […]

At the end of August, Iranian presidential spokesman Ali Akbar Javanfekr threatened to turn to “other candidates” to complete the country’s long-delayed nuclear power plant at Bushehr if “problems arise again” between Tehran and Moscow over the project. The previous month, European officials related that the Russian government had informed Iran in July that Moscow would refuse to supply nuclear fuel for the Russian-built nuclear reactor until Tehran provides more details about its past nuclear activities to the international community. These reports might indicate that the Russian government has finally decided to suspend cooperation with Iran’s nuclear program until Tehran […]