The Takeaway: Would Hamas complicate US plans for reset with Palestinians? Also: the back story on the spat between Israel and Jordan; Gulf post-COVID economic trends; Turkey’s Kurds; Egypt and Somalia; and more! Originals
Egypt sentences activist Sanaa Seif to 18 months in prison Seif, who had been in pretrial detention since June, was convicted Wednesday of spreading false news and misusing social media. Egypt
Ukraine rejects Iran's final report on downed passenger plane The Iranian government said last year's shooting down of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was the result of a human error. Iran
Palestinians receive first batch of vaccines through COVAX More than 60,000 doses of the AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines arrived in Ramallah on Wednesday. Palestine
Iraqi Army Voting Mired In Factional Politics The April 13 elections for representatives of the Iraqi army and police in provincial councils revealed familiar Iraqi factionalism, writes Ali Abel Sadah. Iraq
Imagine Israel Independence Day — 2014 Mazal Mualem outlines what the Israeli political map could look like one year from today. Israel
Palestinian Choreographer Finds Expression in Modern Dance Raja Shehadeh reviews "Ordinary Madness," a modern-dance performance directed by Farah Saleh and scheduled to play at the Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival on April 23. Palestine
Israeli Women Visit Palestinian Hunger Striker Israeli women take turns visiting Palestinian hunger striker Samer Issawi at Kaplan Hospital, writes Shlomi Eldar. Palestine
Israelis Divided Over Artists Who Dodge Draft Knesset member and former IDF chief education officer Eliezer Stern explains in an interview with Mazal Mualem why he strongly objects to performers who dodge army service to perform at Memorial and Independence Day official events. Israel
Turkey’s Kurdish Initiative May Affect Syria's Kurds Cengiz Candar writes on the relationship between Turkey's peace initiative and its policies in Syria. Syria
Gaza-Sinai Tensions Limit Egypt-Hamas Cooperation Tension between the Gaza Strip and the Sinai has prevented their respective governments from partaking in economic partnerships that could benefit both countries, writes Omar Shaban. Palestine
Israeli Occupation Brings Down Fayyad Daoud Kuttab reviews the outgoing Palestinian prime minister, highlighting that despite his best intentions, Salam Fayyad failed to produce a change without an end to the occupation. Palestine
Liberated Prisoners Recall Experience in Gaza Central Prison Ahead of Palestinian Prisoners’ Day on April 17, former prisoners visit the site of a well known prison in Gaza where they were detained and recount their experiences to Khaled Kraizim. Palestine
Lebanon’s Shiites BeginTo Question Hezbollah Following the funerals of Hezbollah fighters killed in Syria while fighting for the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, some Lebanese Shiites are questioning their exact role in the conflict, writes Elie Hajj. Lebanon
A Holocaust Remembrance Day For Evacuated Gaza Settlers Daniel Ben Simon spent the Holocaust Remembrance Day with Ganei Tal settlement evacuees, for whom the disengagement from Gaza is more than a memory. Palestine
Iraq's Baathist Legacy Refuses to Fade Away Iraq’s attempt to rid itself of the legacy of the former ruling Baath Party must account for the fact that many former party employees will be worse off as a result, writes Mustafa al-Kadhimi. Iraq
![Ordinary Madness Dance Performance by Sareyyet Ramallah – First Ramallah Group (FRG), at the National Theatre - Jerusalem (Photography by: Nabil Darwish [ndproductions::digital imaging::] Copyright © 2013)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/04/ordinary-madness070312-lr-10.jpg/ordinary-madness070312-lr-10.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=W39068V2)
