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
Black Palestinians shrug off racism Racist taunts toward Gaza’s African minority are not uncommon, despite centurieslong African migration to Palestine. Palestine
Netanyahu's coalition stable — with or without Liberman Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu feels confident about the stability of his coalition, whatever the outcome in Avigdor Liberman's trial or Labor Party primaries. Israel
Israel traps Palestinians in negotiations with prisoner card Israel is using the release of Palestinian prisoners as a means to keep the Palestinians in peace talks that are going nowhere. Palestine
How independent is the Iraqi-Kurdish pipeline to Turkey? Turkey can be instrumental in brokering a grand bargain on oil policy that affirms Iraqi sovereignty while assuring the Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s contribution to export growth. Iraq
Three reasons for the Egypt-Russia rapprochement The warming in Egypt-Russia ties is linked to the ups and downs in the US-Egypt relationship. Egypt
How did Turkish media 'lynch' Kurdish singer? The late Kurdish singer Ahmet Kaya was awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor after his life was ruined by Turkey’s “deep state” and mainstream media 14 years ago. Turkey
A guided tour of the US Embassy in Tehran The US Embassy in Tehran was ground zero for the collapse in US-Iran relations 34 years ago. Iran
Gaza-Israel Clashes Unlikely to Escalate Israel and Hamas are both preoccupied with other more pressing regional concerns, and have no interest in flaring a crisis of their own. Palestine
The Al-Monitor Debate on Gulf Cities The Wall Street Journal reports on the Al-Monitor debate on Gulf cities; former Israeli, Palestinian negotiators differ on whether Palestinians should recognize Israel as a Jewish state; hope for Syrian bishops' release; a new Al-Monitor design. Palestine
Turkey-Iran Talks Can Begin To Defuse Syrian Tragedy Discussions between the foreign ministers of Turkey and Iran reflect a serious departure from the polarization; especially on Syria & between the two regional powers. Lebanon
AKP Trips on Islamic Tweets Religious rhetoric by Justice and Development Party elites over marginal or irrelevant issues often seem unnecessary and divisive. Turkey
Turkey’s Militant Left Treads On 'New' Roads With its roots in armed rebellion against the state, the Turkish and Kurdish militant left looks for ways of waging political battles under a new banner. Turkey
