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
The Democratization Package That Missed the Point Ersan Sen, a well-known lawyer, argues that the government’s democratization package missed the point because it did not offer any changes to political parties or the election law put into effect after the 1980 military coup. Turkey
Why Are 700 Greeks Praying In a Turkish Hotel? Despite the Turkish government’s drive to renovate ancient churches, many religious shrines remain off-limits to Turkey’s non-Muslim communities. Turkey
Volatile Hebron Could Derail Talks Riddled with Israeli checkpoints and neglected by the Palestinian Authority, Hebron is a powder keg that could explode at any moment. Palestine
Rouhani’s Moderation Welcomed By Sistani, Iraqi Clerics in Najaf After shunning the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad administration, Ayatollah Ali Sistani granted Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif a meeting, which has been distorted by Iran’s hard-line Arabic media. Iraq
Mysterious Reform Package Disappoints Turks The Turkish prime minister’s reform package has gotten mixed reactions. Turkey
Netanyahu's Iran Obsession A Diversion from Palestine Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's obsession with Iran was revealed during his UN General Assembly speech, which served to divert world attention from his refusal to compromise on the Palestinian issue. Palestine
Netanyahu Should Not Dismiss Rouhani Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed his lack of faith in negotiations with Iran, but the international community should choose its own path. Israel
University Students in Gaza Hit Hard by Blockade The tightened siege on Gaza has also caused a financial squeeze on universities, which have come under student pressure to prevent an increase in tuition. Palestine
Iran Trumps Peace Process at UN Following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to the UN General Assembly, and the lack of any progress in New York, do we really know what an Israeli-Palestinian agreement will look like? Palestine
Netanyahu Sidelined on Iran By His Anti-Rouhani Speech Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, known as “Mr. Public Diplomacy,” in fact could not adequately handle the change in tone on Iran, and turned Israel into a marginal player in the current diplomatic process. Israel
Netanyahu Supports A 'Syrian Model' for Iran Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would gladly embrace employing a military threat to convince Tehran to halt its nuclear program. Israel
Economists divided over deletion of zeros on Iraqi dinar While the Central Bank of Iraq has been considering deleting three zeros from the currency for several years, economists remained divided over how markets would be affected. Iraq
