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
Turkish Muezzin Who Couldn’t Lie Is Exiled The muezzin of a mosque in central Istanbul lost his position after he denied Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s assertions that alcohol was consumed inside the mosque during the Gezi Park protests. Turkey
Turkey Should Postpone Bill On Sending Troops Abroad It is not time for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to ask the parliament to pass a new bill authorizing sending troops abroad, including Syria. Syria
Will Abu Mazen Rescue Hamas? Hamas' only way out of its current crisis could be through reconciliation with Fatah. Palestine
Coalition Boss Warns Netanyahu Against Settlement Evacuation Yariv Levin, chairman of the governing coalition, has warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the political price he would pay for striking a historic peace agreement with the Palestinians. Palestine
Russia-Israel Ties in Spotlight In Wake of Syria Deal The Helsinki conference on a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East will be a window into the state of Russia-Israel relations. Israel
Is Turkey Giving Up on EU Membership? Turkey’s Middle East policies would benefit from joining the European Union. Turkey
Impressions From Turkey’s Syrian Frontier A visit to Turkey’s border with Syria provides context for the complexity of Ankara’s choices in dealing with the Syria war. Syria
Abu Dhabi’s Foreign Assistance Steals Spotlight While Abu Dhabi has developed a reputation for its generous foreign aid, little attention is paid its significant internal aid, which keeps the other emirates afloat. United Arab Emirates
New School Year Challenges Iraqi Families While some posit that there have been improvements in Iraq’s educational system since 2003, the country still grapples to accommodate its student population just as families struggle to cover basic school expenses. Iraq
Alevi Anger Boils Over in Ankara Simmering anger in Ankara’s iconic Alevi neighborhood of Tuzlucayir suggests that the prime minister might be too late in addressing Alevi grievances. Turkey
Iraqi Kurdistan Must Ensure Minority Rights While the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has long been touted as a stable refuge in an otherwise turbulent region, there have been increasing complaints from the region’s non-Kurdish minorities of discrimination and harassment. Iraq
Iraqi Civil Society Struggles To Stay Relevant, Effective With millions of dollars of foreign aid pouring into Iraq toward civil organizations since 2003, it is time to examine how effectively this money is being used. Iraq
