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
US Pushes Palestine Economic Plan To Break Stalemate on Peace Talks As the Palestinian-Israeli talks reach a political deadlock, US officials are promoting a $4 billion economic plan to develop the Palestinian territories. Palestine
Israeli Job Market Closed To Arab Women Graduates The Israeli economy loses an estimated NIS 30 billion annually because most Arabs are not being employed. Israel
Erdogan Tells Student Protesters To 'Go and Live in Forest' Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan suggests university students protesting the construction of a road, which requires the cutting of 3,000 trees, should “go and live in a forest." Turkey
Israeli Artists Pay Price For Political Views The decision by singer Ehud Banai to perform at the Susya settlement reignited the debate over the political commitment of Israeli artists. Palestine
Will Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Reduce Economic Role? President Hassan Rouhani is carefully asking Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps to cut back on its economic projects. Iran
US-Russia Cooperation Opens New Era in Middle East It may be time to "think big" about addressing the Arab-Israeli conflict. Palestine
Is Turkey, After Gezi Protests, On Path to Democratization? The democratization package to be proposed by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyep Erdogan may address some of the concerns of Turkish citizens. Turkey
Does Rouhani's Style of Diplomacy Mean Change in Iranian Policy? The United States should take signals from Iran seriously. Lebanon
Abu Mazen's Hollow Popularity Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas continues to poll well among Palestinians because of a lack of a viable alternative, not due to public affection for his rule. Palestine
Vedrine: Threat of Force Key To US-Russia Initiative on Syria Hubert Vedrine, a former French minister for foreign affairs, talks to Al-Monitor about the Syrian crisis. Syria
Terrorist Groups Exploit Palestinians In South Lebanon Al-Qaeda-affiliated groups based in a neighborhood adjacent to Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp in southern Lebanon are exploiting the Palestinian refugees' dire situation to increase their support base. Lebanon
