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
Gay in the Turkish Army One gay man's experience with the Turkish military highlights anew the need for legal protections for the rights of LGBT individuals in Turkey. Turkey
Erdogan’s Anti-Israel Remarks Reflect Broader Anti-Semitism in Turkey While anti-Semitism has been present in Turkey since the 1930s, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's latest anti-Israel remarks bring Turkey's long-standing xenophobia out in the open. Turkey
Erdogan’s Israel Remark Brings Condemnation, Ridicule Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses Israel of being behind the coup in Egypt, thus exposing himself again to criticism and ridicule. Israel
Who Are We? Iraq Struggles With Its National Identity Iraq is struggling to establish a modernized national identity, a problem which is most readily apparent in debates over public school and university curricula. Iraq
Is This the End of an Era For the Muslim Brotherhood? Egypt's interim government is threatening to dissolve the group and place it on the terrorist list. Egypt
Bedouins Deny Harboring Militants As Attacks Escalate in Sinai Several prominent tribal figures condemned the bloody attack that left 25 dead, but their reaction didn’t go further than condemnation. Egypt
AKP Blasts Turkish Leader Of International Islamic Group Despite calls for his resignation by AKP officials, Organization of Islamic Cooperation Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu decided to stay in office until his term expires in four months. Egypt
Israel Sidelines Palestinian Soccer Players The head of the Palestinian Football Federation, Jibril Rajoub, feels betrayed by Israel's refusal to grant permission to players from Iraq, Jordan and the UAE to enter the Palestinian Authority. Palestine
After Election Talk, Iranians Ask Rouhani to Walk the Walk Many of Tehran's citizens are skeptical of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's ability to turn the economy around and deliver on his many campaign promises. Iran
Turkish Leader Lashes Out on Twitter Turkey is engaged in a covert war with Riyadh over the Turkish origins of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation's chief. Saudi Arabia
Israeli Left Must Stop Waiting For Its 'De Gaulle' Israeli’s public apathy to negotiations shows its inability to connect the Iranian nuclear threat to the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and the country wasting its resources in “a futile war.” Palestine
Evaluating the Oslo Accords: 20 Years Later The inability of Israelis to decide whether the Oslo Accords were an achievement or a failure may be proof that peace is not likely to arrive very soon. Palestine
