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
Israel, US Navigate Slow Trend To Arab Democracy The US and Israel continue to be surprised by events in Egypt and Syria. Egypt
Israeli Arab Knesset Members Protest Change in Electoral Law Despite the theatrical panic show of Arab Knesset members, raising the electoral threshold is just a minor change, not even consolidating Israel’s governability. Israel
The Anguish of Israel's Bedouin Israel's Bedouin tribes are calling upon the government to stop their forced relocation under the Prawer law, and use dialogue and compromise to avoid more violence. Israel
Iraqi Women Endure Sexual Harassment Increasing awareness of sexual harassment and abuse endured by Iraqi women on a daily basis has shed light on the need for social institutions to combat this kind of injustice. Iraq
Israeli-Palestinian Talks: The Perils of Pessimism Some cautiously optimistic signals from the Israeli-Palestinian talks in Washington. Palestine
Why Did Al-Qaeda-Linked Group Hit Turkish Embassy in Somalia? The al-Shabab terrorist attack on Turkey’s embassy in Mogadishu has provoked further conspiracy theories. Turkey
Turkey’s Twitter 'Fenos' Work to Marginalize Critics Women journalists, in particular, face the wrath of pro-AKP pundits. Egypt
Israeli Politician Calls to Annex Palestinians to Jordan Likud Knesset member Gila Gamliel does not believe in the outcome of the Washington negotiations: "The state of Israel is the only state we have" and "The Gaza Strip can annex itself to Egypt, some of the Palestinians can annex themselves to Jordan.” Israel
Israel Reopens Hebron Checkpoint As Gesture to Palestinians A checkpoint near Hebron has been reopened after 12 years, but local Palestinians are skeptical of the "goodwill gesture." Palestine
Iraqi Politician Calls On Maliki to Step Down Iraqi politician Fakhri Kareem has called on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to form a national salvation government and step down. Iraq
Israel's Iraq Channel Exiled Iraqi Jews in Israel and elsewhere are convinced that the moment has come for Israel to build bridges to Iraq. Iraq
