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
Iraqi Kurdistan Region Struggles To Cope With Syrian Refugees Syrian refugees have been flowing into the Iraqi Kurdistan region, making the need for international assistance more pressing than ever. Iraq
Assad's Days Numbered? Think Again Too many analysts and journalists have based their pronouncements of Assad's "numbered days" on wishful thinking. Israel
Former Meretz Leader: Time Against Israel, Two-State Solution Former Meretz leader Chaim Oron is calling for settin aside the social justice struggle in favor of the fight over the "two-state solution." Palestine
Is Culture Ministry Sit-In a Warm Up For Egypt's June 30 Protests? Egyptian artists and intellectuals have staged a festive sit-in to demand removal of Minister of Culture Alaa Abdel-Aziz and a halt to his “Ikhwanization” policies. Egypt
Pre-Oslo Prisoners Still Obstacle To Palestinian-Israeli Talks Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has rejected an Israeli offer to release 50 of an estimated 107 prisoners detained before the signing of the Oslo Accords, an issue that continues to stall negotiation efforts. Palestine
Egypt’s Opposition Parties Agree: Consensus Before Economy Similar stances between Egypt’s liberal and Salafist parties concerning the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood could pave the way for an unlikely electoral coalition. Egypt
Beirut’s Historic Hamra Street No Longer Cultural Epicenter Once an epicenter for Arab and Lebanese intellectuals, Beirut’s famous Hamra Street has in recent decades been transformed by consumption-oriented establishments. Lebanon
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict In Russian Jewish immigrants, Palestinians and Israeli-Arabs from Russia keep up their passion and links to the Russian language and culture. Palestine
Erdogan, Gezi Park And the Headscarf Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan argues that the Gezi Park protests have to do with the headscarf ban in public places, saying the protesters don’t really know a thing about freedom. Turkey
Arab-Americans Discover Forefathers in Little Syria Since the uprisings, more Syrians are arriving in the United States and finding that they have a long and rich history in New York City. Syria
Al-Qaeda Divides Over Syria, Iraq As al-Qaeda and its various branches take advantage of instability throughout the Middle East, Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria and the Islamic State of Iraq have seen rifts between themselves recently. Iraq
Hotel Construction Explodes In Erbil To Keep Up With Tourism Having enjoyed relative stability since Saddam Hussein's fall in 2003, Iraqi Kurdistan region capital Erbil is growing rapidly as it becomes more attractive to tourists and foreign investors. Iraq
