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
Erdogan Slammed for Comments On Zionism U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, on a visit to Turkey, joined Western leaders in criticizing Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's inflammatory rhetoric on Israel equating Zionism to crimes against humanity, reports Tulin Daloglu. Turkey
Ocalan Peace Plan Irks PKK Militant Leaders Both PKK militants and Turkish officials and politicians committed to the negotiations with Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan are worried that the leaked letters might undermine the process, writes Ilnur Cevik. Turkey
Presidential Politics and Iran's Food Stamp Program Barely a week after Iran's parliament passed a food stamp plan, there's an effort to scuttle the scheme and use it to advantage in the upcoming presidential election. Iran
Food Communities on Facebook Emancipate Israeli-Arab women When you mix Israeli-Arab cuisine with Facebook and social media, you get the perfect recipe for empowering both young and older women, writes Michal Aharoni. Israel
Erdogan’s Double Standards Shlomi Eldar offers a reminder of the Armenian genocide in asserting that accusations against Zionism by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan exhibit hatred and hypocrisy. Israel
Palestinian Reconciliation Not Close Despite recent meetings in Cairo between Fatah and Hamas aimed at reconciliation, in light of current conditions the two sides are still far from reaching a lasting agreement, writes Naela Khalil. Palestine
Ocalan Signals Openness to Talks With Turkey on Kurdish Issue Cengiz Candar interprets news reports about the meeting between members of the Peace and Democracy Party and PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan at the prison on Imrali island where he is serving a life sentence. Turkey
Kerry Response to 'Zionist' Remark Met With Coolness in Turkey US Secretary of State John Kerry's public response to remarks by Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan on Zionism engendered some coolness from the Turkish prime minister during their first meeting, writes Clovis Maksoud. Turkey
Israel Anticipates 'Somalization' Of Syria Israel’s quietest border in decades may become rife with terrorism were the Assad regime to fall, argues Ben Caspit. Israel
Shin Bet Ex-Deputy: Israel Shouldn't Humiliate Abu Mazen In an interview with Mazal Mualem, former Shin Bet Deputy Director Israel Hasson accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of treating the Palestinian Authority chairman disgracefully, while acknowledging that Abu Mazen also made mistakes. Palestine
Rifaat Turk on Jaffa's Decline As a Bi-National City From a vibrant bi-national city into gated developments for rich Jews, Rifaat Turk tells Shlomi Eldar all about the recent changes in Jaffa. Israel
Campaign Against Hagel Was A Loser Another few unnecessary, unjust and unwise campaigns, such as the one against Chuck Hagel’s nomination for Secretary of Defense, and the myth that the Jews control the United States will become a legend, writes Akiva Eldar. Israel
