Five years, three months, two weeks, and three days ago, Hamas militants from Gaza tunneled under the sequestered Strip’s border with Israel and popped up near the Kerem Hashalom crossing, where they attacked an Israeli tank, killing two crewmembers and injuring five. The militants grabbed Corporal Gilad Schalit from the tank, and escaped back into the Gaza Strip with him. He had been a captive | Read More »
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to a joint session of the U.S. Congress for the second time today (and for the first time in fifteen years), fresh off a meeting with President Obama on Friday, Obama’s Middle Eastern address Thursday, and dueling weekend speeches between the two leaders at AIPAC. The first few minutes were well-used defining the scope of the current fight against | Read More »
Amid Sunday‘s ‘Nabka Day’ violence on Israel’s Lebanese and Syrian borders, as well as within the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, leader of Hamas-controlled Gaza, commemorated the 63rd anniversary of Israel’s re-formation by declaring before a reported crowd of 10,000 at Gaza City mosque that “Palestinians mark the occasion this year with great hope of bringing to an end the | Read More »
Courtesy of The Cold Equations, here is a handy cheat sheet for dictatorial longevity. Country Prior relations with the US Nuclear weapons program US treatment of country Status of leader Egypt Allied Not significant Pressured ally to step down Permanent vacation Libya Moderately warm lately, despite past difficulties Abandoned under US pressure Bombs away Probably on his way out Syria Strained to hostile Not a | Read More »
Though it falls outside his original target of being within 100 days of taking office, President Barack Obama is keeping a pre-inauguration promise by “mak[ing] a major speech from an Islamic capital” this week in Cairo, Egypt. Obama made what was considered by many to be the safest (and most “obvious”) choice in selecting Cairo for his “high-profile speech that would seek to mend rifts | Read More »
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