THE ONE STATE SOLUTION

THE ONE STATE SOLUTION Muammar Qaddafi* Source: International Herald Tribune, January 22, 2009, (http://www.iht.com>www.iht.com). This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) with permission for republication The shocking level of the last wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence, which ended with this weekend‚s cease-fire, reminds us why a final resolution to the so-called Middle [...]

Read Full Post »

THIS IS NOT A TEST

THIS IS NOT A TEST Thomas L. Friedman* Source: International Herald Tribune, January 25, 2009 (http://www.iht.com). Distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) with permission for repulication. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. “Guy walks into a bar …” No, not that one ˆ this one: “This is the most critical year [...]

Read Full Post »

UNLOCKING PALESTINIAN POLITICS

UNLOCKING PALESTINIAN POLITICS Michael Meyer-Resende and Jan Künzl* Source: Common Ground News Service (www.commongroundnews.org), February 19, 2009, Distributed by common Ground News service with permission to republish. With the world’s focus on the recent war, a less-noticed aspect of the current Palestinian malaise is the expiry of President Mahmoud Abbas‚ term this January. While the [...]

Read Full Post »

POST SCRIPT TO READERS OF MY ARTICLE

POST SCRIPT TO READERS OF MY ARTICLE Ghassan Michel Rubeiz* This article is a response to the article Ghassan Michel Rubeiz wrote for CGNews called, “Palestinians have the key”, published 8 January 2009. Source: Common Ground News Service (www.commongroundnews.org). January 22, 2009. Distributed by Common Ground News Service with permission to publish. Israelis and Palestinians [...]

Read Full Post »

IT’S NOT ABOUT SYMMETRY; IT’S ABOUT BEING LOCKED IN THE SAME PARADIGMS

IT’S NOT ABOUT SYMMETRY; IT’S ABOUT BEING LOCKED IN THE SAME PARADIGMS Shelley Ostroff* Source: Common Ground News Service (www.commongroundnews.org), February 26, 2009. Distributed by Common Ground News service with permission to publish. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. ˜Albert Einstein There is no [...]

Read Full Post »

SEEKING AN END TO THE INTERNATIONAL DOUBLE STANDARD

SEEKING AN END TO THE INTERNATIONAL DOUBLE STANDARD Rashid Shahin* This article is an abbreviated version of an article that first appeared in Ma’an News (http://www.maannews.net/), March 6, 2009, and is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) with permission Republication. The international community employs a double standard in its reaction to Palestinian and [...]

Read Full Post »

NON-COOPERATION CAN BRING A REVOLUTION TO THE HOLY LAND

NON-COOPERATION CAN BRING A REVOLUTION TO THE HOLY LAND Marc Gopin* This article was written, March 26, 2009, for, and distributed by, the Common Ground News Service (CGNews: www.commongroundnews.org) with permission to publish. It is time for a mass movement of nonviolent non-cooperation and resistance amongst Palestinians˜because everything else has failed. I have hopes that [...]

Read Full Post »

IT’S NOW OR NOTHING FOR PALESTINE PEACE

IT’S NOW OR NOTHING FOR PALESTINE PEACE Ziad Asali* Source: The Daily Star (http://www.dailystar.com.lb), March 24, 2009. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) with permission to republish. The recent Israeli attack on Gaza made little strategic difference, leaving Hamas still in charge of the strip, diminished militarily but arguably strengthened [...]

Read Full Post »

NETANYAHU’S SECOND CHANCE

NETANYAHU’S SECOND CHANCE Alon Ben-Meir,* April 7, 2009 The new Israeli government led by Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu has raised many conflicting feelings among those concerned about the fate of the Arab-Israeli peace process. Will Netanyahu scuttle the little progress that was made under his predecessor Olmert, or will he engage the Palestinians anew? Questions [...]

Read Full Post »

THE AFRICA PEACE AMBASSADOR: NOAH’S ARK INTERNATIONAL

THE AFRICA PEACE AMBASSADOR: NOAH’S ARK INTERNATIONAL Prince Godwin,* princegodwin1967@yahoo.com I am sending this e-mail to you in which I explain briefly our work as Noah’s Ark – International peace  project. Noah’s Ark is basically a PEACE PROJECT for creating better and STRONG RELATIONSHIPS of FRIENDSHIP AND COOPERATION between societies or countries doubt they will [...]

Read Full Post »

A COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT – COMMUNITY POLICING APPROACH TO AFGHANISTAN

A COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT – COMMUNITY POLICING APPROACH TO AFGHANISTAN Stephen M. Sachs, “A Community Development – Community Policing approach to Afghanistan” IUPUI, February 19, 2009 I am very concerned that Afghanistan is about to turn into another quagmire, as it has done for centuries for outsiders who have intervened there, once they become conceived of [...]

Read Full Post »

THE HOPES FOR OBAMA MAY DIE IN AFGHANISTAN

THE HOPES FOR OBAMA MAY DIE IN AFGHANISTAN Marc Pilisuk* This article was first published in Common Dreams. Sometimes we separate foreign policy and national security issues from our domestic agenda, leaving the former inordinately in the hands of experts and officials. Today, we do so at our peril. Secretary of Defense Bob Gates has [...]

Read Full Post »

THE FRUIT OF DENIAL

THE FRUIT OF DENIAL John Bell* This article was written for, and distributed by, the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) with permission to publish. On 5 June 1967, Israel invaded Egypt and conquered the Sinai Peninsula. This victory, alongside the capture of the Golan, the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, led to the concept [...]

Read Full Post »

THE PALESTINIAN-ISRAELI CONFLICT: A NEW PERSPECTIVE

THE PALESTINIAN-ISRAELI CONFLICT: A NEW PERSPECTIVE Omar Shaban* This article was written for, and distributed by, the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) with permission for publication. Israelis and Palestinians have been prevented from looking deeper into hidden and untapped opportunities, stuck in the limiting perspective afforded by the prolonged conflict, continued Israeli occupation, and failed [...]

Read Full Post »

MS TATNATLUS [ON THE MEANING OF THE ISRAELI ELECTIONS]

MS TATNATLUS [ON THE MEANING OF THE ISRAELI ELECTIONS] Uri Avnery Tantalus is punished by the Gods for reasons that are not entirely clear. He is hungry and thirsty, but the water in which he stands recedes when he bends down to drink from it and the fruit above his head continually evades his hand. [...]

Read Full Post »

ISRAEL’S BIGGEST DANGER

ISRAEL‘S BIGGEST DANGER Fareed Zakaria* Source: Newsweek (www.newsweek.com), February 14, 2009. Distributed by Common Ground News with permission for republication. Even before a new coalition could emerge, Israel‚s latest election was historic. It marked the collapse of Labour, the party that can plausibly claim to have founded Israel and produced its most celebrated prime ministers, [...]

Read Full Post »

THE VIOLENCE AND SETTLEMENTS ANATHEMA (PART 2)

THE VIOLENCE AND SETTLEMENTS ANATHEMA (PART 2) Alon Ben-Meir,* February 9, 2009 (This is part two of a two-part analysis on violence and the settlements in Israel and the Palestinian territories.) To make serious progress toward a final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, George Mitchell must first work on restoring confidence in a [...]

Read Full Post »

HOLDING THE WHOLE

HOLDING THE WHOLE Shelley Ostroff* This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews www.commongroundnews.org), who distributed it with permission for publication. Israel’s military power and diplomatic efforts are crucial to its survival, but at this point they are clearly insufficient for ongoing security. Since the recent Cast Lead operation, and the concomitant [...]

Read Full Post »

RELIGIOUS ORGANISATIONS ARE THE KEY TO THE MIDDLE EAST

RELIGIOUS ORGANISATIONS ARE THE KEY TO THE MIDDLE EAST Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf* Source: McClatchy Washington Bureau (http://www.mcclatchydc.com), February 23, 2009, and is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) with permission to republish. Welcome back from the Middle East, Ambassador George Mitchell. If there was any doubt in your mind before you left, [...]

Read Full Post »

EGYPT’S STATEGY TOWARD GAZA IS INCREMENTAL, LONG TERM

EGYPT‘S STATEGY TOWARD GAZA IS INCREMENTAL, LONG TERM Gamal A. G. Soltan* Distributed by Commmon Ground News Service with permission to publish. The Gaza war was seemingly an inevitable conflict. The pre-war reality was unacceptable to any of the concerned parties. Hamas was not satisfied with a ceasefire that kept the tiny Gaza Strip isolated [...]

Read Full Post »

HOPING FOR A NONVIOLENCE MOVEMENT IN PALESTINE

HOPING FOR A NONVIOLENCE MOVEMENT IN PALESTINE Achmad Munjid* Source: The Jakarta Post (thejakartapost.com), January 18, 2009. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) with permission to republish. Since I was a small child, I have been taught that the powerless party always deserves ‘affirmative action’ in any unbalanced conflict before [...]

Read Full Post »

U.S. FACES PARADIGM SHIFT IN RELATIONS WITH LEBANON

U.S. FACES PARADIGM SHIFT IN RELATIONS WITH LEBANON Mona Yacoubian* Source: The Washington Times (www.washingtontimes.com), January 23, 2009. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) with permission for republication. Following the recent violence in Gaza, the complex challenge posed by grassroots militant organisations such as Hamas in the Gaza Strip is [...]

Read Full Post »

RESPONSIBLE JOURNALISM SERIES: A VITAL MEDIUM

RESPONSIBLE JOURNALISM SERIES: A VITAL MEDIUM Khaled Diab* This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews, www.commongroundnews.org) who distributed it. With for publication. Although the Israeli-Palestinian media battlefield is bitter and deeply entrenched, journalists have a responsibility to venture into the no-man‚s-land between the two sides, even if it means getting caught [...]

Read Full Post »

RESPONSIBLE JOURNALISM SERIES: HUMAN TRADGEDY AS A CATALYST FOR CHANGE

RESPONSIBLE JOURNALISM SERIES: HUMAN TRADGEDY AS A CATALYST FOR CHANGE Yizhar Be’er* This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews, www.commongroundnews.org), who distributed it with permission to publish. Almost every violent national conflict is retained in the public consciousness through an emblematic image which captures the essence of the story. The first [...]

Read Full Post »

INTERFAITH HARMONY FOR WORLD PEACE AND HUMAN UNITY

INTERFAITH HARMONY FOR WORLD PEACE AND HUMAN UNITY Subhash Chandra* This article was first presented as a Paper for ‘A Global Congress on “World’s Religions after September 11 – An Asian Perspective” In New Delhi from January 17-20, 2009 at New Delhi, India, in Session 5: Theme: Religion, Conflict and Peace (Grassroots Initiatives) on 18th [...]

Read Full Post »