Arab/Palestinian – ME

FACT: Critics falsely argued the Trump peace plan is not consistent with a two-state solution.  In fact, it specifically provides for a Palestinian state and goes into great detail about various elements of that state including its borders, treatment of refugees, and security obligations.  It also meets the Palestinian demand …

FACT: One of the principal criticisms of Israel’s desire to apply sovereignty to some or all of Judaea and Samaria (West Bank) as allowed under the Trump peace plan is that it will make a two-state “solution” more difficult, if not impossible. Setting aside the demographic issue (more than 100,000 …

Not long after Donald Trump assumed the presidency of the United States, he made overtures to the Palestinians in the hopes of brokering a peace deal. He invited the acting-President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, to the White House on May 3, 2017. They discussed tackling terrorism and building …

“I never expected this poison dagger to come from an Arab country,” Saeb Erekat complained after the UAE-Israel agreement was signed. “You are rewarding aggression. … You have destroyed, with this move, any possibility of peace between Palestinians and Israelis” (“Palestinians Say UAE Deal Hinders Quest for Mideast Peace,” AP, …

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Palestinians have been lying in all directions for far too long. A gullible liberal public might buy into their lies for a while, but not forever. The UAE and Bahrain are no longer swallowing Palestinian lies, and other Arab states might join them. Written by Prof. Hillel …

FACT: Honor killings are perpetrated against a family member (almost always a woman) who is judged to have acted socially or culturally unacceptably and brought dishonor to the family. According to the Palestinian Human Rights and Democracy Media Center, there were 20 honor killings in the West Bank and Gaza …

I had thought I would not write again until after Rosh Hashanah, but feel compelled to put out this posting on the new agreements Israel has signed with the UAE and Bahrain. The signing on the White House lawn on Tuesday, September 15, generated an enthusiastic – even highly emotional …

Press release – On Anniversary of Oslo Accords, Abbas’ Fatah Praises “Intifada,” Calls for “Resistance” Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party, the dominant faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority, marked the 27th anniversary of the Oslo Accords on Sunday by praising intifada and calling for resistance. “We are inspired …

FACT: Honor killings are perpetrated against a family member (almost always a woman) who is judged to have acted socially or culturally unacceptably and brought dishonor to the family. According to the Palestinian Human Rights and Democracy Media Center, there were 20 honor killings in the West Bank and Gaza …

Given the historic event of this week of an alliance between Israel and the UAE- United Arab Emirates, I decided to do some research about a country we know little about. Historic in more way than one, as Saudi Arabia gave permission for the first passenger plane to fly over …

The Arab Spring began in December 2010 with a cry for help from a Tunisian street vendor who set himself on fire.  The self-immolation quickly spread as widespread protests in other Muslim Arab countries when people sought to overturn backwards authoritarian regimes which were not accountable to its citizens.  The …

FACT: “I never expected this poison dagger to come from an Arab country,” Saeb Erekat complained after the UAE-Israel agreement was signed. “You are rewarding aggression. … You have destroyed, with this move, any possibility of peace between Palestinians and Israelis” (“Palestinians Say UAE Deal Hinders Quest for Mideast Peace,” …

Forty years after the peace treaty with Egypt, and 26 years after the peace treaty with Jordan, Israel signed another peace treaty with an Arab country: the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Unlike the former two treaties, this treaty seems poised to create a warm relationship with a country that is …

Despite all the potential payoffs Israel &-UAE normalization may entail, the agreement is really a prop in the choreography for a much bigger drama.  The major issue is not [attaining] an agreement, but ensuring the actual implementation of the agreement in practice. The number of agreements which the Arabs have …

Obama tried to punish Israel and encourage Iran, leaving America’s Sunni allies with only Israel to turn to. In one of the great recent examples of the Law of Unintended Consequences, substantial credit must be given to Barack Obama for helping to set the stage for the recent announcement of …

The other day, the question was put to me that if the Palestinian “right of return” was taken out of the current Palestinian – Israeli conflict, could one list other major obstacles to a peaceful solution to the conflict In writing the article below, I relied on the intellectual property …

An ISIS large-scale attack in the northern Sinai Peninsula demonstrates well the improvement in its operational capabilities and the weakness of the Egyptian security forces. ….   ISIS’s attack in Bir al-Abd and its activity following it is the most outstanding activity as part of the wave of attacks referred …

After Israel defeated the attacking Jordanian army in June 1967, it allowed the Jordanian Islamic Waqf to have administrative control of the Jewish Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem while Israel controlled the security of the area. In 1980, Israel officially applied sovereignty and reunited the city of …

Palestinian Arabs often share a series of maps which show that “their land and country” are in a perpetual state of shrinking when the opposite is the truth. Local Palestinian Arabs never had self-rule until 1995. The Ottomans ruled the region from 1517 to 1917 and then the British until …

In May 2016 I spoke at a panel event on the possibility of a two state solution.  My talk focused on the key issue of the entire conflict – the reason the ‘Palestinian refugee’ situation can never end.  At the time I called for the ridiculous definition of a Palestinian …