The Middle East policies of US President Barack Obama may well prove the most detrimental in history so far, surpassing even the rightwing policies of President George W. Bush. Even those who warned against the overt optimism which accompanied Obama's arrival to the White House must now be stunned to... More

　　For two-year old Nasma Abu Lasma, the Israeli announcement in June that the blockade on the Gaza Strip would be relaxed offered a ray of hope. 　　Nasma was suffering from leukemia, and the movement restrictions on Palestinians in Gaza that went along with the blockade meant that she had little... More

　　A leaked US diplomatic cable has raised the possibility that Fatah, the Palestinian group in power in the occupied West Bank, knew that Israel was planning an attack on the Gaza Strip before it launched its deadly offensive in December 2008. 　　The conflict, which ended in January 2009 after three... More

　　A newly released WikiLeaks cable describing a late 2009 meeting with European Union President Van Rompuy had the EU chief warning that “no one believes in Afghanistan any more.” 　　President Van RompuyVan Rompuy, whose comments came in the wake of President Obama’s December escalation announcement, said the European nations in... More

　　Hundreds of Israeli rabbis have signed a religious edict forbidding Jews from renting or selling homes or land to Arabs and other non-Jews. The public letter instructs Jews to "ostracize" those who disobey the order, which is widely viewed as an attack on the country's Palestinian citizens. 　　When the decree... More

　　In recent months, Europe has witnessed mass deportations and crackdowns on religious and ethnic minorities. With the face veil ban in France and parts of Italy, the anti-Roma movements in France and Hungary and police surveillance cameras set up in predominately Muslim neighborhoods in the UK, the continent seems to... More

　　It is astonishing that despite the huge gaps between the maximum that Israel is willing to concede and the minimum that the Palestine Authority could accept as the basis of a final settlement of the conflict, governmental leaders, especially in Washington, continue to pull every available string to restart inter-governmental... More

　　10. "There has been significant progress in tamping down the insurgency in Afghanistan." 　　9. Afghans want the US and NATO troops to stay in their country because they feel protected by them. 　　•Fact: In a recent poll, only 36% of Afghans said they were confident that US troops could provide... More

　　A number of recent incidents discriminating against Israel’s Palestinian minority have prompted Israeli Knesset (parliament) members to debate whether Israel is becoming increasingly racist. 　　Ronit Sela from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (Acri) has no doubts. "Israel’s democracy is under threat as an increasingly large racist element raises... More

　　Foreign forces in occupied Afghanistan have caused more than $100 million damage to fruit crops and homes during offensive in southern Kandahar province, a government delegation said on Tuesday. 　　In November, the Afghan Rights Monitor (ARM), a human rights group, reported widespread damage to hundreds of houses in the same... More

　　New York City's former mayor, Ed Koch, has taken time off from his new career as a film critic to offer a valentine to Rep. Peter King (R-NY), the new chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, for scheduling hearings on the "dangers posed" by Muslim Americans. 　　Koch's support for... More

　　At the Bourj el Barajneh refugee camp in southern Beirut, a centre for the elderly serves as an oasis from the overcrowded, filthy conditions outside its metal doors. 　　On a recent Thursday morning, a group of men and women in their 60s and 70s gathered around a table to color... More

　　Turkey has given information about the Mavi Marmara attack in its interim report, indicating, "it is a central principle of international law that when a state violates its international obligations, it has a duty to make reparations for the wrongs committed and provide for compensation." 　　Turkey submitted its interim report... More