Blog posts tagged "Israel"

August 3, 2011 11:28 am 25 Comments

The squeezed middle of Israeli society is taking its cue from the arab uprisings all around the region to demand social changes from its government, reports Jon Snow.

May 31, 2011 7:04 am 8 Comments

"Many inside America's so-called 'Jewish lobby', are reportedly frustrated with the Israeli leadership's failure to respond to the developing new order that is flowing from the 'Arab Spring'."

August 25, 2010 10:43 am 112 Comments

To Amnesty International last night for a session with Gideon Levy the iconic columnist (the Twilight Zone) of the widely regarded Haaretz newspaper. He’s an increasingly lone voice in Israeli journalism, urging his fellow countryman to recognise what their illegal occupation of Palestinian lands is doing to their own society, their own country.

March 18, 2010 9:39 am 29 Comments

Today’s visit to Gaza by the EU’s foreign affairs chief is as important for the EU as it is for Gaza. So far the appointment of the obscure Baroness Ashton has attracted something between deep scepticism and ridicule.

March 16, 2010 8:51 am 29 Comments

Here’s an intriguing statistic: since the introduction of air marshals on US airlines after 9/11, just four people have been arrested on suspicion of terrorism on-board an airliner. That represents a cost of $200m per arrest.

March 10, 2010 6:57 am 14 Comments

An intriguing PS to my Biden blog. I mentioned the 22 Palestinian homes in the line of the Israeli bulldozers’ blades in East Jerusalem. Even I could not have predicted that as the wheels of Joe Biden’s vice presidential craft hit the Israeli runway tarmac, Israel would announce a vast planned “illegal” development in East [...]

March 8, 2010 8:49 am 36 Comments

Put simply, he’s in Israel to try to dissuade the Israelis from bombing Iran. There remains a strong thread of opinion inside the Israeli cabinet that argues that Iran is building a nuclear bomb and needs to be stopped in its tracks. Reportedly, Israel does not have a supply of the American developed deep bunker [...]

July 15, 2009 5:30 pm No Comments

Breaking the Silence is one of the myriad groupings in Israeli civic society that offers a thread of hope in the current impasse in the Middle East.

June 2, 2009 11:08 am No Comments

US president Barack Obama heads for the Middle East and Europe this week. Having inaugurated his “opening” to the Muslim world during his inspired stop in Turkey on his first foreign foray, he heads for Egypt to make his keynote speech setting out his Middle East ambitions. The Turkey trip remains a touchstone of his [...]

May 6, 2009 4:05 pm 67 Comments

Getting on for 100 phone calls last night about our interview with Mark Regev, the Israeli Government spokesman. This after the United Nations had accused Israeli forces of “negligence and recklessness” in their attacks on UN compounds in Gaza during the January assault. Reasonably evenly balanced between those who thought it was too hard and [...]