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A fundraising campaign is currently underway in the United States to finance the purchase of an American ship in an effort to break the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip in the early autumn. The ship is to be named after U.S. President Barack Obama's book "The Audacity of Hope."

While the U.S. has come to take its unchallenged military primacy in the Middle East for granted, key Asian countries have also increased their Middle East presence.

Today, Turkey is a fast-rising economic power, with a core of internationally competitive companies turning the youthful nation into an entrepreneurial hub, tapping cash-rich export markets in Russia and the Middle East while attracting billions of investment dollars in return

Believing that Christian help for Jewish winemakers here in the occupied West Bank foretells Christ's second coming

America's ties to Israel are not based primarily on U.S. strategic interests. At the best of times, an Israeli government that pursues the path to peace provides some intelligence, some minor advances in military technology, and a potential source of stabilizing military power that could help Arab states like Jordan.

Vietnam asked President of Israel to cancel his visit due to anti-Israel sentiments in Vietnam, and the South Korean government has sent Jerusalem hints of crisis

Instead of insisting on continuing a failed policy , Netanyahu should pull himself together and minimize the damage of Israel's flotilla raid.

What would happen if Israel offers the Palestinian population Israeli citizenship? If the Palestinians in Judea and Samaria are given the right to vote in Israeli elections, like the Palestinians currently living in Israel, Israel would not cease to be a democracy. Nor would it cease to exist.

Israel partly opened a major highway to Palestinian traffic, the latest twist in a road that has become a symbol of Segregation.

The review's spotlight on Israel put the Jewish state in an uncomfortable position. While it tirelessly lobbies the international community to preventing Iran from acquiring atomic weapons, it insists on maintaining a veil of secrecy around its own nuclear capabilities.

The Turkish Parliament issued a resolution calling on the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to "reconsider all political, military and economic relations with Israel,"

This move attests that Iran has managed to cast out the U.S., in its drawing up of an agreement on a political and global issue relying on rising forces in the developing world - Brazil and Turkey.

Fakih, a 24-year-old Arab-American has almost nothing in common with the religious zealots who inspire militant Islam. Yet the far reaches of the right wing blogosphere went ballistic

Rima Fakih, took home the crown, becoming the first Arab-American Muslim to be named Miss USA.

Following the 9/11 attacks, in which 15 Saudis participated, Saudi Arabia came under criticism because of the Wahhabi ideology prevailing in the country.

Israel was voted into the ranks of the Organization of Economic Development and Cooperation as a full-fledged member marking its status as a developed economy.

Nearly one in five Israeli men between the ages of 35 and 54 do not work. As their numbers rise, so does the economic peril.

This report provides an overview of Jordanian politics and current issues in U.S.-Jordanian relations. It provides a brief discussion of Jordan's government and economy and of its cooperation in promoting Arab-Israeli peace and other U.S. policy objectives in the Middle East.

For several weeks now, the ban has been a hot topic of newspaper columns and television talk shows, with both ultraconservative and moderate sheikhs weighing in on an issue that is increasingly on the front burner as Saudi Arabia seeks to diversify its economy.

An outsider reading your letter would probably have concluded that peace has already taken root in the City of Peace.

The Iranian experiment shows remarkable analogies with European experiences of totalitarian rule during the 20th century, where revolutionaries organised their own military forces to control the old power centres.

At the recent Arab League summit, league secretary-general made two proposals aimed at strengthening ties between the Arab states and Iran

Senior Saudi cleric Sheikh Salman Al-Odeh, who is general supervisor of Islamtoday.net, recently reiterated his firm opposition to Al-Qaeda and to terrorism in general. He also called for Al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri to reconsider his organization's radical ideology.

Iran's President warned the Gulf states about the U.S. presence in the region. However, on other occasions he said that the deployment of defense systems by the U.S. was a routine matter that did not bother Iran

It was just a phrase at the end of President Obama's news conference on Tuesday, but it was a stark reminder of a far-reaching shift in how the United States views the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and how aggressively it might push for a peace agreement.

Scope of new rule widening definition of residents permitted in occupied territory draws complaints: 'It's so vague that it could apply to tens of thousands of people'

Hamas's prime minister in Gaza, on Friday asked the international community to intervene to prevent an escalation of hostilities

The king is pushing to raise women's employment in the world's largest oil exporter, where only 15 percent of the labor force is female. More working women would give Saudi and international companies higher-skilled employees, since almost 60 percent of Saudi university students are women

Despite Iraq's democratic elections, prominent journalists questioned the ability of Arabs to maintain a democratic regime

Owing to an unfortunate matter of translation, Pakistani diplomat Akbar Zeb will not become the next Pakistani ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

On the occasion of the Feast of the Annunciation, Lebanon's government launches a joint Christian-Muslim celebration in honor of Mary who is venerated in both communities.

Israel needs a wake-up call. Continuing to build settlements in the West Bank, and even housing in disputed East Jerusalem, is sheer madness.

Thomas Friedman of the New York Times spent last week arguing that Biden under-reacted to Israel's announcement about the new housing units in East Jerusalem, comparing Israel's policies to drunken driving. Richard Cohen of the Washington Post is writing a book arguing that the founding of Israel was a well-intentioned mistake.

"[Today] Saudi Arabia is continuing the phase of independent policy, and wants others [to follow its lead]. Initiatives taken by King 'Abdallah have doubled the kingdom's importance…

On February 8, 2010, Qatari liberal published an article in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Jarida in which he drew public attention to the issue of incitement against secularists and liberals in the Arab world, a matter which he says has reached the proportions of a jihad war against them.

The Palestinian Authority has launched a verbal assault against International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) director Sheikh Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi for his call to stone Palestinian Authority members if it can be proven that they collaborated with Israel

"[Today] Saudi Arabia is continuing the phase of independent policy, and wants others [to follow its lead].

Saudi Arabia has recently seen a rising tide of criticism over child bride marriages.

Arab foreign ministers, approved the renewal of indirect Palestinian-Israeli negotiations for a period of four months only

why should anyone be surprised by this sort of "in-your-face" reception? The Netanyahu government has been stonewalling Obama ever since the Cairo speech

There are more than 6,000 candidates competing for the 325 parliamentary seats, increased from 275 seats in the previous general election of 2005.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday got the royal treatment, literally, when King Abdullah invited her and her entourage to visit him at his winter retreat.

"[Please] allow me to marry four [husbands], or even five or nine, if possible. Let me emulate you [men], and choose them according to the wildest [whims] of my imagination. I will choose [husbands] of various shapes and sizes: one red-headed and one dark, one tall and one short.

Before Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad stepped on stage here Tuesday before a gathering of Israeli intellectuals and policymakers, he had already been likened to Israel's founder, David Ben-Gurion, vilified as the leader of a movement bent on undermining the peace process and dismissed as a technocrat without popular support.

It might be one of the world's poorest areas, besieged by its neighbour Israel, but Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip have been donating what little they have to help those struck by the earthquake in Haiti.

Israel's Palestinian settlements are now too extensive to make division of the land practical. Instead, it must be shared.

The biggest threat to the ruling ayatollahs and generals in multi-ethnic Iran comes from increasingly aggressive separatist groups in Kurdish, Baluch, Azeri and Arab ethnic minority regions that collectively make up some 44 percent of Persian-dominated Iran's population.

Dubai is the global capital of the future.

Damascus has to weigh the political and economic repercussions of a free trade agreement with the European Union to avoid future misunderstandings

Syrian President Bashar Assad has skillfully developed a new regional strategy. Compensating for Syria's military and economic deficiencies, this strategy has succeeded not only in lifting Damascus's regional isolation, but also in creating fresh options.

Throughout December 2009, it was reported in the region's media that Egypt was constructing an underground steel barrier on its border with the Gaza Strip to stop smuggling via tunnels.[1] These reports led to an anti-Egypt campaign, led by Hamas, which harshly condemned the construction of the barrier and called for it to stop immediately.

I read about the western social contract when it occurred to me that Islam has also articulated and outlined a social contract for the Muslims.

The Pakistani military took an extraordinary step by expressing publicly its "serious concern" over the civilian government's approval of the Kerry-Lugar Bill, a U.S. aid program for Pakistan approved by Congress.

At King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, men and women take classes together. Women are not required to wear abayas or veil their faces -- and they can Drive.

The Middle East has weathered the global economic downturn better than other parts of the world because its energy exporters were able to tap billions of dollars in oil profits collected when prices were booming

Nouri Al-Maliki, who became prime minister of Iraq in 2006, was a compromise candidate. He was seen as the weakest of the available candidates - an unknown representative of the Islamic Al-Da'wa Party.

Iraqi Prime Minister paid an important visit to Damascus this week. The visit was regarded by both sides as a milestone in the relationship between Syria and Iraq.

At a world economic summit in London, Barack Obama had his first encounter with the king of Saudi Arabia. With TV cameras rolling, Obama strode up to the elderly Saudi monarch, extended his hand, and smiled broadly as he bent at the waist in a swift but unmistakable bow.

Saudi Arabia is Becoming a Global Economic Powerhouse

On August 14, 2009, the radical Sheikh Musa denounced Hamas from the pulpit of a Mosque and declared the formation of an Islamic Emirate in Palestine.

Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad, who in the past has not been reticent in criticizing his movement, wrote in a July 1, 2009 article on paltoday.com that the Arabs and Palestinians must stop depicting their defeats as victories.

Inside Amman: Peace and freedom make Abdullah's kingdom good for business. Now, the country has ambitious plans to take it to the next level.

Israel has clamped new restrictions on visitors to the Palestinian Authority, stamping their passports with a visa that bars them from entering Israel.

If nothing else, it allowed over 2,000 members of the Palestinian Liberation Movement, or Fateh, to assemble in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, and begin the process of rejuvenating....

"Religion and state are two different things. There cannot be such a thing as a religious state. A state is civil in essence, and therefore, a religious state is used by one group to facilitate [the establishment of] dictatorship and despotism.

WASHINGTON US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday said Israel's evictions of Palestinian families from east Jerusalem are "deeply regrettable" and urged the close US ally to refrain from such "provocative" actions.

Freezing the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank was once seen as a unilateral Israeli obligation. But the Obama administration is now treating this as part of a package that will require concessions from Arab states as well.

The US will set a framework governing the resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and will call on all parties involved to launch negotiations based on this, said Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit.

Saudi preacher praises U.S. President Barack Obama's speech to the Muslim world and calls on the Muslims to respond to Obama's speech in kind.

Former President Jimmy Carter denounced the deprivations facing Palestinians in Gaza as unique in history, asserting that they are being treated "like animals."

"Today, Among Shi'ite Circles, If You Do Not Toe the Line Marked By the Brothers in Hizbullah - Not Only Do They Label You a 'Traitor' and 'Collaborator,' But Also An 'Apostate'"

The situation in Iran remains fluid; observers agree that no one knows how the situation will end. In size and scope, the demonstrations on the streets are unprecedented in the 30 year history of the regime.

As the Obama Administration pursues the latest peace initiative in the Mideast amid renewed world hopes, it will ultimately face once again the seemingly intractable issue of the future status of the Temple Mount (Al Haram Al Sharif in Arabic).

Activists from the Shi'ite anti-Hizbullah movement 'Lebanese Identity Union'(1) are reporting recently increasing violent interference with their activities by Hizbullah and Amal activists.

The day after the June 4, 2009 address to the Muslim world by U.S. President Barack Obama, at Cairo University in Egypt, reactions in the government Saudi, Egyptian and Palestinian press reactions were diverse.

Good afternoon. I am honored to be in the timeless city of Cairo and to be hosted by two remarkable institutions. For over a thousand years, Al-Azhar has had stood as a beacon of Islamic learning. And for over a century, Cairo University has been a source of Egypt's advancement. Together, you represent the harmony between tradition and progress.

Two American icons, General Electric and Berkshire Hathaway, lost their triple-A credit ratings. Then China, America's largest creditor, called for a new global currency to replace the dollar just weeks after it demanded Washington guarantee the safety of Beijing's nearly $1 trillion debt holdings. And that was just in March.

The Saudi-Egyptian pressure did prevent an invitation from being extended to Iran's president and to Hamas representatives, who had been invited to the previous Doha summit in January 2009.

President Barack Obama sought Monday to make American amends with the Islamic world after eight years of tension, declaring in a speech to the Turkish parliament that he is determined to have a "partnership with the Muslim world."

Taking over as Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu struck a somewhat conciliatory tone toward the Palestinians in an address Tuesday to Parliament, promising negotiations toward a permanent accord.

Unfortunately, the initiative offered by the Arabs does not seem to have any means of practical implementation on the ground, because of Israel

"Who, a century back, would have imagined Jews making the better soldiers and Arabs the better publicists?"

Nearly 70 percent of Palestinian young adults believe the use of violence to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not very helpful, according to a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) study.

According to the press, the U.S. has presented Syria with a list of preconditions for improving relations. At a press conference he held in Beirut, Kerry said that Syria must respect Lebanon's independence, advance a solution to the inter-Palestinian conflicts and the conflicts between Hizbullah and the other Lebanese factions, promote the implementation of U.N. Resolution 1701, and change its behavior towards Iraq.

Barely a month into the presidency of Barack Obama, a profound realization is spreading among the pro-Israel community: we do not have an ally in the White House. The growing threat that Israel and the Jewish People now face demands decisive action to prevent the frightening reality that he may play a leading role in creating.

The decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir was widely condemned by Arab officials. However, reactions in the Arab press were mixed.

Referring to President Obama's New Year's greeting, Khamenei said that it was not sincere, since even while greeting Iran Obama still accused it of sponsoring terrorism and of seeking to obtain nuclear weapons.

Along with the development of a military force (the Haganah), a modern economic infrastructure, and a democratic polity, this infiltration of Palestinian life ranks as one of Zionism's signal achievements. It meant that while the Zionists could unify and go on the offensive, "Palestinian society was preoccupied with internal battles and was unable to mobilize and unify behind a leadership."

"Pope Benedict is not welcome in the Holy Land in the present circumstances", - said Archbishop Theodosius of Sebaste, the highest ranking native Palestinian Christian clergyman in Jerusalem, after it was announced in Israel that the head of the Church of Rome will begin his May pilgrimage to the Holy City with obeisance to the Jewish Holocaust Memorial 'Yad Vashem'.

The Saudi press has lately been discussing the custom of child bride marriage, especially cases of middle-aged or elderly men taking prepubescent girls for their wives.

"Maybe the American government, the British, and the Israelis don't recognize Ismail Haniya as prime minister of Palestine, but we recognize Ismail Haniya as the prime minister of Palestine.

What are the risks and opportunities of resuming high-level talks with the Syrians? And what effect might this diplomacy have on Israel, Iran and others in the region?

Senior Israeli defense expert: "U.S. should reassess two-state solution because it won't work and everyone knows it!"

The radicals’ popularity began to wane in 2003, when a series of brutal terrorist attacks here killed Saudis as well as foreigners. At the same time, public anger at the intolerance of the cane-wielding religious police has grown, fueled by a younger generation that is more exposed to the outside world.

On the occasion of its launch the television channel "Bridges TV" won the enthusiastic support of Secretary of State Colin Powell. On the ideological level, Bridges TV was a fraud, pretending to be moderate.

Throughout the recent fighting in Gaza, the mainstream North African press was nearly unanimous in its support for the Palestinians and its condemnation of Israel. Some Berber groups, though, made a point of distancing themselves from this mainstream view - for which they were attacked by the Islamist press.

The London daily Al-Hayat published an article by Palestinian academic and journalist Dr. Khaled Al-Hroub, director of the Cambridge University Arab Media Project, in which he calls on Hamas to amend its charter. Al-Hroub argues that the charter, which is replete with hostility towards the Jews, harms Hamas' image and the Palestinian cause as a whole.

Following are excerpts from interviews with Iraqi MP Iyad Jamal Al-Din. The interviews aired on Al-Jazeera TV on January 30 and February 2, 2009.

In a February 6, 2009 article in the Saudi Al-Riyadh daily, liberal columnist Mamdouh Al-Muhaini wrote that in order to keep their children from growing up to be terrorists, Saudi parents must inculcate in them a culture of tolerance and respect for people of all religions and cultures.

An analysis of the tentative results of the elections suggests that Iran's supporters and proxies in Iraq may have been dealt a serious blow.

Israelis and Palestinians can put an end to their ongoing conflict by trying to coexist in a unified state, says the leader of Libya.

After Israel launched its bloody attack on Gaza, these pleas for optimism and co-operation now seem a distant memory. Unless the new US administration takes forceful steps to prevent any further suffering and slaughter of Palestinians, the peace process, the US-Saudi relationship and the stability of the region are at risk.

If a viable Palestinian state does not come to pass in the near future, most agree a single, binational state will emerge. However, Israel already is, if merely in de facto form, just that. One-fifth of Israel's population – 1.4 million citizens and growing – is Palestinian-Arab. They are descendants of 160,000 Arabs, who did not become refugees in 1948-49 and then who had citizenship thrust upon them in the new, Jewish state – unlike some 800,000 others who fled.

During the recent conflict in Gaza, the divisions between the two camps in the Arab world were reflected in the terminology used by the Arab satellite news channels. Al-Jazeera, which is sponsored by Qatar and is identified with the Hamas-Iran-Syria axis, used the term "martyr" ("shahid") for those killed in Gaza; in contrast, Al-Arabiya TV, which is Saudi-owned, refrained from using this term.

Israel said Saturday it was shocked and distressed by a senior Vatican cardinal's likening of Gaza under Israel's military offensive to a concentration camp.

President Bush deflected a secret request by Israel last year for specialized bunker-busting bombs it wanted for an attack on Iran's main nuclear complex and told the Israelis that he had authorized new covert action intended to sabotage Iran's suspected effort to develop nuclear weapons, according to senior American and foreign officials.

In the latest fighting, Israel has bombed the HAMAS controlled city of Gaza for the stated reason of neutralizing HAMAS and stopping them from firing rockets into Southern Israel. As of the date of this article, approximately 800 Palestinians and 10 Israelis have been killed.

Palestinian leaders from Gaza were noncommittal on all issues, claiming that rockets were the only way to respond to their imprisonment and to dramatize their humanitarian plight. The top Hamas leaders in Damascus, however, agreed to consider a cease-fire in Gaza only, provided Israel would not attack Gaza and would permit normal humanitarian supplies to be delivered to Palestinian citizens.

My sympathies are all with the Jews. I have known them intimately in South Africa. Some of them became life-long companions. Through these friends I came to learn much of their age-long persecution. They have been the untouchables of Christianity. The parallel between their treatment by Christians and the treatment of untouchables by Hindus is very close. Religious sanction has been invoked in both cases for the justification of the inhuman treatment meted out to them. Apart from the friendships, therefore, there is the more common universal reason for my sympathy for the Jews.

Surprise, surprise, once again the Palestinian/Israeli conflict spirals out of control. However, this particular battle has produced circumstantial evidence that the conflict has become more dangerous than ever before. Unless a permanent solution is found soon, the violence may increase in severity until the conflict ends tragically.

Once again the Palestinian/Israeli conflict spirals out of control and unless a permanent solution is found the violence will continue to increase in severity until the conflict ends tragically.

"Since the evil attacks of September 11, moderate Muslims dread the news of yet another 'holy attack' in which the name of their religion – which means peace – is used as an excuse for bloodthirsty savagery.

Egyptian human rights activist posted an article in which he appealed to Muslims worldwide to learn openness from the Catholic Church in France. He said that Muslims should emulate France's attitude towards its Muslims in their own treatment of minorities in Muslim countries.

On May 15, 2008, the liberal Arab website Aafaq.org published an interview with prominent Jordanian-liberal author Dr. Nabulsi who discussed the meaning of secularism and its importance to the Arab world.

Iran's attacks and accusations against Egypt and Saudi Arabia have recently intensified. In early December, Iran's leading conservative government dailies accused the Egyptian and Saudi regimes of treason, and called on their peoples to topple their regimes.

"I wish terms like 'terrorism' and 'fundamentalism' would not be used in a hostile manner with regard to Muslims. We

"There would be no revolutionary change in either domestic or in foreign policies which the Americans, especially the Muslims, expected of him," Kamal Nawash, President the Free Muslims Coalition Against Terrorism, told IOL.

Saudi Interior Minister Appeals to Religious and Education Establishments to Fight Ideological Extremism in the Country

Using female police officers in the field is part of the latest PA effort to help President Mahmoud Abbas better control the West Bank and Hamas. Although there's also been an overall expansion of the police force, security officials see women as key to a new, hearts-and-minds strategy.

After a hefty spike in oil prices in the preceding year, reaching as high as $147 a barrel in July 2008, prices plummeted in the subsequent four months to below $55

The authorities investigating the murder of Maj-Gen (retd) Amir Faisal Alvi, former General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the elite Special Services Group (SSG), by two unidentified gunmen in Rawalpindi do not rule out the possibility of involvement of some pro-Taliban militants in the assassination.

The participation of Saudi Arabia in the G20 may have been viewed in the past with a certain scepticism. There remains a perception among western policymakers that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states are sources of funds rather than agenda setters.

Israeli President Shimon Peres directly addressed Saudi Arabian King Abdullah from the podium of the United Nations General Assembly today, praising the Arab leader's appeal for religious tolerance and his ideas for Middle East peace.

Initial reactions in the Arab world to the outcome of the U.S. presidential election focused on several aspects. While some writers discussed which candidate would be better for the Arabs, others compared the democratic process in the U.S. with the situation in the Arab world, where such turnover in government is impossible.

the Kuwaiti parliament reinstated the Committee for the Study of Negative and Alien Phenomena in Kuwaiti Society. The goals of the committee, whose members are mostly Salafi MPs, is to study "alien practices and other negative phenomena that are harmful to Kuwaiti society,"

The sharp decline in oil prices has provided the Saudis with an opportunity to inflict pain on Iran and constrain its political ambitions for regional hegemony by keeping oil production high and oil prices down.

This article will show that, for centuries, perhaps a millennium, during which Islam dominated the area, conflict between Jews, Christians and Muslims was the exception, not the norm.

Recall that Obama gained credibility by opposing a war that turned into the most expensive military adventure in America history. It is no secret that most of the international community, including most of our allies, considered the Iraq war "unjustified."

A new report based on previously classified documents suggests that the Nixon and Ford administrations created conditions that helped destabilize Iran in the late 1970s and contributed to the country's Islamic Revolution.

Sitting in his plush new office in an up-market neighborhood of Damascus, deputy prime minister for economic affairs Abdullah Dardari - the man tipped to be named Syria's next prime minister - is adamant his country is beginning to move with the times.

Western Christians are unaware that the Qur'an honors Jesus as a "Spirit of God," "the Messiah," "Word of God," the "Word of truth," supernaturally conceived and sinless. The Qur'an also states that Jesus had power to heal the sick, raise the dead, and one day will judge the world of its sin. In other words, perhaps the Christian West and the Muslim East are not the bitter enemies often described but more like feuding cousins who have forgotten that they are kin. So what can be done?

According to a report in the Arab-language Syrian newspaper Al Liwaa, Syrian officials captured the leader of the Al Qaeda-linked militant group Fatah al Islam two months ago in Syria.

King Hussein of Jordan (1935-99)was the great survivor of Middle East politics. For almost half a century until his death in 1999 he balanced delicately between the Arab world, Israel and the United States.

Just as secularism emerged in Europe as a remedy to Protestant-Catholic sectarianism, so it is needed in the Arab world to overcome sectarian divisions and pave the way for a democratic future.

I send greetings to Muslims everywhere celebrating the Festival of Breaking the Fast.

Across Israel on the eve of the recent primary election likely to decide the next prime minister, most Israelis shared the same feeling: apathy.

Several Kurdish writers have warned of the dangers of unilaterally declaring an independent Kurdish state in Iraq.

A car bomb went off near a security complex in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Saturday, killing 17 people and injuring 14 others in the deadliest attack to strike the country in more than a decade, the Syrian government announced.

George W. Bush has one last opportunity to anchor his faltering war on terror in a more sustainable framework when he meets the leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan and India this week.

The son of one of the most revered leaders of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has renounced his religion to move to America and become an evangelical Christian.

When an Islamist-leaning political party took charge of Turkey six years ago, this vibrant Mediterranean resort town feared a bumpy ride for a local economy driven in part by booze and bikinis.

Most politicians and writers, who comment on the recent rise in the price of oil, its causes, and implications, simply have no clue what they are talking about. The world is not facing an oil crisis and the price of oil is not exclusively determined by OPEC or any other organization or cartel.

Leaked information regarding the agreement sparked wide-scale protest in Iraq, mainly on the grounds that it would severely harm Iraqi sovereignty and perpetuate "occupation."

Following recent threats by Iranian government elites,(1) in the past several days senior Iranian officials have emphasized that if it is attacked, Iran intends to close the Strait of Hormuz, thereby impeding the export of oil from the Gulf to the rest of the world.

A suicide attack Tuesday on a police school killed 43 people and wounded 38, authorities said as Algeria reeled from its worst militant assault this year.

Following Saudi-Sponsored Madrid International Interfaith Conference, Saudis Praise Spain: "Madrid Speaks Arabic"

"These deviants, who were not tolerated in their [own] countries, went to Iraq and to other countries with the purpose of destroying the [Saudi] kingdom. Whoever cooperates with these [terrorists] or responds to their appeals is regarded as a criminal.

What would it take to distract the international paparazzi from France's first lady? The answer was Asma al-Assad, the wife of the Syrian President,

In a bid to counter Iran's influence and establish himself in the eyes of the West as the dominant figure in the Muslim world, Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is here to preach that "Islam is a religion of moderation and tolerance" to a group of bishops, rabbis, swamis, and other religious leaders.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has called on followers of the world's main religions to turn away from extremism and embrace a spirit of reconciliation.

This is a remarkable example of traditional Arab tolerance and a sign that hostile relations between Jews and Arabs are beginning to subside. Throughout the last 1400 years Jews have had better relations with Muslims and Arabs than any other part of the world where Jews lived.

With more than a trillion dollars in cash and a population of over a billion people the Muslim world today should be poised for a remarkable scientific explosion.

An examination of Syrian-Iranian economic relations reveals that, beyond their propaganda value, these relations are of small benefit to Syria and of negligible benefit to Iran.

You are cordially invited to participate in an exciting event that brings together Israelis, Palestinians, American Jews and American Arabs to debate solutions to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.

As you consider the arguments comparing and roughly equating "liberty" and "justice" which are made by this essay, keep in mind the wording of the American Pledge of Allegiance: "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands -- one Nation, under God, with LIBERTY and JUSTICE for all."

Saudi Arabia has detained 701 suspects of different nationalities in recent months for involvement in terrorist activities, an official source at the interior ministry said on Wednesday.

In a recent interview with the English-language Indian daily The Hindu, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad discussed a variety of foreign and domestic issues.

Thousands of Islamic clerics from across India converged in the Indian capital for the Anti-Terrorism and Global Peace Conference, held by the Assembly of Indian Clerics, a countrywide network of Islamic scholars.

The recent re-publication of a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad by the Danish press and release of Dutch MP Geert Wilders' film "Fitna" have precipitated a wave of Muslim protest, some of it violent, throughout the world.

The recent announcement of peace negotiations between Israel and Syria through Turkey, and the agreement between the Lebanese factions in Qatar – both apparently without meaningful U.S. involvement – should serve as a wake-up call that our policy of nonengagement has isolated us more than the Syrians.

It was the kind of publicity stunt upon which this desert boomtown was built. Dubai's iconic sail-shaped Burj Al Arab hotel recently began offering what it billed as the world's most expensive cocktail. Well-heeled patrons could order a glass of 55-year-old Macallan single-malt Scotch, with custom-made bitters and ice cubes made from water near the Scottish distillery, served in an 18-carat gold Baccarat tumbler. All for just $7,440 a pop.

In recent years, the Salafi movement has seen the emergence of a new conception of, and basis for, religious authority.

Yousuf Raza Gilani of the Pakistan People's Party was sworn in as prime minister of Pakistan. His government is advocating dialogue with the Taliban, as is the secular government of the North West Frontier Province.

Libyan liberal thinker Muhammad Al-Houni writes that the statements by Archbishop Rowan Williams on implementing shari'a law in Britain constituted dangerous encouragement to fundamentalists in their war against the Enlightenment.

Following the recent escalation in the Hamas-Israel conflict, Arab officials and columnists have been criticizing Hamas in the Arab and Palestinian press, blaming it for the escalation of violence and for the Gaza residents' suffering.

Dr Walid Phares is the author of a new policy briefing addressing President Bush's March 27th assessment of the war in Iraq.

Oil is in blow-off territory and a reaction in the price is inevitable, probably quite soon. But that does not mean that we will return to cheap oil in our lifetimes.

Why do people join terrorist groups?

The LIFG was established with the purpose of overthrowing Col. Mu'ammar Gaddafi's regime and recreating Libya as an Islamic state

The Saudi proposal for dialogue between Muslims, Christians and Jews is the first for a country that has no official ties with Israel and bans non-Muslim religious services and symbols.

The launching of an interfaith dialogue by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is a remarkable development that should be warmly welcomed by the Jewish people.

Pakistan's new Prime Minister, Yusuf Raza Gillani, has told parliament in Islamabad that his top priority will be the fight against terrorism.

"Overall, lifting of the women driving ban in Saudi Arabia is expected to have a major effect on the local economy in three different ways," said Dr. John Sfakianakis, chief economist at the Saudi British Bank (SABB) in Riyadh.

Negotiations are underway to build the first Catholic church in Saudi Arabia with King Abdullah lending his support for its construction.

Al-Qaeda Commander in Northern Iraq: We Are in Dire Straits

Arabs "are living in a world of the supernatural," not today's world of "logic," and that the "so-called religious awakening" had turned everything upside down.

The conviction of Hassan Abujihaad should serve as a warning sign to the lethality and danger to our security from political Islam (Islamism).

Mortimer B. Zuckerman, Editor of US News & World Report and a supporter of Israel stated that he did not yet know who among the three leading presidential candidates, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain, is best for Israel.

The world's tallest building, biggest mall, largest airport, largest arch bridge - the projects in the $1-trillion building boom in the Gulf are all about scale, about extreme engineering and about architecture.

No country in the world, except maybe India, is more concerned with the outcome of the political crisis that is gripping Pakistan than Saudi Arabia.

As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heads back to the Middle East this week, three months after Bush hosted a peace conference bringing together Israelis and Arabs in Annapolis, prospects for peace have shifted dramatically.

In recent years, Saudi Arabia has been making intense efforts to fight both terrorism and its religious and ideological underpinnings.

New population data have some Palestinians contemplating an unorthodox formula for Middle East peace - a single democratic nation of Arabs and Jews, in which Palestinians would be the majority.

Irked by the slow rate of progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, major Arab players are threatening to withdraw their offer to normalize ties with Israel once a Palestinian state is established.

The construction of a church in this tiny, oil-rich, conservative, Islamic state has been a historical landmark for the country's diverse Christian population

Our religious laws should be enacted by choice and choice alone in their whole and in their parts – not as a system one chooses to enter or buck against.

Support is growing for time-limits on the residency of the millions of expatriates living in the Gulf, seen by some of the region's governments and nationals as posing a demographic threat

The European continent, the core of Western civilization is collapsing. European birth rates have fallen below replacement rates, populations are dwindling and slowly being displaced by large foreign Muslim populations. Wedded to socialism Europe faces a generation in which the elderly and their social services will vastly outnumber a far smaller population of youth leading to economic collapse.

Seven years have passed since I first stood before you at this rostrum. In that time, our country has been tested in ways none of us could have imagined. We have faced hard decisions about peace and war, rising competition in the world economy, and the health and welfare of our citizens.

Al-Sharq Al-Awsat Editor: Hamas Fails to Understand that the Role of a Leadership Is to Protect the People and Guarantee Their Security and Livelihood

He was a Greek Orthodox Christian, who sang in his church choir as a boy back in the Palestinian town of Lydda. Habash's life tells us a lot about the long Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which seems as intractable as ever, and prompts reflection on the Middle East's seemingly unstoppable whirlwind of violence.

"When we hijack a plane it has more effect than if we kill a hundred Israelis in battle... For decades, world public opinion has been neither for nor against the Palestinians. It simply ignored us. At least the world is talking about us now."

Dr. Habash, founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which carried out numerous attacks against Israeli targets as well as civil aircraft hijackings, received me in his apartment, attractively decorated with mementos of Palestine.

George Habash, founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) died in the Jordanian capital at the age of 82.

Saudi Arabia is to lift its ban on women drivers in an attempt to stem a rising suffragette-style movement in the deeply conservative state.

Crowds of Gazans streamed into Egypt after the border fence was breached. It was part of a Hamas pressure campaign to open the Rafah Crossing in contravention of agreements Egypt is a party to.

Following reports on Israel's January 17, 2008 test of the Jericho III missile, which has a range of 4,500 km, the Iranian website Tabnak wrote that the missile's addition to Israel's arsenal does not change the balance of power between Israel and Iran.

On January 9, 2008, the editor of the Arab liberal website Aafaq, Omran Salman, published an article analyzing recent developments in the Middle East through the prism of the U.S.-Iran conflict and arguing that Iranian hegemony over the region was becoming a reality.

The recent visit by U.S. President Bush to the Gulf evoked harsh reactions from Qatari columnists, who maligned Bush personally and castigated him over his policy.

The project is Saudi Arabia's boldest bet yet that this oil-rich kingdom can transform itself into an industrial powerhouse. The plant is part of a $500 billion investment program to build new cities, create millions of jobs and diversify the economy away from petroleum exports over the next two decades.

The Joint Direct Attack Munition is a kit that, when added to the back end of a 500- or 2,000-pound "dumb" bomb, turns it into a lethal, all-weather "smart" weapon.

Each month, 25,000 people from around the globe arrive in the United Arab Emirates, seeking jobs, contracts, and political stability.

Two testimonies by young men who went to Iraq to wage jihad were published recently.

An in-depth survey of Pakistani public opinion reveals majority support for a moderate and democratic Islamic state, though a small but significant minority shows sympathy for Islamist militant groups.

In an article published recently on the Arab liberal websites, Egyptian liberal Hisham Al-Tukhi adapted Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech, urging full civil rights and equality for Egyptian minorities.

Against the backdrop of President Bush's Middle East visit high-ranking Syrian government officials called on Arab countries to deepen relations and cooperation with Iran.

US President George W. Bush prayed at the traditional birthplace of Jesus on Thursday, in a Bethlehem swamped by security forces, his first stop on a pilgrimage to some of Christianity's holiest sites.

The spiritual leader of Iraq's Chaldean Christian community has called on US forces to release Saddam Hussein's ex-deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz.

A United States federal appeals court on Friday overturned a $156 million award against US-based Muslim activists for their involvement in the

Bhutto was an outspoken critic of Al Qaeda and other extremist Islamist groups. Consequently, Al Qaeda and other Islamist groups hated her for her

Upon ending eight years of self-imposed exile Benzair Bhutto described herself as "emotionally overwhelmed" as hundreds of thousands of supporters

Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide attack that also killed at least 20 others at a campaign rally

Russia is to supply Iran with new S-300 air defense systems, Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said Wednesday, a sign of growing military

Abraham is also the patriarch of Christianity and Judaism which makes this holiday season especially important for Muslims as it provides them

Barred by the Soviets for decades from carrying out Islam's most sacred rite, such pilgrims were among the tens of thousands of Russian Muslims

Bin Laden asked, "Why do your governments ally themselves to the criminal gang in the White House against the Muslims? Why did your governments ally

Speaking at Lisbon University on his first ever official visit to Portugal, Gaddafi also criticised the fact that only a few select countries in the

Mr. Speaker, I regret that I was unavoidably out of town on October 23, 2007, when a vote was taken on HR 1955

Britain unveiled plans on Thursday for controversial new powers to extend the time police can hold terrorism suspects without charge

A federal jury reported Thursday that it was deadlocked over whether to convict seven South Florida men accused of plotting terrorist attacks

Officials said there were plans to attack oil industry targets and preparations were being made to smuggle missiles into the country.

Federal prosecution is exposing the hidden agenda of some mainstream Muslim groups

Iraqi forces' inability to takeover security operations may be the only leverage the United States has to facilitate reconciliation and a political solution between the parties in Iraq.

Bear in mind that the number of Muslims who don't know that a fatwa isn't binding is matched by the number who think bin Laden is a religious scholar.

FMC President Kamal Nawash represented the U.S. before the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in the session on combating intolerance against Muslims.