JERUSALEM, Mar 8 (IPS) – Was it Yasser Arafat’s biggest political
error? A decade ago, the deadline for the
creation of an
independent Palestinian state alongside Israel as envisaged in
the
1993 Oslo peace accords thrust itself into the fruitless
Palestinian-Israeli
negotiations.
BRUSSELS, Mar 8 (IPS) – For the first time since September 2006, Mahmoud
Abu Rahma, a leading figure in the Palestinian human rights group
Al Mezan, has been granted permission to travel outside Gaza.
WASHINGTON, Mar 8 (IPS) – The holding of Iraq’s third parliamentary
elections on Sunday has generated a sense of satisfaction in
Washington, but there is a feeling of anxiety about how the
post-election negotiation process to form a new government might
proceed.
SHEIKH JARRAH, Occupied East Jerusalem, Mar 9 (IPS) – Amid the wave of violence that swept through the
occupied Palestinian West Bank, including East Jerusalem, over
the last few days, there are signs that the Israeli left may be
emerging from its collective coma.
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 9 (IPS) – Male leaders fail to break the Mideast impasse.
Enter women from Israel and the Palestinian territories working
together. And… it would have been nice to say they succeeded
where the men failed.
RAMALLAH, Mar 10 (IPS) – Iran and Israel appear to be spoiling for a fight,
going by recent belligerent statements emanating from several
regional capitals.
WASHINGTON, Mar 6 (IPS) – As Iraqis go to the polls on Sunday, a key question
in the minds of many in Iraq and Washington is whether secular
candidates can continue their recent rise and possibly come out
as winners.
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 4 (IPS) – The status of women in a predominantly
male-chauvinistic Arab world continues to fluctuate from one
extreme to another.
SILWAN, Occupied East Jerusalem, Mar 5 (IPS) – Outside the Bedouin-style protest tent in the heart
of this Palestinian neighbourhood, the anger is palpable, but
controlled.
CAIRO, Mar 2 (IPS) – Arab governments have stepped up efforts to curtail
tobacco use, but initiatives
have met stiff resistance from the
region’s smokers.