Whether or not Iran is going to build nuclear weapons remains uncertain, as does the time-span in which it could be achieved. This is still some years away as Israel has only recently confirmed. A breakdown in the current attempt at Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations could lead to conflagration: anything other than a two state solution [...]
Israel has been widely condemned for its assault on a flotilla of humanitarian aid bound for Gaza. This was to be expected, but not some of the extreme statements coming from moderate countries. Even the EU response was biased. The EU condemned the use of violence and called for an independent enquiry. How could the [...]
David Miliband, the British Foreign Secretary, today announced the expulsion of an Israeli diplomat for the use of forged UK passports in the killing of a terrorist in Dubai. Eddie Meyer tried hard, on the Radio Four’s PM programme, to persuade Milliband to confirm that the UK intelligence community never uses forged passports from other [...]
In interpreting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s long speech of 22 March, the audience – the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) – has to be taken into account. Her support for Israel was effusive: • The relationship between the US and Israel has never been more important. • The US has long recognized that a [...]
EU foreign policy supremo, Cathy Ashton, visited Gaza last Thursday During her visit, rockets were fired into Israel, killing a Thai worker. Israel retaliated with air strikes on Gaza. Yesterday, the Quartet, meeting in Moscow, condemned Israel’s recent announcement that 1 600 new housing units for Jews would be built in East Jerusalem. Next Thursday [...]
“By May 1928 the basic principles of guerilla warfare…had already been evolved; that is, the sixteen-character formula: The enemy advances, we retreat; the enemy camps, we harass; the enemy tires, we attack; the enemy retreats, we pursue.” (Mao Zedong, 1936). This post is inspired by the columnist Gwynne Dyer. “The ability to run away is [...]
Peace between the Israelis and Palestinians is further away than ever. Animosity between Westerners and Muslims continues to grow. Traditional anti-Semitism is on the rise. The composition of the current Israeli government is frightening. Prime Minister Netanyahu does not acknowledge a two state solution. Foreign Minister Lieberman continues to express his contempt for his [...]
President Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo University on 4 June, rivals the brilliance of John F Kennedy’s Ich bin ein Berliner 1963 speech in Berlin. Shrewdly, the event was hosted by Cairo University, founded in 1908, al-Azhar University, founded in 975. I could not resist watching its entire 54 minutes. Of course, words alone [...]
Why, after the meeting between Barack Obama and Binyamin Netanyahu, do I see a glimmer of hope? On the face of it, what hope is there of real peace negotiations? The Israeli prime minister leads a coalition which includes right-wingers, religious extremists and xenophobes: his own his past record militates against peace. The Palestinians, on [...]
Like many others, I’ve always believed that peace in the Greater Middle East begins with resolving the Israel-Palestine issue. I have changed my mind. I now believe that the key to peace begins with the Iran-US axis, not on the Israel-Palestine dispute. And agreement with Iran is becomng a real possibility. Barack Obama’s approach is [...]
Rated 6th most influential EU blog by Waggener Edstrom. European of British nationality, for nearly 30 years Bruxellois. Deep believer in the principle of 'mutuality' and Monnet's axiom "Thought cannot be divorced from action", equivalent to Wang Yangming's "Zhixingheyi". more.
