Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
" In his landmark speech to the Arab world seven years ago, President Barack Obama warned that Israeli settlements on occupied territories were undermining hopes for peace. "It is time for these settlements to stop," he declared.
From Jerusalem to Beirut to Cairo, the upcoming US elections are being closely followed, partly for their entertainment appeal, but also as the US remains crucial for its role in the Middle East. "Partly because of the characters involved, there has been a lot of media coverage here," Tamir Sheafer, a professor of political science at Hebrew University told The Media Line.
On Aug. 8, saying the media misinterpreted the original statement made on Aug. 5, the Defense Ministry said the reference to the Munich pact - a failed bid by European powers to appease Nazi Germany - "was not intended to make a direct comparison, either historically or personally. We are sorry if it was understood otherwise."
The Democratic Party's Platform Committee rejected an amendment that would have called for the end to Israel's "occupation and illegal settlements." The committee vote on Saturday to defeat the amendment was 95-73.
Elie Wiesel never lived in Israel, but on Sunday the country mourned the death of the esteemed author and Nobel peace laureate as though it had lost a national icon. A frequent visitor who was fluent in Hebrew, Wiesel was a confidant of prime ministers and a towering cultural figure so revered that two premiers considered nominating him to be the country's ceremonial president.
Entire communities in the West Bank either have no access to water or have had their water supply reduced almost by half. This alarming development has been taking place for weeks, since Israel's national water company, "Mekorot", decided to cut off - or significantly reduce - its water supply to Jenin, Salfit and many villages around Nablus, among other regions.
"In 1947, when the UN was discussing the plan to partition Palestine, I was a member of the sub-committee dealing with Jerusalem. One day, the Jews sent a new representative.
Merely being in the company of hundreds of Palestinian journalists and other media professionals from all over the world has been an uplifting experience. For many years, Palestinian media has been on the defensive, unable to articulate a coherent message, torn between factions and desperately trying to fend off the Israeli media campaign, along with its falsifications and unending propaganda or 'hasbara'.
In a surprise move, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week forced out his long-serving defence minister, Moshe Yaalon. As he stepped down, Yaalon warned: "Extremist and dangerous elements have taken over Israel."
For the first time in history, the United States on Monday established an official, permanent military base in Israel: an air defense base in the heart of the Negev desert. Dozens of US Air Force soldiers will call home the new base, located inside the Israeli Air Force's Mashabim Air Base, west of the towns of Dimona and Yerucham.