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Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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Mouin Rabbani

Mouin Rabbani is a senior fellow at the Institute for Palestine Studies and a contributing editor of Middle East Report.

Current Analysis

Mahmoud Abbas’ Mission Improbable

Renewed, if somewhat less euphoric talk of a historic opportunity for Middle East peace accompanied Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas both heading to and returning from his May 26, 2005 summit with President George W. Bush at the White House. Yet the opportunity, of which much has been written since

Mouin Rabbani, Chris Toensing • 10 min read

Current Analysis

Gaza's Wars of Perception

Operation Days of Penitence, launched on September 29, 2004, is the Israeli military's most extensive incursion into the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the current Palestinian uprising and its largest offensive within the Occupied Territories since the 2002 reconquest of West Bank cities during Operation Defensive Shield.

Mouin Rabbani • 8 min read

Current Analysis

The Road from Aqaba

On June 4, 2003, a high-profile summit at the Jordanian Red Sea resort of Aqaba brought together Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas, under the auspices of George W. Bush, for the formal launch of the latest Middle East peace initiative. Within days of summit&

Mouin Rabbani • 9 min read

MER Article

The Costs of Chaos in Palestine

Israel has launched a comprehensive war of attrition in the Occupied Territories, whose objective is a decisive military victory leading to prolonged interim arrangements dictated by Israel. Facing these overwhelming odds, the Palestinians remain plagued by a crisis of leadership that has already ex

Mouin Rabbani • 11 min read

Current Analysis

Bleak Horizons After Operation Defensive Wall

On April 28, both Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat accepted an American proposal whereby US and British security personnel will be dispatched to Jericho to supervise the imprisonment of six Palestinians besieged with Arafat in what remains of the Ramallah governorate. Barring last-minute surprises, the

Mouin Rabbani • 9 min read

Current Analysis

Sharon's Journey of Colors

At approximately 1:00 am on March 15, 2002, Israeli military forces began withdrawing from the twin cities of Ramallah and al-Bireh in the West Bank, which they had occupied in a massive show of force three days previously. In the ensuing hours, Israel evacuated most of the other towns,

Mouin Rabbani • 7 min read

Current Analysis

The Mitchell Report

On May 29, Israeli and Palestinian security officials held their first publicly acknowledged meeting since April. The encounter, conducted under CIA supervision, was arranged by William Burns, recently appointed US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, after a series of discussions with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli

Mouin Rabbani • 7 min read

Current Analysis

Palestinians Prepare for the Worst

Speaking on April 1, Palestinian Authority (PA) Minister of Information and Culture Yasser Abed Rabbo described the current Israeli-Palestinian relationship as "open warfare." While his characterization may have been premature, it was anything but an April fool's joke. During Ehud Barak's short and chaotic

Mouin Rabbani • 6 min read

MER Article

Toward a War of Attrition in Palestine

As the second intifada in the Occupied Territories approaches its sixth month, the activities of increasingly effective armed cells have been supplanting civil forms of resistance. This gradual "Lebanonization" of the conflict poses a challenge to Israel. For all his bluster about refusing to negotiate under fire, putting

Mouin Rabbani • 7 min read

Current Analysis

Negotiating Over the Clinton Plan

The flurry of diplomatic activity designed to achieve an Israeli-Palestinian treaty prior to US President Bill Clinton's January 20 departure from the White House appears to be bearing fruit. January 3 the White House announced that Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat had accepted "with reservations" the

Mouin Rabbani • 6 min read

Current Analysis

The Peres-Arafat Agreement: Can It Work?

Within hours of the November 2 announcement that PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and the Israeli Minister of Regional Cooperation, Shimon Peres, had agreed to implement the understandings reached between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) at the October Sharm al-Sheikh summit, Israeli soldiers sho

Mouin Rabbani • 7 min read

Current Analysis

After the Sharm al-Sheikh Summit

Details of the understandings reached between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority (PA) President Yasser Arafat are trickling slowly out of Sharm al-Sheikh, the Egyptian resort where President Bill Clinton convened an emergency international summit October 16. The Israelis and the PA say they will both take "

Mouin Rabbani • 5 min read