Current Analysis Onward, Christian Soldiers For the past 18 months the Israeli government has gradually raised the stakes in its campaign to pressure Palestinian Christians to serve in the Israeli military. In April, Israel upped the ante once again, announcing it would henceforth be issuing enlistment notices to Christians who have graduated Jonathan Cook • 17 min read
Current Analysis Indyk vs. Indyk Israelis and Palestinians share responsibility for the collapse of Middle East peace talks. That was the message delivered on Thursday [http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/other/IndykSpeechtoTWI20130508.pdf] by US special envoy to the peace process Martin Indyk, in a speech to the W (Author not identified) • 3 min read
Current Analysis Washington Gets “Less Crazy” Yesterday the New America Foundation (NAF), a center-left think tank located one block north of big, bad K Street, hosted a discussion [http://www.newamerica.org/events/2014/citizen_strangers] about the 1948 war, the expulsion of Palestinians from what would become Israel, the new state’s imposition Chris Toensing • 4 min read
Current Analysis MER 270: China in the Middle East For immediate release May 8, 2014 Middle East Report 270 Spring 2014 CHINA IN THE MIDDLE EAST • 2 min read
Current Analysis Region, Race and Some Ironies of History In the forthcoming issue [http://www.merip.org/mer/latest] of Middle East Report, “China in the Middle East,” I write about the often forgotten history [http://www.merip.org/mer/mer270/changing-modes-political-dialogue-across-middle-east-east-asia-1880-2010] of political, intellectual and cultural t Cemil Aydin • 3 min read
Current Analysis "You Can Watch the Circus from Your Couch" Wael Eskandar [https://twitter.com/weskandar] is an independent journalist and blogger [http://blog.notesfromtheunderground.net/] based in Cairo. He writes for al-Ahram Online, al-Monitor [http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/04/egypt-sisi-sabbahi-president-messiah.html], Jadaliyya [http:/ Sheila Carapico • 7 min read
Current Analysis Chez Vous, Gitmo to Guangzhou We at MERIP are excited about the issue of Middle East Report on China and the Middle East coming out next week, featuring the work of two of my mentors, Engseng Ho [http://www.merip.org/author/engseng-ho] and MER editor Cemil Aydın [http://history.unc.edu/people/faculty/cemil-ayden/]. The issue wil Darryl Li • 4 min read
Current Analysis Patrick Seale: A Remembrance “It is as a mirror of rival interests on an international scale that Syria deserves special attention,” a young Anglo-Irish journalist wrote in 1965. “Indeed, her internal affairs are almost meaningless unless related to the wider context, first of her Arab neighbors and then of other interested pow Adam Shatz • 16 min read
Current Analysis Using and Abusing Memory A firestorm broke out unexpectedly on my Facebook feed yesterday morning. Shira Robinson • 4 min read
Current Analysis In Egypt, Nasty Business as Usual Egypt certainly has a penchant for tragicomedy. A week after prosecutors in the terrorism case against Al Jazeera employees [http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/22/al-jazeera-trial-media-ejected-inaudible-recordings-egyptian-judge-journalist] introduced a video of sheep farming -- among other (Author not identified) • 3 min read
Current Analysis A Guide for the Perplexed You have reached the village of Kafr Bir‘im. Enjoy the clean air of the Upper Galilee. Listen to the mountain silence. Observe the elegance of the stone construction in front of you; it is left standing after the 1948 occupation of the village and its consequent destruction. And realize as well that Samera Esmeir • 18 min read
Current Analysis "Progress" in Afghanistan, Then and Now I recently came across a document in the archives, a reminder that the march of “progress” in Afghanistan sometimes seems more reminiscent of a never-ending marching band reliably circling a parade ground [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLJ8ILIE780]. The martial metaphor here isn’t accidental: As el Darryl Li • 4 min read
