Current Analysis Anti-War Thinking: Acknowledge Despair, Highlight Progress on Moral Preemption It is difficult not to feel despair and powerlessness at this awful juncture. Millions in the world fought with all their hearts and minds to avoid violence in Iraq. Inevitably, when bombs fall, there is a deep and emotional void that is opened. Many will pray. Others will simply reflect. Countless Desmond Tutu, Ian Urbina • 2 min read
Current Analysis Israel, the US and "Targeted Killings" Six Hamas militants killed in a car explosion on February 16 were assassinated by Israel, Hamas claims. While Israel denies involvement in the deaths, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported on February 17 that Israel will assassinate other members of the military wing of Hamas as part of its planned len Ian Urbina, Chris Toensing • 12 min read
Current Analysis Israel's Clampdown Masks System of Control Citing "many intelligence reports" of possible attacks on civilians inside Israel, on February 10 Israel imposed "complete closure" upon Palestinian towns and villages in the Occupied Territories for the duration of the Muslim holiday, Eid al-Adha, which ends on February 14. This measure, last taken on Adam Hanieh • 8 min read
Current Analysis Litmus Test Hours before chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix briefed the UN Security Council on January 27, Turkey's deputy prime minister protested that the Bush administration would proceed toward military confrontation regardless of Blix's findings. "You'll declare war against an Iraq...that has taken Yuksel Taskin, Koray Caliskan • 9 min read
Current Analysis A Case for Concern, Not a Case for War On January 27, UNMOVIC Executive Chairman Hans Blix and IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei presented to the UN Security Council their required updates on the progress of weapons inspections inside Iraq. The updates arrive as the differences between the overt strategies of Security Council members reach a new level of Nathaniel Hurd, Alistair Millar, Glen Rangwala • 9 min read
Current Analysis The Palestinian Elections That Never Were January 20, 2003—the scheduled date of elections that existed on Palestinian Authority letterhead alone—passed with the incumbent presidential candidate nearly imprisoned in his offices in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Several weeks earlier, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat candidly told reporters Charmaine Seitz • 11 min read
Current Analysis The Israeli Election Campaign Avoids the Issues In the early stages of the campaign for the Israeli Knesset elections due to be held on January 28, there were no armed attacks by Palestinians on Israelis. During the same six weeks, Israeli forces shot dead some 75 Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. This is what passes for a period Joel Beinin • 8 min read
Current Analysis Sanctions No Longer Serve US Interests The Bush administration renewed US sanctions against Libya earlier this month. The announcement, although expected, frustrated US oil companies, which had hoped to gain access to some of the world’s largest reserves of light crude oil. The rollover of sanctions comes despite the efforts of Libya’s e Ian Urbina • 4 min read
Current Analysis The Death and Life of Jarallah Omar News of the shooting deaths of three American health professionals working for a Southern Baptist mission hospital in Yemen follows closely on the heels of the very public murder of a highly regarded figure in the Yemeni opposition. Jarallah Omar, deputy secretary general of the Yemeni Socialist Pa Anna Wuerth, Lisa Wedeen, Sheila Carapico • 7 min read
Current Analysis Protest and Regime Resilience in Iran The largest pro-reform demonstrations since the summer of 1999 roiled Tehran on December 7-10, as student protesters press ahead with plans to hold campus referendums on the legitimacy of unelected bodies of conservative clergy that wield great power in the country's political system. On December 7, Iranian security Bijan Khajehpour • 7 min read
Current Analysis The Upcoming Elections in Israel On November 19, 2002, Amram Mitzna, a former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) general who now serves as mayor of Haifa, soundly defeated another retired general, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, the incumbent Labor party leader and former Defense Minister, in the Labor party primaries. Mitzna will face yet another Yoav Peled • 9 min read
Current Analysis Occupied Maan An expanded campaign to silence outspoken critics of the Jordanian government has followed the October 20 assassination of USAID official Lawrence Foley in Amman. On the pretext of unsubstantiated speculation that Foley's killing was orchestrated by a group of Islamist militants, the regime has arrested foreign and local Jillian Schwedler • 9 min read
