MER Article Interregnum Operation Defensive Shield is formally over, but what Israel's climactic offensive in the West Bank will bring in its wake remains unclear. It is unlikely to be the denouement to 20 months of Palestinian resistance, Israeli aggression and US prevarication. Superficially, the current stage seems marked by long-awaited Rema Hammami • 23 min read
MER Article From the Editors (Summer 2002) At least 700,000 people jammed the streets of New York on June 12, 1982 to demand full disarmament from the heads of state gathered to discuss nuclear policy at the United Nations. The raucous crowd's chants of "No nukes!" drew favorable comment from German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, who praised the The Editors • 3 min read
Current Analysis Jordan's King Abdallah in Washington King Abdallah of Jordan came to his May 8 White House meeting with George W. Bush painfully aware of the pressures and contradictions threatening his regime's delicate position. After gambling more heavily than any other Arab state on peace with Israel and the liberalization of the Middle East, Marc Lynch • 7 min read
Current Analysis Fears of a Second Front On March 30, Hizballah attacked several Israeli army outposts in the Shebaa Farms, a disputed strip of mountainous territory running along Lebanon's southeast border with the Golan Heights, in the first such attack since mid-January. Sayyid Hasan Nasrallah, Hizballah's secretary-general, reportedly authorized preparations for stepped-up operations Nicholas Blanford • 10 min read
Current Analysis The "Do More" Chorus in Washington Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Israel April 11 calling on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to immediately withdraw Israeli troops from the West Bank. As of April 15, Sharon remains defiant, insisting that his troops must stay until full victory has been achieved. In Washington, Press Secretar Charles D. Smith • 11 min read
Current Analysis Toward Submission or War in Palestine? For the last few days one topic has dominated conversation in the West Bank town of Ramallah: will tonight be the night? A general consensus holds that it is only a matter of time before Israeli tanks and troops take over the city completely, imposing a curfew that confines residents to their homes, Adam Hanieh • 7 min read
MER Article Hamas Stands Down? When Osama bin Laden evoked the Palestinian cause in his widely viewed statement October 7, he split Palestinians between those who appreciated the support and those who were horrified by the association. At the same time, the new world “coalition against terror” has deployed the Palestinian Authori Charmaine Seitz • 9 min read
Current Analysis Intifada in the Aftermath By now, accepted wisdom says that an unexpected outcome of the September 11 attacks in the US may well be the Palestinian Authority's salvation from extinction at the hands of Ariel Sharon. But the more optimistic scenario, that the sudden reordering of US strategic priorities in the region Rema Hammami • 9 min read
MER Article An Uprising at a Crossroads More than eight months have passed, and over 500 lives have been lost, since the second intifada broke out in September 2000, but few, if any, of the uprising's original goals have been achieved. Instead, the iconic enemy of Palestinian nationalism, Ariel Sharon, was elected Israeli premier at Jamil Hilal, Rema Hammami • 15 min read
MER Article From the Editor (Summer 2001) This May's escalations in the long-since militarized confrontation in the Occupied Territories prompted the obligatory calls upon the US to intensify its diplomatic efforts. Secretary of State Colin Powell responded with the lackluster Mitchell Commission report and another attempt to broker a cease The Editors • 3 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
