Camp David

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, and Palestinian Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat address reporters on the Middle East Peace Process Talks at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on July 30, 2013. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]

The peace process needs a whole new outlook

Instead of using the talks as a replacement for progress, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators would do well to define guiding values that should be the basis of both process and solutions. One of the problems with the flagging Kerry negotiations is that they are heavy on ‘process,’ and not much about ‘peace.’ That could be…

By Dahlia Scheindlin April 11, 2014

‘Not born for happiness’: Israel as a Russian opera

The ultimate tale of a missed opportunity, now staged by the Bolshoi on Tel Aviv’s opera stage, resonates strongly in an Israeli heart that still recalls an old hope. It does not end like an opera. No diva is sprawled on the stage, a dagger in her heart and a high D♭emerging emerging from her…

By Yuval Ben-Ami June 27, 2013

Nakba Day protest, May 15, 2012. (Activestills.org)

The Palestinian Nakba: Are Israelis starting to get it?

Israelis are more willing to discuss and accept their country’s role in the Palestinian Nakba – until the historical events are portrayed as the story of the founding of a rival nation, and acknowledging those facts means legitimizing the other side’s fundamental beliefs. In 2008, a fascinating, little-known study asked 500 Israeli Jews about Israel’s…

By Dahlia Scheindlin May 15, 2013

Latest

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak ending a press conference in which he announced his retierment from politics (photo: Rafi Michaeli / Megaphone, an independent Israeli paper)

Ehud Barak to step down: On his de-evolution, and Israel’s

The defense minister symbolizes the 21st-century failure of the Israeli ‘warrior for peace.’ Ehud Barak, who announced his retirement from politics today, said a couple of very brave things in his political career. “If I were a Palestinian at the right age, I would have joined one of the terrorist organizations at a certain stage,”…

By Larry Derfner November 26, 2012

What’s next for Egypt, Israel and the elusive peace treaty?

The Camp David Accords, the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty brokered by President Jimmy Carter, survived 30 years under ousted president Hosni Mubarak. But the treaty was never popular amongst the people. Will it survive in the post-Mubarak era? By Nervana Mahmoud When Anwar Sadat signed the Camp David Peace Treaty in 1979, he probably did not…

By +972 Magazine February 25, 2012

US criticism of Egyptian military crackdown insufficient

We are all familiar with the frequent criticisms lodged at Washington for helping to fund (via billions of dollars in aid) the Israeli military’s occupation of the Palestinian territories. But where are the cries against the billions of dollars given to Egypt’s military, a military now engaged in one of the most shocking crackdowns on…

By Roee Ruttenberg December 20, 2011

Cairo demonstrator at Tahrir Square (photo: Sarah Carr/Flickr)

Western powers still don’t know how to deal with Arab democracy

By Maath Musleh The leaders of the industrialized states are still confused by the revolutions in the Arab world. Many of them have given public recognition to the historic changes taking place, but few are investing significantly in preparing for the new era. Instead, the leaders of the major world powers are trying to influence…

By +972 Magazine March 9, 2011

Five reasons why Barbara Slavin’s cautious optimism is misplaced (Jerry Haber)

The following was originally posted on The Magnes Zionist. A very good example of what is fundamentally wrong about how Americans view the Israel/Palestinian Conflict is provided by Barbara Slavin here. In a contrarian spirit of being a teeny bit upbeat about the next round in Israeli Arab peace talks (going on for around sixty plus years,…

By +972 Magazine August 26, 2010

Diplomacy: Is Obama leading us to a new Camp David?

Last week, the Arab League authorized Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to engage in direct negotiations with Israel. Abbas is still refusing the talks, but estimates are it’s only a matter of weeks before negotiations will be launched. So it seems that the US administration finally got its first achievement: Palestinians and Israelis will be talking…

By Noam Sheizaf August 2, 2010