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Obama's Risky Path in Egypt
Some U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers have long harbored the view that corrupt, inept, and inefficient Arab friends simply cannot retain power forever. They believe President Carter should have trusted his initial instincts and pushed the Shah of Iran toward reforms. But those officials who think this way forget their history. When President George W. Bush made his push for democracy in Arab lands, he ended up with Hamas terrorists winning a democratic election and ruling the Gaza Strip. And this “democratic” thinking also overlooks that Bush’s pressing for democracy in Lebanon helped open the doors to power for the radical Hezbollah group. And yes, the anti-shah revolution in 1979 started out with moderates in power, only to be pushed aside by the clerical radicals who still rule today. In rotten regimes that fall to street mobs, the historical pattern has been moderates followed by new dictators
Rubrik: PresseThe selling of the 'Palestine Papers'
Palestinians helped to create their predicament. For years they have systematically failed to prepare their public opinion for the concessions that will have to be part of any two-state settlement. Is it really conceivable that Israel would or could tear down East Jerusalem neighborhoods where 190,000 of its citizens now live, or allow hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees to move inside its pre-1967 borders? No one seriously engaged in Middle East diplomacy -- American, Arab or European -- thinks so. But that has never been explained to most Palestinians.
Rubrik: PresseMatthias Küntzel: Menschenrechte sind unteilbar - Europa muss sich einmischen!
Asia Bibi gehört zur christlichen Minderheit in Pakistan. Die Landarbeiterin und fünffache Mutter soll am Galgen sterben, weil sie bei einem Streit mit Landfrauen Mohammed mit Jesus verglichen haben soll. Das Todesurteil erging im November 2010 und basiert auf einem Gesetz, das Gotteslästerung mit dem Tod bestraft. Dieses Beispiel zeigt, dass der Streit um die Wahrung der Menschenrechte innerhalb der islamisch geprägten Gesellschaften tobt - ob in Pakistan, Ägypten oder Iran.
Rubrik: PresseIsrael-Regionaltreffen in Frankfurt, Hamburg, Berlin, München, Stuttgart und Leipzig
Einladung zu den Regionaltreffen in Folge des 1. Deutschen Israelkongresses in Frankfurt (23.1.2011), Hamburg (23.1.), Berlin (30.1.), München (6.2.), Stuttgart (13.2.) und Leipzig (20.2.).
Rubrik: NewsAnalysis: Tunisia - first popular uprising in Arab world
Whatever the final outcome, the spontaneous revolution of the Tunisian people has forever changed the Arab world. They have shown that a grassroots revolution can happen everywhere.
Rubrik: PresseThe failure of governance in the Arab world
Protests in Tunisia and Algeria are part of a rising tide of popular dissatisfaction with illiberal, unreformed Arab rule. Experts deplored a general trend towards "authoritarian retrenchment" as Arab leaders used the west's preoccupation with terrorism, its energy dependence and the Palestine stalemate to deflect external and internal reform pressures.
Rubrik: PresseÜber die Diskriminierung von Christen im Nahen Osten
Die Diskriminierung und Verfolgung von Christen im Nahen Osten hat eine ebenso lange und verhängnisvolle Geschichte wie die Gleichgültigkeit des Westens. Von Thomas von der Osten-Sacken und Oliver M. Piecha
Rubrik: Presse10.2.2011 Berlin: Die Vereinten Nationen gegen Israel: Dämonisierung und Delegitimierung. Veranstaltung mit Jörg Rensmann (MFFB)
Do. 10. Feb 2011 | 19.30 Uhr Jüdisches Gemeindehaus Kleiner Saal Fasanenstr. 79–80 | 10623 Berlin Eintritt: 5,– | erm. 3,–
Rubrik: NewsHomosexualität im Nahen Osten: Verbotene Liebe
Homosexualität im Nahen Osten? Gibt es nicht! Zumindest offiziell. Doch viele Schwule und Lesben ignorieren die Zwänge der Gesellschaft. Spurensuche in einer Welt, die es nicht geben darf.
Rubrik: PresseRaid on Islamic Groups in Germany
The German Interior Ministry ordered simultaneous raids in three states on Tuesday against what it called Salafist networks suspected of seeking the imposition of an Islamic state. The action signaled growing concern over the radical messages of some Islamic groups. The ministry statement said the raids were directed at two groups: Invitation to Paradise in the cities of Brunswick and Mönchengladbach, and the Islamic Culture Center of Bremen, on the North Sea coast. The two groups work closely together and share the same ideology. The authorities are seeking to outlaw both groups.
Rubrik: PresseAlan Posener: Jetzt wird Israel auch seine Toleranz für Schwule vorgeworfen
Der Kampf gegen Israel steht im Zentrum eines Vortrags, den Jasbir Puar - "Queer-Theoretikerin" und Professorin für Frauen und Gender-Studien an der Rutgers-Universität in New Jersey - auf einer Konferenz in Berlin halten will und der bereits im Vorfeld erhebliche Proteste hervorgerufen hat: "Beware Israeli Pinkwashing!"
Rubrik: PresseDeadly Fictions - Lee Smith about Wikileaks
What comes through most strongly from the Wikileaks documents, however, is that U.S. Middle East policy is premised on a web of self-justifying fictions that are flatly contradicted by the assessments of American diplomats and allies in the region. Starting with Bush’s second term and continuing through the Obama Administration, Washington has ignored the strong and repeated pleas of its regional allies—from Jerusalem to Riyadh—to stop the Iranian nuclear program. Perhaps the most disturbing revelation in the documents is the extent to which both the Bush and Obama Administrations have concealed Iran’s war against the United States and its allies in Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, and the Arab Gulf states.
Rubrik: PresseDer Westen und das höhnische Lachen der Islamisten
Auf unsere unbeholfenen Reaktionen, auf die naiven Angebote des Dialogs, der interkulturellen Verständigung, der westlich geprägten Sehnsucht nach Harmonie und Kompromiss reagieren die Strategen des globalen Kalifats nur mit höhnischem Lachen. Wie Deutschland, der Westen, wie die Demokratien der Welt sich dieser Herausforderung stellen – selbstbewusst, kämpferisch oder kulturrelativistisch defensiv – das wird die Schicksalsfrage der nächsten 50 Jahre sein.
Rubrik: PresseBernard Lewis: "Turkey and Iran may change places"
"The signs so far are alarming," said Middle East scholar Bernard Lewis, speaking Thursday before the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa. "It looks as though the present rulers of Turkey have decided to reverse the processes which began with the creation of the Turkish republic and to turn in another direction." Mr. Lewis said he could envision "a not-impossible situation in which Turkey and Iran may change places, in which Turkey becomes the Islamic republic and Iran becomes the Western democracy."
Rubrik: PresseVideo: Daniel Pipes (Middle East Forum, USA) und Jörg Lau (Die Zeit) debattieren über "Islam, Islamismus und der Westen"
Video und weitere Informationen >>
Rubrik: News