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The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been raging for over seven decades, and the prospects for peace have never seemed more distant than today. The two-state solution, which was once the most widely-accepted remedy for the impasse, has lost traction, and efforts by the United Nations and other...
On June 24, Al Jazeera’s reporter at the White House attempted to determine President Donald Trump’s position on the Israeli plan to begin illegally annexing occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had promised to begin operations on July...
Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, dispenses with illusions in his reading of the likely historical consequences of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s move to annex up to 30% of the occupied West Bank. Israel is expected to unilaterally proceed with the announced...
Dear Americans, Allow me to welcome you in your steady evolution into our world. According to your leaders, Democrats and Republicans, you are either “lowlifes” or “deplorables.” There is bipartisan agreement on this. That’s a very good start. Where I come from, the Arab...
Editor’s Note: These are unprecedented times. A global pandemic has changed life as we know it. In recent months, Fair Observer has examined the crisis through political, economic and social lenses, publishing articles from around the world. The result is three 360° series that we urge you to...
Uncertainty hangs over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pending decision on whether to annex as much a 30% of the West Bank, including the possibility of all existing Israeli settlements there and the entire Jordan Valley. Should he proceed, the proposal will go before the Israeli...
The US decision to withdraw two of its four Patriot anti-missile batteries from Saudi Arabia, along with the 300 soldiers that operated them, has led to speculation about what lies behind the move. Some analysts have linked it to the kingdom’s oil policy, arguing that the decision is intended to...
The Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon is just the latest in a sequence of disenfranchisements that have plagued the Middle East for generations. In 1948, just years after Lebanon was founded, the Palestinians were pushed out of their homeland by the Israelis and the Lebanese granted them refuge....
Dubai — memorably called the world’s fastest city by author and analyst Jim Krane — was already traveling in the slow lane when COVID-19 arrived. The Gulf city-state is one of seven that make up the United Arab Emirates. It had survived the crash of 2009 and thrived anew on...
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is grappling with COVID-19, an unresolved war in Yemen and collapsed oil prices. At the same time, recurrent purges of opponents of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) are harming the country’s foreign investment climate. Within this context, the ambitious Vision...
Since 2017, the blockade of Qatar has continued to have a profound impact on the country. Transportation routes have been disrupted, supply chains have been altered, and family and friends remain separated. In response, the Gulf state has deployed various legal mechanisms to resolve the ongoing...
