Jordan’s Internet U-Turn: Where’s the Vision Now?
NASEEM TARAWNAH: Once upon a time, the Jordanian government thought censoring the Internet was a bad thing, arguing the best regulators were users themselves.
Saudi Progress: With Giant Strides and Baby Steps
CROSSROADS ARABIA: Yet another significant bridgehead has been secured – 30 women will be appointed to the Shoura Council
Militant Fans Once Again Battle for Egypt’s Future
JAMES M. DORSEY: The opposing fans of Cairo soccer clubs Al Zamalek and Al Ahly are engaged in a separate but parallel struggle with the authorities
Democracy in Saudi Arabia: Is It Inevitable?
EMAN AL NAFJAN: In a wide ranging article on democracy around the world I was asked to consider its place in Saudi Arabia. Here’s my response
Hollywood Stars Join Call to Free Syrian Filmmaker
MICH CAFE: Orwa Nyrabia has been missing for almost three weeks. Pressure is mounting to find out where he is though it’s being led from outside the Arab world.
US Elections: 10 Subjects Obama and Romney Won’t Debate
STEVE ROYSTON: Preparation involves coming up with diversionary tactics whenever the question is likely to produce a response unpalatable to the listening millions.
Yemen’s Salih: The Elephant’s Still In the Room
DANIEL M. VARISCO: He was eventually deposed but disgraced leader Ali Abdullah Salih shows no inclination to leave Yemen.
Settlements Strangle Hope For Two State Solution
RICHARD SILVERSTEIN: You can begin to see the battleground before you. One state, the question is whether this will be democratic, semi-democratic, or a Jewish-dominated theocracy.
Analysis: Does the CIA Step Up Drone Strikes During Ramadan?
TBIJ: Last week witnessed some of the most intense bombing by the CIA in many months. But are drone strikes more frequent during Muslim religious holidays?
Rachel Corrie – Not the First, Probably Not the Last
RICHARD SILVERSTEIN: The IDF (and Border Police) are murderers. They kill civilians. Unarmed civilians. Who protest for justice and human rights. This is no defensive army.
Sharia Law is ‘… A Great Threat to U.S Freedom’. Really?
ROB L. WAGNER: The level of detachment between the imagined world of Republican delegates and the real America seems to widen by the day.
New Regulation: Goodbye Free Speech in Jordan
NASEEM TARAWNAH: Internet censorship is coming soon to Jordan and coming in a big way. What can any of us do?
Israel Apartheid, Avalon and the Smell of Fear
JUAN COLE: Ayalon’s despererate and over-the-top rhetoric smells of fear, fear that when South Africa calls you on Apartheid policies, it legitimizes that critique of the Greater Israel project…
“Silence” Leaves the UAE Vulnerable to its Critics
FRANCIS MATTHEW: Lack of political inclusion, and the lack of regular statements, offers an opening to criticism of the country. But this should not ignore its liberal social agenda.
Is Laughter the Best Medicine For Egypt?
CG NEWS: That Egyptians are funny is a well-known Arab stereotype. Egyptians are said to be khafiift id-damm (light of blood) — able to turn almost anything into a joke.
‘Beautiful Words’ Melt in Face of ‘the Muslim Threat’
ROB L. WAGNER: U.S citizens are, it appears, willing to give up many of the freedoms enshrined in their Constitution when presented with a large enough threat.
Arab Springs Eternal: Evolution of a Revolution
JAMES M. DORSEY: The civil war in Syria dominates the news the wave of protests in the smaller cities of Arab states foretells a groundswell of mass demonstration.
U.S. Democracy: The Billionaires Only Game
JUAN COLE: After Nicolas Sarkozy lost the presidency in France, SWAT teams went into his house looking for evidence that he had received $50,000 illicitly from the L’oreal heiress. $50,000? Our politicians get that in their sleep.
Israel’s Insatiable Military: Billions Demanded for ‘Arab Spring Threat’
RICHARD SILVERSTEIN: The treasury is proposing $12-billion, while Defense $15-billion. According to Haaretz, Netanyahu is expected to go with the Defense Ministry
Morsi’s Power Play In Sinai, and on the Pitch
JAMES M. DORSEY: Mr. Morsi’s response to this week’s killing of 16 Egyptian soldiers by militants has allowed him to position himself as the country’s co-commander-in-chief
