IPS - The Greater Middle East: Al-Qaeda Lost the Battle Long Ago, ISRAEL: Netanyahu Besieged, From Within and Without

2011/9/7
LIBYA: New Chapter Opens After Gaddafi Karlos Zurutuza TRIPOLI, Sep 6 - Libyan children will go back to school without Muammar Gaddafi’s ubiquitous presence, despite a lack of new books. MORE >> OP-ED: Al-Qaeda Lost the Battle Long Ago John Feffer* WASHINGTON, Sep 5 - Osama bin Laden didn't live to see the 10th anniversary of Sep. 11. And his organisation, according to many U.S. government insiders, is on its last legs since his death at the hands of U.S. Special Forces in May. "We're within reach of strategically defeating Al-Qaeda," Defence Secretary Leon Panetta recently observed. Others disagree, pointing to the strength of Al-Qaeda in Yemen. MORE >> ISRAEL: Netanyahu Besieged, From Within and Without Analysis by Pierre Klochendler JERUSALEM, Sep 5 - More and more Israelis seem to realise that the only policy that causes bad luck is bad policy. In a fortnight, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu found himself politically besieged from within and from without. MORE >> EGYPT: Mubarak Faces Court Without the Circus Cam McGrath CAIRO, Sep 4 - With the trial of Hosni Mubarak set to resume Monday, attorneys representing the families of protesters killed during Egypt’s uprising are trying to cut out the deadwood in their midst.  MORE >> Flotilla Report Leaks, Turkey Expels Israeli Ambassador Elizabeth Whitman UNITED NATIONS, Sep 2 - A highly anticipated and controversial report on Israel's May 2010 interception of an aid flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip and subsequent killing of nine civilians and wounding of many others was finally leaked on Thursday, as diplomatic relations between Israel and Turkey continued to deteriorate. MORE >> OP-ED: Manipulating Social Networks Jillian C. York* - IPS/Al Jazeera SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 3 - If there's one thing that net-savvy activists from Tunisia to Bahrain are aware of, it’s that the Internet isn’t always safe. From the constant threat of surveillance to the knowledge that posting the wrong picture on Facebook can get you arrested - or worse - activists have for a long time taken measures to mitigate risks, censoring themselves, using special tools like Tor, or staying off certain networks altogether. MORE >> MEDIA-IRAQ: ‘Protection’ Law Offers Little Safety Rebecca Murray BAGHDAD, Sep 2 - When Ali Sumerian, an editor for Al-Sabah newspaper, and three local media colleagues sat down for a restaurant meal after reporting on a demonstration in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square on Feb. 25 this year, security forces detained them. "We were accused of encouraging an anti-political process," says Sumerian. It was only after their arrest triggered a media outcry, he says, were they released 12 hours later. The four were just some of the journalists attacked and arrested that day. MORE >> MIDEAST: Israelis Stage an Investigation Act Jillian Kestler-D’Amours JERUSALEM, Sep 2 - Israeli soldiers and security forces have conducted a string of arrests and violent raids over recent weeks, at Jenin’s renowned Freedom Theatre, in their investigation into the murder of actor Juliano Mer-Khamis, the theatre’s former director and co-founder, earlier this year. MORE >> U.S.: Poll Tracks Shifts in Public Attitudes Since 9/11 Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, Sep 1 - In the first of what is likely to be a tidal wave of polling in the run-up to the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, a survey released here Thursday by the Pew Research Center found some important shifts in U.S. public opinion over the past decade. MORE >> OP-ED: Language Becomes a Political Weapon in Israel Mya Guarnieri* - IPS/Al Jazeera TEL AVIV, Sept 1 - Speaking to the U.S. congress in May, Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu boasted that his country is a beacon of freedom in the Middle East and North Africa, that it is the only place where Arabs "enjoy real democratic rights". MORE >> U.S.-LIBYA: Debate Stoked Over "Leading From Behind" Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, Sep 1 - As rebels moved to consolidate control over a post-Gaddafi Libya, foreign policy analysts here are debating whether Washington's role in the nearly six-month civil war in the oil-rich North African nation marks a new model for military intervention and "regime change" in objectionable countries. MORE >> U.N. Set to Take International Lead in Post-Gaddafi Libya Haider Rizvi UNITED NATIONS, Sep 1 - The United Nations appears poised to play a major role in Libya in the coming days and months. It remains unclear, however, if the world body will be able to restore peace and democracy in that conflict-ridden oil-rich country, independent analysts and diplomats say. MORE >> LIBYA: Eid Comes With Political Celebration Karlos Zurutuza TRIPOLI, Sep 1 - "Gaddafi renamed this one as the ‘Green Square’ but we have brought back its ancient name, ‘Martyrs square’," Asma Mohamed, Tripoli resident tells IPS. Eid celebrations are being followed by the anniversary Thursday of Muammar Gaddafi coming to power 42 years ago. Celebrations of one kind have mixed with celebrations of another. MORE >> Tribunal Concealed Evidence Al-Qaeda Cell Killed Hariri Analysis by Gareth Porter* WASHINGTON, Aug 31 - In focusing entirely on the alleged links between four Hezbollah activists and the 2005 bombing that killed Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the indictment issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon earlier this month has continued the practice of the U.N investigation before it of refusing to acknowledge the much stronger evidence that an Al-Qaeda cell was responsible for the assassination. MORE >> ISRAEL: Children Facing Deportation Find Friends Jillian Kestler-D’Amours JERUSALEM, Aug 31 - After Israel’s Interior Ministry attempted to deport the first migrant workers’ child educated in the Israeli school system, human rights groups are calling on the Israeli government to develop a clear immigration policy and an official protocol that will minimise the psychological impact of detaining and deporting young children. MORE >>
Read more IPS reporting on the Greater Middle East here.

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