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Depressing Assessment of The Future of Peace in the Middle East

The Death of Arafat and the Myth of New Beginnings by Mark Levine in Juan Cole’s Blog Here is a graf: "In the weeks leading up to Palestinian President Yassir Arafat’s death American politicians and pundits have repeatedly called on the Palestinian people to use the opportunity of his passing to transform the intifada from a violent uprising into a non-violent, democratic and pragmatic program for achieving independence. This is very good advice, needless to say, except for one small problem: Palestinians have been trying to build such a movement for the last two decades, and the Israeli Government, IDF…

Friedman on Sistani and the Nobel

See here. Friedman, like most commentators, acknowledges Sistani’s Shi’ism, but fails to understand what that means. “People power” as he describes is what the Ithna’shari conception of the state was/is prior to Khomeinism taking center stage. The idea of jurists leading the state, vilayat-e faqih, is a relatively new concept, but it’s already become normative for even op-ed writers who supposedly have the time to be able to think.

Gaza Crisis [1/16] – Big Update of Links

My apologies for the gap in posting. Now in Doha, Arab League Summit happening here. No Saudia Arabia and no Egypt, so I’m not sure what it’s supposed to accomplish. Will hope to publish some first-hand accounts of how the Arab “street” is reacting, as well as the larger Muslim world. A few Jews here as well, so if I can set-up a safe space, I intend to get as many voices as I can. May come as my first series of podcasts. Olmert says he is the boss of American Foreign Policy Juan Cole Condi says it’s a lie.…