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In-Depth Coverage

Original Commentaries

08/07/08
How to Deal with Jerusalem  —Lt. Col. (Res.) Ron Shatzberg, Project Director, Economic Cooperation Foundation. Interview with Middle East Bulletin.
08/07/08
How to Deal with Jerusalem  —
08/05/08
Why Did Maliki Call for a Timeline?  —by Christopher Kojm who teaches at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and is a former senior advisor to the Iraq Study Group. Original Commentary for Middle East Bulletin.

Setting the Record Straight

Already Divided

“Even the Arab minority in the city has shown its preference for living under Israeli rule, as many have moved to the Israeli side of the security barrier being built around Jerusalem. Their choice is reasonable, as Jerusalem offers the quality of life of a modern western city while only a few kilometers away the norm is a third world standard of living, chaos and religious intolerance. An undivided Jerusalem is the best guarantee of a better life for all Jerusalemites.”
—Nathan Diament, Director of Public Policy, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, July 23, 2008 versus
  • “Those who believe that Jerusalem should not be divided, and mean by that that the Arab neighborhoods should not be separated from the city, should be the first to insist that an active policy be adopted by the government and the municipality to improve the lot of local Arab residents. Barring that, Jerusalem will continue to remain a divided city.”
    —Moshe Arens, former Israeli defense and foreign minister (Likud), “A Story of Neglect,” Haaretz, July 28, 2008

    • Middle East Analysis

    Smuggling Across the Syrian-Lebanese Border

    Thair Abbas, Mirsal al Tars, Hussein Darwish and Khaled al Arabi (Asharq Alawsat)
    April 28, 2008

    Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar Assad (AP)

    It appears that the Syrian- Lebanese border will remain subject to deep discussions on either side of the "unofficial and undefined" borders between the two states. These problematic borders also form the point of intersection in which international accusations converge. The chief accusation revolves around smuggling arms to Hezbollah, which according to its officials has managed to boost its military power. In fact, Hezbollah has reportedly become mightier than ever before despite local and international surveillance on the borders.

    Lebanon and Syria share a history by virtue of the geographical reality that has created interdependence between the two states. … Furthermore, the borders between the two states were never demarcated clearly, which has caused various disputes, the most prominent of which is the Shebaa farms, which Lebanon demands that Israel withdraw from and which the international community considers to be part of Syria—thus far. …

    It is reported that during a visit to Damascus, UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-Moon raised the subject of border surveillance with the Syrian authorities but his suggestion to deploy UN forces on the borders to control the arms smuggling in Lebanon was rejected.

    Following, in his report about the implementation of Resolution 1701, the secretary-general expressed his concern over the reports and explicit declarations made by Hezbollah that referred to "violations of the embargo on arms." He said, "All the states in the region, especially Syria and Iran have a major responsibility in this regard. Such violations [such as Hezbollah's] threaten to detrimentally affect Lebanon’s stability and the entire region’s." Access the full article>>