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☆ UAE museum unveils Torah scroll that survived the Holocaust in tolerance push
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Bushra Shakhshir | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] Visitors attend an event commemorating the Holocaust, in which a 16th century Torah scroll that survived the Holocaust was officially unveiled, at Crossroad of Civilizations Museum, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, January 28, 2023. Ahmed Obaid Al Mansoori, founder of the Crossroads of Civilizations Museum in Dubai's historic district, said the display, unveiled for International Holocaust Remembrance Day would help combat "big denial" of the Holocaust in the region. The scroll is on permanent loan to the museum from the Memorial Scrolls Trust, which looks after more than 1,000 Czech scrolls saved from the Holocaust and later sent to London. "I lived in the Arab world when I was young, and the term Holocaust does not exist ... Reporting by Bushra Shakhshir and Abdel Hadi Ramahi; Writing by Ghaida Ghantous Editing by Peter GraffOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.N. agency: Arabs' Israel ties no impediment to aiding Palestinian refugees
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, said he saw no contradiction between supporting Palestinian refugees and building ties with Israel. "You can have strong bilateral relations with Israel and be a strong supporter of the agency," Lazzarini told Reuters. "Whatever rapprochement or ties (with Israel) should not have the slightest impact on your commitment and your solidarity with the Palestine refugees and your support to an agency like UNRWA. "We have normal access when it comes to delivering our services in Gaza and the West Bank, but we are very concerned about the increased violence impacting this community," he said. Last year saw the worst levels of violence in the West Bank in more than a decade after Israel launched a crackdown on militants in response to fatal Palestinian street attacks.

Summary Abraham Accords meant to lead to wider normalisationBut four new Arab partners of Israel now in tough spotHow to deal with rightists without ditching Palestinians? It is expected to be the widest-ranging deal of its kind between Israel and an Arab state. "This is the proof that one can make peace without concessions, without capitulation - but rather, peace, peace, between people who have affection for one another," he said in comments published by the conservative Israel Hayom newspaper. “Arab countries who formed normalisation ties with the state of occupation are required more than ever to revise these agreements,” he told Reuters by phone. Netanyahu has pledged to build on the achievement during his previous term of the Abraham Accords that opened the way for a possible normalisation of relations with other Arab countries.

☆ Factbox: Top ministers in Israel's new religious-nationalist cabinet
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

JERUSALEM, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu has unveiled his new government that includes religious and nationalist parties. In the past, he has agitated against Israel's Arab minority citizens, condemned LGBT activists and called the justice system too liberal. NATIONAL SECURITY MINISTER ITAMAR BEN-GVIRA West Bank settler who heads the far-right Jewish Power party, Ben-Gvir secured an expanded cabinet ministry in charge of police. His appointment to the new Netanyahu government has been challenged in Israel's Supreme Court given his conviction for tax fraud - without prison time - last year. Shas, along with another ultra-Orthodox party, United Torah Judaism, has long raised concerns among secular liberals by demanding welfare benefits and military draft exemptions for its constituents.

☆ Israel's Netanyahu must manage right-wing firebrands on return to power
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( James Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"The new government is determined to restore ... quiet and personal security to the citizens of Israel," Netanyahu told parliament on Thursday before his swearing in. For Netanyahu, who described himself in his recent autobiography as "conservative but decidedly not extreme", such allies are likely to provide challenges aplenty in the months ahead as even Israel's closest allies watch with unease. To complicate matters further, Netanyahu is himself fighting corruption charges alleging he unlawfully received gifts and granted regulatory favours in return for positive news coverage. A resumption looks increasingly unlikely, with some members of Religious Zionism talking openly about annexing the West Bank, dashing whatever hope remains of a Palestinian state. The United States, Israel's closest ally, has been circumspect in offering criticism although officials including President Joe Biden have pointedly repeated Washington's support for the two-state solution.

☆ Morocco vs. France World Cup 2022 game highlights globalization
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Tony Karon | Tony Karon Is The Editorial Lead Of Al Jazeera'S Aj | Channel. Also An Associate Professor At The New School In New York | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The iconic image of the 2022 World Cup may well be Morocco’s Sofiane Boufal dancing with his mum after his team’s brilliant upset victory over Portugal in the quarterfinals. Boufal and his mother — like the majority of Morocco’s players and coaches — live in European cities, part of that continent’s vast marginalized and embattled migrant underclass. Morocco’s prowess as the first African team to make the semifinals of the World Cup brings us ever closer to fulfilling soccer icon Pelé’s prophecy. Indeed, this was the first World Cup in which all five African teams were coached by African coaches, rather than by European journeymen. The team's strategy suggests its coach has rewritten the playbook that long recommended African teams play pessimistic defensive football, hoping for a lucky break.

☆ Xi Jinping: Saudi's MBS rolls out the red carpet for China's president, in a not too subtle message to Biden
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Tamara Qiblawi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Saudi leaders will infuse the trip with a dose of spectacle. The Saudi king – or his powerful Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman – may bestow the Chinese leader with some honors and medals. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman fist bumps US President Joe Biden upon his arrival at Al Salman Palace, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on July 15. Today, the US consumes only a fraction of that Saudi oil, and China is Saudi Arabia’s biggest client and trading partner. Over the last year, Gulf Arab countries appear to have ramped up their independent-minded policy.

☆ Blinken vows US support for Israel despite unease over govt
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday the U.S. will not shrink from its unwavering support for Israel despite stark differences with Prime Minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu and concerns the Biden administration may have about potential members of his incoming right-wing government. Blinken said the Biden administration would engage with Netanyahu’s government based on its policies and not on personalities, including potential senior Cabinet ministers who have expressed vehement anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab views in the past. He said those would be detrimental to Israel’s long-term security or future as a Jewish democratic state. We will hold it to the mutual standards we have established in our relationship over the past seven decades,” Blinken said. He lauded the recent completion of a maritime border accord between Israel and Lebanon.

☆ Israel’s President Heads to Bahrain to Address Stalled Arab Relations
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Dion Nissenbaum | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Bahrain is one of a handful of Arab countries that have normalized relations with Israel. MANAMA, Bahrain—Israeli President Isaac Herzog is making his first visit to this tiny Gulf nation Sunday amid concerns that efforts to deepen ties with one-time adversaries in the Middle East are stalling. While Israel has made significant advances with the United Arab Emirates in the past two years, relations have been slower to flourish with Bahrain and other countries that normalized ties in deals brokered by the Trump administration known as the Abraham Accords in 2020.

☆ Israel’s President Visits Bahrain to Address Stalled Arab Relations
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Dion Nissenbaum | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Bahrain is one of a handful of Arab countries that have normalized relations with Israel. MANAMA, Bahrain—Israeli President Isaac Herzog made his first visit to this tiny Gulf nation Sunday amid concerns that efforts to deepen ties with one-time adversaries in the Middle East are stalling. While Israel has made significant advances with the United Arab Emirates in the past two years, relations have been slower to flourish with Bahrain and other countries that normalized ties in deals brokered by the Trump administration known as the Abraham Accords in 2020.

☆ ‘F---ing nightmare’: Trump team does damage control after he dines with Ye and white supremacist Nick Fuentes
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

But despite Trump’s suggestion the event was “uneventful,” the fallout over his dinner with Fuentes appears to have thrown Trump’s campaign into damage control mode. In addition to Giorno and Fuentes, Ye also brought along another man who was an associate, according to the sources. Fuentes attended that event and, after Trump said he denounced white supremacy at the rally, Fuentes denounced him for that. In his video debrief, Ye said that “Trump is really impressed with Nick Fuentes. “I’m like hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, Trump.

☆ Arabs shun Israeli media at Qatar World Cup, cooling hopes of a thaw
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Maya Gebeily | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Interview attempts with Arab fans, however, fell flat with reporters from public broadcaster Kan and top-rated Channel 12 TV telling Reuters they had been mostly snubbed. Footage circulating online showed two Saudi fans, a Qatari shopper and three Lebanese fans walking away from Israeli reporters. But it has allowed direct flights from Tel Aviv for the World Cup as well as a delegation of Israeli diplomats to handle logistics. The delegation spokesperson said there had been no reports of ill-treatment of the estimated 10,000 to 20,000 Israeli fans. "Sure, most countries in the Arab world are heading towards normalisation – but that's because most of them don't have rulers who listen to their people," he said.

☆ In Bahrain, pope's message may get caught in Shi'ite-Sunni Muslim divide
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Workers take on last minute set up ahead of Pope Francis arrival at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Manama, Bahrain, November 2, 2022. It is home to the first Catholic church to be built in the Gulf area in modern times, which opened in 1939, as well as the cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia, the largest Catholic church on the Arabian Peninsula. The London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) and other human rights groups have urged the pope to speak out on what they say are rights abuses, including the imprisonment of pro-democracy dissidents. Bahrain rejects criticism from the United Nations and others over its conduct of trials and detention conditions. Bahrain, along with the UAE, forged ties with Israel in 2020 under U.S.-brokered pacts known as the Abraham Accords.

☆ Analysis: As Netanyahu returns, concerns grow over far-right ally
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( James Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/5] Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu, accompanied by wife Sara Netanyahu, addresses his supporters at his party headquarters during Israel's general election in Jerusalem, November 2, 2022. "This party is a huge success, no religious party in Israel has ever achieved such a number," he said. With the conflict with the Palestinians surging anew and touching off Jewish-Arab tensions within Israel, Ben-Gvir on Thursday tweeted: "The time has come to impose order here. Contrary to his hawkish image, Netanyahu has often taken a more flexible and pragmatic approach than some of his predecessors. "Netanyahu now has a personal interest in limiting the power of law authorities and the Supreme Court because of his trial," Shapira said.

☆ Benjamin Netanyahu faces balancing act after Israel election comeback
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( James Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu gestures as he addresses his supporters at his party headquarters during Israel's general election in Jerusalem, November 2, 2022. But most attention has been focused on his alliance with the far-right Religious Zionism party and its co-leader Itamar Ben-Gvir, who was convicted in 2007 of racist incitement against Arabs and who until recently was advocating expelling Palestinians from Israel. On trial for corruption over bribery and other charges which he denies, Netanyahu looks set to depend on support from Religious Zionism and two smaller religious parties. In return, he may have to hand over ministries that have a direct hand in setting Israel's defence and economic policies. How to square that circle with the fiery rhetoric of his allies will test all his political skills.

☆ Analysis: Arabs view revived Netanyahu with concern but as balance against Iran
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Suleiman Al-Khalidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister predicted a new maritime border deal would hold, while Palestinians and Jordanian experts forecast new strains. "Netanyahu was part of the Abraham Accords and signed it so there is no change in the course of normalisation," he said. But in Jordan, home to millions of Palestinian refugees and their families, his expected triumph was met with concern. "Today the Israeli right is talking about expelling Palestinians, they are saying there is no (Palestinian) state ..so what is left for Arabs?" Netanyahu "has been terrible for even the semblance of a peace process which Egypt officially upholds," he said.

☆ Israel, Lebanon finalise maritime demarcation deal without mutual recognition
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Israeli and Lebanese leaders finalised a U.S-brokered maritime demarcation on Thursday, bringing a measure of accommodation between the enemy states as they eye offshore energy exploration. Leaders from Lebanon, Israel and the United States have all hailed the deal as "historic" but the possibility of a wider diplomatic breakthrough remains slim. Prime Minister Yair Lapid signed separately in Jerusalem, saying the deal was a "tremendous achievement" that had produced Lebanon's de facto recognition of Israel. But Aoun later said the deal was purely "technical" and would have "no political dimensions or impacts that contradict Lebanon's foreign policy". Lower-level delegations from each country headed to the United Nations' peacekeeping base at Naqoura along their contested land border, which has yet to be delineated.

☆ Netanyahu comeback dominates Israel election 'all about Bibi'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Maayan Lubell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"RIGGED"Israel has been stuck in an election loop since 2019, the same year which saw Netanyahu indicted for corruption on charges he denies. "The only thing that really matters is Bibi or not Bibi, unfortunately," said Hila Shay Vazan, former Knesset member and commentator. And he feels, evidently, that this for him is a political battle for life and death," said political analyst Amotz Asa-El at Shalom Hartman Institute. read moreLike Trump, Netanyahu says he is a victim of a political witch-hunt, counting on support from voters with little interest in the legal details of the trial, Asa-El said. "They say Bibi voters are stupid and ignorant," said Ramla-raised importer Moti Karo, 56.

☆ Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner knew the 2020 election wasn't stolen and began to distance themselves before the results were even called, a new book says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Peter Baker | Susan Glasser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

In their new book, journalists, Peter Baker and Susan Glasser go behind the scenes of the Trump White House. As the 2020 election results came in, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump had already moved on, the book says. They had their own future to think about, one that would no longer involve the White House. While still in the White House, he began writing a memoir focused on Middle East peacemaking. "We either have a vote WE control and WEwin OR it gets kicked to Congress 6 January 2021," Don Jr. wrote.

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