IMEU Institute for Middle East Understanding
Q&As
Political analyst Diana Buttu weighs in on the national unity talks between the Fatah party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas.
on October 9, 2017
Dim lighting and candles softly illuminate decorative tapestries as the smell of incense fills the air and the harmonic sound of hundreds singing in unison drifts onto a busy street next to an overflowing church on a wet and windy Sunday morning. Despite the packed pews at Gaza’s Church of St. Porphyrius just weeks before Christmas, Christianity is not booming here.
on December 20, 2015
When Yasser Arafat died, 10 years ago today, he was the president of the Palestinian Authority, an institution that had already existed for five years longer than intended — and that still exists today. While hardly the legacy with which he is most readily identified, the PA is perhaps the product of Arafat's leadership that has the most ongoing impact on the lives of Palestinians today.
on November 12, 2014
Chris Gunness, Spokesperson for UNRWA, refutes reckless allegations -- "a pack of lies" -- leveled by David Bedein in a debate aired by Fox News. The charges are part and parcel of long-running efforts to reduce or end US funding of UNRWA.
on October 27, 2014
Recently, Rabbi Menachem Creditor published an article entitled, "Ferguson Is Not Gaza." It's easy to agree with that statement. While politically expedient and a good rallying call for action of various sorts, to declare a clean equivalence between the two is in many ways misleading. On the other hand, dismissing any possibility that the two historical events do not share certain elements requires more of an intellectual effort than Creditor exerts.
on October 21, 2014
UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged Israel and the Palestinians on Tuesday to move away from unilateral actions stoking tensions and make the "tough compromises" needed to end their decades-old conflict. Ban spoke to the UN Security Council after returning from a visit to the Middle East where he saw first-hand the destruction in Gaza wrought by the 50-day war between Israel and Hamas militants.
on October 21, 2014
The PLO's chief negotiator arrived Tuesday in Johannesburg where he will receive the 2014 Global Champion for the People's Freedom Award from the Mkiva Humanitarian Foundation in Butterworth. Speaking at a news conference organized by the Mkiva foundation and the embassy of Palestine in South Africa, Erekat accused Israel of "committing crimes against humanity."
on October 10, 2014
The first cabinet meeting of the Palestinian unity government will take place in Gaza on Thursday after Israel issued permits to allow Palestinian ministers to attend. Officials told Ma'an that the Palestinian Ministry of Civil Affairs made "great efforts" with Israel to obtain the necessary permits for ministers to cross into Gaza.
on October 6, 2014
Q&As
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech to the United Nations General Assembly today, the IMEU offers the following expert Q&A with award-winning Israeli journalist Gideon Levy and Mark Perry, author and expert on Hamas.
on September 29, 2014