Jordan’s King Abdullah II is trapped between an aggressively pro-Israel Trump, a hardline Israel and an increasingly radicalized grassroots clamoring to cut all diplomatic and trade relations with Israel. Jordanian demonstrators burn an Israeli flag during a protest against the shooting of a Palestinian judge from Jordan by Israeli soldiers. Amman, March 11, 2014. Credit:…
Jerusalem at dusk. The much-awaited “deal of the century,” a supposed peace deal between Israel and Palestine, has been delayed and disparaged as biased towards Israel to the detriment of Palestinians. Though it’s true that leaks regarding various drafts of the deal involve softening but not ending the military occupation of the West Bank, the…
Getty Images Al-Buwayda is a quiet, dusty town on the road from Irbid in northern Jordan to Mafraq. It was here that the wave of Syrian refugees who fled fighting crested in 2015. The population of the area doubled from 95,000 to 200,000. Today, many of the 1 million Syrians who came to Jordan are setting down…
A new bloc is emerging in the greater Middle East with the declared objectives of dominating the entire Arab world, confronting and containing the US and its allies; and controlling and benefiting from the entire hydro-carbon economy, from production to transportation. The leading members of the new bloc are Turkey, Iran, and Qatar; with Iraq,…
On Tuesday, Israeli police finally decided to close the Temple Mount in Jerusalem after a Muslim terrorist threw a firebomb at a station of the Border Police near the Al-Aqsa Mosque. One police officer was seriously wounded by the firebomb while Muslim worshippers engaged in a violent confrontation after police tried to arrest the perpetrator of the…
The Warsaw Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East, held on Feb. 13-14, was hosted by the U.S. Department of State and the Polish Foreign Ministry. Many issues such as terrorism, extremism, missile development, maritime trade and security and violent non-state actors were discussed throughout the conference. However, the…
King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein (L) of Jordan meets with President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas (R) at Presidency building in Ramallah, West Bank on 7 August, 2017 [Issam Rimawi/Anadolu Agency] There has been more talk recently from the Palestinians, Israelis and Jordanians about the option of a confederation as an alternative to the two-state solution…
Front row third from left, United States Vice President Mike Pence, fourth from left, Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, fifth from left, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sixth from left, United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, pose for a group photo at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019. The Polish…
The Middle East is a collection of countries that, by and large, do not work and play well together. It is not going to get better any time soon. A half-century ago, the author received his first real taste of how professionals viewed international relations — beyond the daily, often-scary headlines in the middle of…
Mike Pompeo gave the US commitment during a visit to Egypt – AFP The US will work with allies to “expel every last Iranian boot” from Syria, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says. Mr Pompeo warned there would be no US reconstruction aid for areas controlled by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad until Iran and its…