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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was hastily dispatched to the Mideast on Nov. 20 to help end a week of fighting between Israel and Hamas militants. While a potential cease-fire is in the works, many people continue to report via Twitter that explosions are ongoing.
10 incredibly moving images from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
(Source: theweek.com)
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An Israeli missile from the Iron Dome defense system is launched to intercept incoming rocket fire from Gaza on Nov. 17 in Tel Aviv. Photo: Uriel Sanai/Getty Images
“The significance of rockets fired on Tel Aviv and Jerusalem should not be underestimated,” says Amir Oren with Israel’s Haaretz. “The imaginary barrier has been breached, and in a war of attrition, psychology is considered very important, especially in a population hovering between hope and despair.”
(Source: theweek.com)
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The Israeli military has launched a major assault on Gaza. And they’re live-tweeting it.
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PHOTO OF THE DAY: A young Palestinian hurls a stone at Israeli border police during protests against the expansion of the nearby Jewish settlement of Kdumim, in the northern West Bank village of Kufr Qaddum. AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh
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A young relative of one of the 1,027 Palestinian prisoners released this week by Israel stands wrapped in a flag outside his home.
An Afghan balloon seller offers a splash of color against the otherwise neutral landscape of his village in Kabul.
An Italian protester looks on as a police vehicle burns during a demonstration in Rome.
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Mubarak's gone: Who's next?
The wave of popular uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East has already swept Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak and Tunisia’s Zine el Abidine Ben Ali from power. Now, everyone from Western leaders to Arab protesters to nervous autocrats across the Muslim world are wondering: Who’s next? Some possibilities:
- BAHRAIN: King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa
Protesters held an Egypt-style “day of rage” on Monday, and the “deep grievances” of the country’s poorer Shia Muslim minority make Bahrain “the most susceptible” of the Gulf states to popular revolt, says regional analyst Theodore Karasik, as quoted by Bloomberg Businessweek. King Hamad, part of the Sunni elite, tried to “bribe” each family in the country with thousands of dollars, but that may not be enough to pacify the protesters, says Ditz in Antiwar.com. Bahrain is “the biggest wild-card” in the region.
- IRAN: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Mubarak’s fall has reinvigorated the passions that fueled the 2009 “Green Revolution,” which went largely underground after harsh government crackdowns. Thousands defied government warnings Monday and took to the streets in Tehran and other big cities, ostensibly in solidarity with Egyptians, but also shouting “death to the dictator.” The chance a full-scale uprising is “moderate,” says Mahanta in Mother Jones, but the odds of another crackdown are “tragically high.”
- PALESTINE: President Mahmoud Abbas
The day after Mubarak fell, Abbas and the ruling Fatah party scheduled long-overdue national elections for September, and on Monday the entire cabinet resigned. This shows that Abbas is “freaking out,” says Khaled Abu Toameh in The Jersusalm Post. “In the eyes of many Palestinians, Abbas is not much different from Hosni Mubarak,” and these acts of “desperation” are an attempt to keep Egypt’s “anti-government wave” from washing him out of power.
Also, Algeria and Yemen. Read more here.
- BAHRAIN: King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa
