A heartfelt thanks to the young American servicemen and women who are helping our people caught in the devastating floods. They are operating in a country that is considered hostile to America by pollsters. May the Almighty keep them in His care and return them to their loved ones safely. By Kamran Shafi There is [...]

By Adil Zareef PAKISTAN‘S interior adviser has announced a crisp new strategy for Swat, the details of which have not been divulged, although it was mentioned that Al Qaeda, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, Tanzeem-i-Islami and the Tora Bora and Qari Mushtaq groups needed to be tackled. Fortunately, it has dawned on the authorities that the militants’ objective [...]

By Rowan Wolf I come from a varied background which has taken me on a winding a somewhat tortuous trail throughout my life. There are a series of threads that tie me to Judaism and hence Israel, and to the Palestinians. I come from what is sometimes referred to as “humble” beginnings. In my case [...]

By Daniel Luban The U.S. State Department fiercely denied claims made by Ehud Olmert about his influence over President George W. Bush, in an incident that has stirred up old debates about the role of the Israeli government and the so-called “Israel lobby” in formulating Middle East policy in Washington. On Monday, Olmert claimed that [...]

The Hippasus Blog The Gaza Strip  sits inside a tiny box some 25 miles long and, for the most part, less than five miles wide. At its widest it is well under eight miles wide. It is bounded to the west by the Mediterranean’s most miserable beaches. To the south-west is a seven-mile border with [...]

By Irfan Husain Among the many changes in attitudes that took place in the West in the wake of 9/11, one was in the way people viewed religion. For the evangelical Christians, the attacks on America by people thought to be Muslims were seen as a new offensive in a centuries-old conflict. But for many [...]

By Eric Walberg Food protests and riots have swept more than 20 countries in the past few months. On 2 April, World Bank President Robert Zoellick told a meeting in Washington that there are 33 countries where price hikes could cause widespread social unrest. The UN World Food Programme called the crisis the silent tsunami, [...]