Qifa Nabki
Israel
Nasrallah’s Rhetoric Directed East or West?
Update: Joshua Landis responds to this piece; I’ve posted his comments below the article. *** I’ve got an article over at Joshua Landis’s Syria Comment. I reproduce the text below. In a speech Friday evening commemorating the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, Hizbullah secretary-general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah rejected the recent American offer of dialogue along with its … Continue reading
Can Syria be the Linchpin in Obama’s Mideast Strategy?
As someone who came to consciousness during the period of Syrian control of Lebanon, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t sympathetic to those Lebanese who regard Damascene politics with an innate sense of trepidation. Growing up in such an environment, I’d heard the old box-of-matches-and-pail-of-water argument countless times, while listening in on discussions … Continue reading
CBS 60 Minutes Segment on Israeli Settlements
I imagine that this video has gone viral by now, but if you have not yet seen it, make sure you do. It is only 13 minutes long. High bandwidth version Low bandwidth version, part 1 Low bandwidth version, part 2
Engaging Syria, part 1
Everybody is talking about Obama’s need to engage Syria. The pro-engagement crowd has grown beyond the initial cadre of Arab-friendly analysts and now includes taste-makers and heavy hitters who have the ear of the President: people like Martin Indyk, Richard Haass, and others. Only a year ago, when Syria Comment and Creative Forum hosted discussions about Syrian-Israeli … Continue reading
Hamas & Hizbullah Go to Washington?
Joshua Landis, over at Syria Comment, has a new post entitled “Will Syria Benefit From Syria’s Invasion of Gaza”. In it, he argues that “the ‘moderates’ are moderate because they have no conflict with Israel. The radicals are radical because they do… Syria is compelled to fan the flames of hatred and violence because it … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…