July 15th, 2008

Challenges Facing The Palestinian-american Community In Print by Ghaith al-Omari - The Jordan Times (Opinion) - September 23, 2007 - 12:00am As Palestinians struggle with the implications of the recent Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian-American community must decide for itself the vision for a future Palestine it embraces, and the way it seeks to partake in its achievement. » Read more

Engaging Hamas: The When And The How In Print by Ghaith al-Omari - The Orlando Sentinel (Opinion) - October 10, 2007 - 12:00am The Hamas takeover of Gaza in June and the resulting West Bank-Gaza split has raised serious questions. What are the short-term prospects for reunification? Can serious political progress be made with Israel without Palestinian reconciliation? What are the elements of a successful and lasting future reconciliation? » Read more

The Annapolis Summit In Print by Ziad Asali - The Washington Times (Opinion) - November 5, 2007 - 1:00am The skeptics have unassailable arguments: History and a consistent record of failure are on their side. Weak Israeli and Palestinian governments, an American president in the last stretch of his second term, dysfunctional Israeli and Palestinian body politics, and cynical media coverage all dampen any reasonable expectations of success for the Middle East summit in Annapolis. » Read more

Op-ed: Mideast-the Definite Conflict In Print by Ziad Asali - Middle East Times (Opinion) - November 8, 2007 - 1:00am It has festered for decades and has been at the core of other related conflicts across the Middle East that threaten global peace and security. Although the contours of its ultimate resolution have been known for sometime, the efforts to bring it about peacefully by creating a state of Palestine alongside Israel have been stymied by political forces on all sides that have exercised veto powers to block it. » Read more

Building Momentum For Peace In Print by Ziad Asali - The Washington Times (Opinion) - December 12, 2007 - 1:00am In the wake of the resuscitation of peace talks on the Middle East achieved at the Annapolis meeting, security issues will be among the most crucial to building on this momentum. » Read more

Is It A Budding Partnership? In Print by Ziad Asali - Gulf News (Opinion) - January 17, 2008 - 1:00am Even the most skeptical of us would have to concede that things are better now than they were a few months ago, as they hasten to add that we have been here before and that this too shall pass. Yes, things are better: Palestinian and Israeli officials are talking, and final status issues are being discussed, though they are not being resolved. » Read more

Bolstering Palestinian Moderates In Print by Ghaith al-Omari - The Washington Times (Opinion) - February 10, 2008 - 1:00am The recent breach of the Gaza-Egypt border was an avoidable setback to the newly revived Palestinian-Israeli peace process. It has shown what happens when grand political commitments — made by Israeli, U.S. and Arab leaders — fail to translate into concrete policies, structures and behavior. Had the situation been addressed in a timely fashion, control of the Gaza crossings to Egypt and Israel could have been a major political gain for the moderate government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. » Read more

Mideast Peace Prospects In Print by Ziad Asali - The Washington Times (Opinion) - April 20, 2008 - 12:00am Though I have been to the region many times, my most recent trip to Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan confirmed the alarming new obstacles facing the quest for peace in the Middle East and the urgency with which they need to be addressed by all parties. » Read more

The Perils Of Unconditional Engagement In Print by Ghaith al-Omari - Middle East Progress (Opinion) - May 1, 2008 - 12:00am The issue of whether or not to engage Hamas boils down to the following question: would such engagement help moderate the organization, or would it simply improve Hamas? chances of dominating the Palestinian political scene and encourage extremism throughout the Middle East? For now, any engagement that goes beyond achieving de-escalation in Gaza would serve to bolster Hamas at the expense of those working toward a two-state solution. » Read more

Mideast Conflict: Need For A New Perspective In Print by Ziad Asali - Arab News (Opinion) - May 6, 2008 - 12:00am Peace is not easy. Achieving it requires summoning the deepest forms of courage. It means examining one?s darkest prejudices that dehumanize and demonize the other. The quest for mutual recognition of humanity and dignity is an arduous task. The question facing both Israelis and Palestinians is: Do they prefer to cling to the pain of past injuries and the suffering of their forefathers, or will they determine to move forward and build a better future for their children? » Read more