Via the AP:  After 4 years, Egypt reopens its border with Gaza Egypt lifted a 4-year-old blockade of the Gaza Strip on Saturday, greatly easing travel restrictions on the 1.5 million residents of the Palestinian territory in a move that bolstered the Hamas government while dealing a setback to Israel’s attempts to isolate the militant [...]

Having read a number of comments on my post on the 1967 lines, as well as following the ongoing public discussion, I would like to ask the following: 1)  Do you favor a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? 2)  In the context of your first response, what do you propose to do with/about/to the [...]

This is hardly surprising news given the close relationship between Syria and the Islamic Republic, but it now seems clear that Iran is providing Bashar Assad’s regime with assistance in the crackdown on anti-government protesters: U.S. officials say Iran is dispatching increasing numbers of trainers and advisers — including members of its elite Quds Force [...]

For those interested in learning about the territorial disputes between the Israelis and Palestinians (and the dreaded 1967 boundaries, I would recommend Yaacov Lzowick’s post:  The 1967 Line. h/t:  Commenter MSS.

If you are interested in increasing your basic understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I would highly recommend the CFR’s Crisis Guide on the subject. At a minimum, I would recommend the Video Overview and the whole of Chapter II:  The Territorial Puzzle, which includes a primer on all of the territories under discussion as well [...]

His name, was George W. Bush: Found via Twitter

Via the Washington Institute:  Imagining the Israeli-Palestinian Border. Of use for trying to understanding what is being discussed. Plus, maps are cool.

I get the impression that a lot of people don’t even know what “the 1967 borders” are or why they tend to be considered the logical point of departure for any type of peace negotiations.

A summary of the status of the “Arab Spring” uprisings with links to news coverage and commentary.

When will the madness end?

The US-Israeli relationship is not one of equals.

President Obama doubled down in his speech before this year’s AIPAC conference. Why he did so only he understands.

Apparently, Michele Bachmann bases  her foreign policy views on obscure quotes from a book written 5,000 years ago: At a Republican Jewish Coalition event in Los Angeles last week, Rep. Michele Bachmann offered a candid view of her positions on Israel: Support for Israel is handed down by God and if the United States pulls [...]

One day after President Obama said that he had the choice of leading a transition to democracy or getting out of the way, Syrian President Bashar Assad’s security forces gunned down 17 protesters who had taken to the streets in defiance of a government order: BEIRUT, Lebanon — Thousands of Syrians defied a ferocious crackdown [...]

It’s been barely four hours since the President’s Middle East policy speech at the State Department and already the fake controversy has developed: Buried in his blithering, blathering, self-congratulatory, hectoring speech on the Middle East today, Barack Hussein Obama dropped this diplomatic nuclear bomb: So while the core issues of the conflict must be negotiated, [...]

Once again, an American President thinks he can bring peace to the Middle East.

The Jerusalem Post is passing along a report from the German newspaper Die Welt that Iran is in the process of building rocket launching facilities in Venezuela: BERLIN – The Iranian government is moving forward with the construction of rocket launch bases in Venezuela, the German daily Die Welt wrote in its Thursday edition. Venezuelan [...]

The Pakistanis are apparently still a bit upset about that whole killing bin Laden thing: Pakistan’s parliament threatened Saturday to cut off access to a facility used by NATO forces to ferry troops into Afghanistan, signaling a growing rift that began when U.S. commandos killed Osama bin Laden during a raid on a Pakistani compound. [...]

Foreign Policy’s David Kenner has a reading list for President Obama to help him get read for his big speech to recast our relationship with the Arab world. Topping the Persian Gulf section is Crossroads Arabia, by our own John Burgess.

Did a deal between the U.S. and Pakistan during the infancy of the war against al Qaeda play a role in the raid against Osama bin Laden?

Pakistan is trying to explain how the world’s most wanted man was able to hide in plain sight for six years, and failing badly.

Dodd Harris has already noted the more bizarre aspects of the power struggle between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameni, but yesterday that power struggle seemed to turn more serious as it entered the mosques: The unprecedented power struggle between the two most powerful leaders in Iran deepened Friday, spilling out [...]

I can’t remember where I saw it earlier, but it was well-put: Iran’s politics aren’t like ours…. Close allies of Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have been accused of using supernatural powers to further his policies amid an increasingly bitter power struggle between him and the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Several people said to [...]

Watch this video. Watch Obama’s reaction to the joke. Now keep in mind that the kill order had been given more than 24 hours prior. Damn.

Bin Laden spent the last half-decade in a compound where his only contact with the outside world was a few couriers.

An aide’s compliment about the president “leading from behind” has generated controversy.

If you needed any additional evidence of the irrelevance of the United Nations, this would be it: The brutal crackdown by Syrian President Bashar Assad may finally be getting the attention of world leaders — but apparently not enough to stop Syria from becoming the newest member of the U.N. Human Rights Council. And despite [...]

Events in Syria, and the world’s response to them, are revealing the moral bankruptcy of the justification for the war in Libya.

Francis Fukuyama: “In the developed world, we take the existence of government so much for granted that we sometimes forget how difficult it was to create.”

That’s it, now they’re crossing a line: TEHRAN — Thirty-nine of Iran’s 290 parliamentarians have tabled a motion to ban dogs from public places, as well as private flats, according to media reports on Thursday. Dogs are considered “unclean” by Muslims. However, in recent years, man’s best friend has started to appear in some wealthy [...]

One wonders if it’s their success at getting the U.N. to intervene in Libya that is causing the Arab League to make this request: CAIRO, April 10 (Reuters) – The Arab League called on the United Nations on Sunday to impose a no-fly zone over Gaza and lift an Israeli siege of the territory after [...]

Defense Secretary Gates hinted this week that the U.S. would stay in Iraq if the Iraqis wanted. It doesn’t seem like they do.

Protesters had returned to Tahrir Square in Cairo yesterday, in part to recapture the spirit of February’s protests and in part to demand that former President Hosni Mubarak be put on trial. This time, though, the military isn’t really on their side: Hundreds of protesters demanding that Hosni Mubarak, the former Egyptian president, be put [...]

Continuing problems with the coalition operation in Libya reinforce an old military adage: You fight like you train.

President Obama has pledged no slaughter and no ground troops for Libya. He may well be forced to pick one.

The groups we supported were defeated by the Taliban in the civil war that followed Soviet withdrawal. The Taliban and Usama bin Laden were supported by the separate “Sayyaf” group of Mujahideen supported by Saudi Arabia and Deobandi fanatics in Pakistan.

The rhetorical legerdemain that members of the Obama Administration have been using to justify the nation’s intervention in Libya was on full display this morning when Hillary Clinton dismissed the idea of a Libya-like intervention in Syria using some of the most tortured logic ever: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. won’t enter [...]

Senator Joe Lieberman said today that we should intervene in Syria using the same rationale we did for Libya. Because, you know, what’s the big deal about a fourth war?

Via the BBC:  Yemen tense as capital sees huge rival rallies Anti-government protesters predict their biggest rally yet to demand the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in power since 1978. Addressing a rally of his supporters, he said he was ready to hand over power but only to "safe hands". While condemning bloodshed, he [...]

So far only one Arab nation has provided material support to the mission in Libya: WASHINGTON — As America’s NATO allies shoulder a greater share of the mission in Libya, the Arab countries that urged the U.N. Security Council to impose a no-fly zone are missing from the action. Except for the small Persian Gulf [...]

Newt Gingrich on Libya: “This is as badly executed, I think, as any policy we’ve seen since WWII, and it will become a case study for how not to engage in this type of activity.”

Jorge Benitez has written a useful Libya Primer: Who is In Charge of Allied Forces? The short answer: No one.

Earlier today, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin slammed the United Nations intervention in Libya as a modern-day version of The Crusades: VOTKINSK, Russia (Reuters) – Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday likened the U.N. Security Council resolution supporting military action in Libya to medieval calls for crusades. “The resolution is defective and flawed,” Putin [...]

Is Libya a war? Hell yes, Libya is a war.

While the world pays attention to Libya and Japan, tensions have flared in yet another Arab country: DAMASCUS, Syria — Protesters set fire to the ruling Baath Party’s headquarters and other government buildings in the southern city of Dara’a on Sunday, as protesters rallied and clashed with the police for a third straight day, witnesses [...]

The uneasy coalition that coalesced around action in Libya will be strained by decisions to come.

My co-blogger Steven Taylor makes this observation about where Libya finds itself eight years after surrendering ts nuclear weapons research program: It struck me as ironic that just under eight years ago Gaddafi specifically engaged in a course of action clearly intended to forestall US military action against his regime and that, despite that, he [...]

Sometimes, you just can’t make this stuff up: PARIS: US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned Iran on Saturday to stop meddling in Bahrain and other Arab states in the Gulf, but also called on the kingdom’s leaders not to use force against anti-government protesters. Clinton said the United States “has an abiding commitment [...]

It didn’t take long for others in the world to see the intervention in Libya as an opportunity to plead their own case: Bahrain’s opposition asked for U.N. and American intervention in the government crackdown on the Shiite protests trying to loosen the monarchy’s grip, in a brief protest Sunday in the capital that disbanded [...]

Marc Thiessen takes not of what he believes to be a significant change in rhetoric on the part of President Obama with regard to Libya: President Obama just delivered an ultimatum to Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi: Now, once more, Moammar Gaddafi has a choice:  The resolution that passed lays out very clear conditions that must [...]