The Middle East articles from February 2009

The Middle East archives from February 2009

Comment.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)(the Gaza conflict)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ISRAELI SPOKESMEN AND women of all political stripes, as well as many liberal Jews internationally, seem to be having real trouble with criticism from the global mainstream over the actions of the Israeli government...

Give us this day our daily bread: some Gulf states are seeking vast tracts of farmland in Africa and Asia to feed their swelling populations. Proponents describe such moves as sound economic planning that might also offer an opportunity to bring modern technology to failing agricultural regions, others see it as a 'neo-colonial' food grab.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Shrinking water resources, growing populations and a shortage of arable land is forcing the Gulf states and other Arab countries to spend millions of dollars to acquire hundreds of thousands of hectares of farmland...

Seeking a new way forward: after less than 24 hours in power President Barack Obama had instituted change at Guantanamo Bay and within 48 hours had established personal telephone contact with a series of Middle East leaders. Milan Vesely looks at the new president's inaugural speech and anticipates major changes in the region.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THEY CAME FROM all corners of the world and from every state in the Union to see if the man "could walk on water"--as one commentator so graphically pointed out. Nearly three million people filled the Lincoln...

Turning a page of history? Richard Seymour reports on the proposed withdrawal of troops from Iraq.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)
February 1, 2009... "IT IS IMPORTANT to remember we have been engaged in the most difficult and challenging of tasks: the work of building a democracy for the future and defending it against terrorism. We have made a huge contribution and we leave Iraq a better...

Afghanistan: chaos in the Khyber: Milan Vesely reports from the United States.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)
February 1, 2009... IN DECEMBER 2008, a handful of Islamic militants attacked a transportation depot in Peshawar, in north-west Pakistan. During their one-hour operation, in which the attackers replenished their Molotov cocktails from a nearby petrol station, the...

Europe accepts 10,000 more Iraqi refugees.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)
February 1, 2009... THE EUROPEAN UNION (EU) has agreed to accept 10,000 more Iraqi refugees, mostly from camps in Syria and Jordan. The decision, taken by EU interior and justice ministers, has been welcomed by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees...

The nuclear Arab world.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] JORDAN HAS SIGNED an atomic energy development agreement with China for the construction of an advanced nuclear research facility and the establishment of preliminary infrastructure for uranium mining and reactor...

Jailhouse jihadis: prisons in Europe and the US have become recruiting grounds and universities of terror for Islamist militants. Several major plots have been hatched behind bars under the noses of the security services.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A PARIS COURT SENTENCED a hardened and charismatic Algerian jihadist named Safe Bourada to 15 years imprisonment for forming a terrorist cell known as Ansar Al Fath (Partisans of Victory) last October. These days,...

Middle East leads the world in stamping out killer virus.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)(measles)
February 1, 2009... THE MIDDLE EAST has achieved the world's greatest success rate in reducing the death toll of measles and at a time when some countries in the West are experiencing soaring incidents of the killer virus that puts children at high risk of death....

UAE leading from front: skilful and strategic planning together with almost unimaginable quantities of money have--in not much more than two decades--seen the transformation of the United Arab Emirates from a sleepy desert backwater to the commanding, awe-inspiring futuristic regional hub of business and culture we know today.(SPECIAL REPORT)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IF GLOBAL COMMERCE elected to choose a landmark to represent its aspirations for the 21st century, it need look no further than the innovative, revolutionary city of Dubai, with its architecturally inspiring towers...

Dollars, euros, dinars, dirhams and riyals: who's winning the global currency race?(BUSINESS AND FINANCE)
February 1, 2009... DAYS AFTER THE inauguration of President Barack Obama, the congressional debate on his fiscal stimulus package, the pace of a potential US economic recovery and the likelihood of trillion-dollar deficits in the US for years to come is causing...

Gulf investors look to Europe to balance their portfolios.(BUSINESS AND FINANCE)
February 1, 2009... WITH AN ESTIMATED $1.3 trillion to invest, the Gulf's private investors are continuing to look at opportunities in Europe despite the recession and the slowdown at home. Real estate, particularly involving Islamic finance, is a prime target....

Gulf banks' urge to merge: Rohit Chawdhry, portfolio manager of BisB, Bahrain Islamic Bank, looks at the issue of overbanking in the Gulf region and the institutions anticipating mergers.(BUSINESS AND FINANCE)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE GULF COOPERATION Council has ambitious plans. In the GCC states of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain, policy makers are looking to develop more-diversified and sustainable economies through a...

Gulf cash energises Maghreb tourism: though a few GCC-based tourist projects are in abeyance, Gulf investors appear largely unperturbed by the global credit crisis, if their commitment to future tourism schemes in the countries of North Africa are anything to go by.(BUSINESS AND FINANCE)(Gulf Cooperation Council)
February 1, 2009... THE LAUNCH OF the Union for the Mediterranean in Paris last year has highlighted the growing ties between Europe and North Africa and set the scene for an increase in global investments, particularly from the Arab Gulf states. Spurred on by the...

Tying new technology to modern working practices.(BUSINESS AND FINANCE)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE INTRODUCTION OF new technology tends to produce two sorts of reaction from business leaders in all sectors. Some welcome any innovation on offer, keen to be seen as cutting edge and convinced that new is always...

In pursuit of a dream: the dynamic young Emirati jewellery maker and designer, Azza Al Qubaisi, talked to Mustapha Karkouti in Abu Dhabi.(MOSAIC)(Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)(Interview)
February 1, 2009... WITH COLLECTIONS INSPIRED by the environment around her, bearing names such as Eternity, Life, Desert Springs, and Marine Symphony, Azza Al Qubaisi, a determined young Emirati, has made her mark in the world of jewellery by designing and...

Babylon: Myth and Reality.(MOSAIC)
February 1, 2009... THE BRITISH MUSEUM'S exhibition Babylon: Myth And Reality provides a penetrating flash of insight to the ancient city during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 BC), its contribution to science and mathematics and the art, films and...

Salt of this Sea.(MOSAIC)(Movie review)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE RECENT LONDON Film Festival featured one of the strongest showings ever of films made by players from the Middle East. Directors from as far afield as Egypt, Turkey and Israel all showed work to great acclaim,...

The forgotten problems of a forgotten people: Mel Frykberg reports from the Occupied Territories on the rising incidence of drug abuse among the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza.(MOSAIC)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ALTHOUGH DRUG ADDICTION is a taboo subject in Palestine's conservative society, the number of addicts is rising as political and social factors continue to tear apart the fabric of a once socially cohesive society....

Good health and good living.(MOSAIC)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IN THESE CHALLENGING times it is more important than ever to remain 'on the ball' throughout the entire day. This is equally true of the hard-pressed businessman or woman as it is of the busy young parent or the...

Palestinian Costume.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2009... PALESTINIAN COSTUME by Shelagh Weir published by Arris books ISBN 9781844370795 price 20.00 [pounds sterling] paperback [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Palestinian Costume describes the costumes of the villagers and Bedouin...

The Petroleum Experience of Abu Dhabi.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2009... THE PETROLEUM EXPERIENCE OF ABU DHABI by Atef Suleiman published by I.B. Tauris ISBN 9789948009115 price 25.00 [pounds sterling] paperback [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Since granting its first oil concession in 1939, Abu...

Disappearing Palestine: Israel's Experiments in Human Despair.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2009... DISAPPEARING PALESTINE Israel's Experiments in Human Despair by Jonathan Cook published by Zed Books ISBN 9781848130319 price 14.99 [pounds sterling] paperback [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Over many decades, Israel has...

Iraqi Women: Untold Stories from 1948 to the Present.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2009... IRAQI WOMEN Untold Stories from 1948 to the Present by Nadje Sadig Al Ali published by Zed Books ISBN 9781842777459 price 14.99 [pounds sterling] paperback [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In Iraqi Women, Nadje Sadig Al...

Winning Turkey: How America, Europe and Turkey can revive a fading partnership.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2009... WINNING TURKEY How America, Europe and Turkey can revive a fading partnership by Philip H. Gordon and Omer Taspinar published by Brookings Institution Press ISBN 9780815732150 price 10.00 [pounds sterling] paperback ...

Afghanistan: The Mirage of Peace.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2009... AFGHANISTAN The Mirage of Peace by Chris Johnson & Jolvon Leslie published by Zed Books ISBN 9781842779569 price 14.99 [pounds sterling] paperback [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Considered upon its first publication in...

The last word.
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Spending Christmas and New Year bound to my sickbed by tubes and drip-feeds, with the mobility of an Egyptian mummy following complicated surgery on my spine, my heart played with the usage of the word 'siege', as I...