Copyright 2009 Middle East Forum Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:29:52 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Middle East Forum :: Writings http://www.meforum.org webmaster@meforum.org (Middle East Forum) webmaster@meforum.org en-us http://www.meforum.org/2175/obama-hard-line-israeli-settlements Wed, 1 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in as Israel's prime minister on March 31. Within weeks, the Obama administration launched a high-profile public campaign to confront Israel's new leader on the issue that most divides the two governments: Israel's http://www.meforum.org/2172/kurdish-leaders-drunk-with-power Wed, 1 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST On June 12, Iranians voted for a president. While the Islamic Republic may not be a democracy, its leadership has always looked to the polls to bestow popular legitimacy. Ayatollah Ahmad Janati, chairman of the Guardian Council, for example, said just http://www.meforum.org/2171/iraq-troop-drawdown-costly Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:00:00 EST Today is a milestone in Iraq. Under the terms of the Strategic Framework Agreement, U.S. troops will withdraw from Iraqi cities. In retrospect, however, June 30 will likely mark another milestone: the end of the surge and the relative peace it brought to http://www.meforum.org/2174/no-to-sharia-law-in-britain Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:00:00 EST There are many reasons to find problems with sharia law. In its full form, it contains numerous provisions that are barbaric and irreconcilable with any advanced society: stoning married adulterers, flogging the unmarried, throwing homosexuals from roofs http://www.meforum.org/2170/suit-against-joe-kaufman-dismissed Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:00:00 EST PHILADELPHIA – The Texas Court of Appeals for the Second District on June 25, 2009, dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought by several Dallas-area Muslim organizations against Joe Kaufman, an investigative journalist for Front Page Magazine, the founder http://www.meforum.org/blog/obama-mideast-monitor/2009/06/abrams-israel-is-right-that-there-were-settlement-agreements Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:44:00 EST Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is denying that there were understandings between the Bush Administration and the Sharon and Olmert governments that limited natural growth of settlements but permitted some construction within agreed constraints. She http://www.meforum.org/2169/iran-technology-revolution Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:00:00 EST The Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, and Washington Post have dubbed it a "Twitter Revolution," speculating about whether new technology will enable Iranian protesters to overcome government forces. The role of technology in the current unrest is http://www.meforum.org/2168/iran-silence-is-not-neutrality Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:00:00 EST Over the weekend, both conservative columnist George Will and former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan argued that conservative criticism of President Obama's rhetorical restraint amidst the Iranian protests was unwarranted. "The president is being http://www.meforum.org/2166/protests-not-enough-to-topple-islamic-republic Fri, 19 Jun 2009 09:00:00 EST Street protests in Iran are important but are themselves not enough to force change. The supreme leader will not be swayed because he considers himself accountable to God, not to the people. Indeed, even the Islamic Republic's clerical establishment is http://www.meforum.org/2165/create-template-for-iranians-to-act Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:00:00 EST As the Obama administration crafts its strategy, it should not repeat the mistakes of the past. The Bush approach lacked cohesion and coordination. A month after President Bush declared Iran part of the "axis of evil," the deputy secretary of State said http://www.meforum.org/blog/obama-mideast-monitor/2009/06/kurtzer-denies-there-was-an-agreement-on-settlements Sun, 14 Jun 2009 09:02:00 EST The fog surrounding informal understandings between the Bush Administration and the then-government of Israel over growth of settlements deepened today. Daniel Kurtzer, who was U.S. Ambassador to Israel from 2001-2005 and played a role in part of the http://www.meforum.org/2161/iran-election-obama-effect Sun, 14 Jun 2009 09:00:00 EST On June 4, President Barack Obama declared, "I've come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world." Awed by Obama's rhetoric, many commentators -- blogger Juan Cole and MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann, for http://www.meforum.org/blog/obama-mideast-monitor/2009/06/jewish-left-shaped-obama-on-settlements Sat, 13 Jun 2009 07:45:53 EST The Washington Post examined the roots of Obama's hard line on settlements, and concluded that it reflects the influence of Jewish friends on the left prior to entering the White House. "Several senior White House officials described the president's http://www.meforum.org/blog/obama-mideast-monitor/2009/06/there-was-a-bush-agreement-on-settlements Sat, 6 Jun 2009 18:04:00 EST Secretary of State Clinton denied on Friday (June 5) that the George W. Bush Administration left to its successors a set of understandings with the government of Israel about limited growth of settlements. "With respect to the conditions regarding http://www.meforum.org/2173/islamists-work-the-system Thu, 4 Jun 2009 09:00:00 EST Steven Emerson is a leading authority on Islamic extremist networks and their activities, from violent jihad to stealth jihad. The founder and executive director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism, Emerson has testified before Congress on