Bahrain: The Prince and the Ayatollah

By: Ed Husain: When I was invited to visit Bahrain by members of the royal family, I hesitated. They had crushed peaceful protesters last year, and their police had used tear gas against human rights activists.

In Gaza, Hamas has not delivered

As enthusiasm for Islamist parties grows in the Arab world questions abound about what shape political Islam will take. Hamas, an offshoot of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has not set a good example in clean governance in Gaza for others to follow

Palestinian official accuses Iran of provoking region

The secretary-general of the Palestinian Authority on Monday accused Iran of provoking regional strife by violating the sovereignty of the UAE.

Tayyeb Abdul Rahim condemned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent visit to Abu Musa, one of three (more…)

Nasrallah’s loyalty to Assad could isolate Hezbollah

Mazen, a carpenter who organizes protests against President Bashar al-Assad in a suburb of Damascus, Syria, has torn down the posters of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, that once decorated his car and shop. (more…)

Is the Axis of Resistance crumbling due to Syria?

By Scott Peterson
The Syria-Iran-Hezbollah-Hamas ‘axis of resistance’ has started to fray, with Hamas essentially pulling out, and the Syrians being challenged at home

Israeli dogs and soldiers training underground to fight Hezbollah

Fearing a surge in tunnel and bunker construction by Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Palestinian militants, Israel is training its troops to hunt below ground with robot probes and sniffer dogs.

Such preparations reflect concerns that should Israel or the United States carry out attacks on Iran’s disputed nuclear program, Tehran may retaliate through its allies on the Jewish state’s borders. (more…)

Hamas rattles the Resistance Axis

Two of the four members of the Resistance and Deterrence Front have been hit by the Arab uprisings. Others will follow in due course.

Gaza’s Hamas PM voices support for Syria protesters

CAIRO – Gaza premier Ismail Haniya hailed on Friday the “heroic” Syrian struggle for democracy during a rally at Cairo’s Al-Azhar mosque, in a departure from the Islamists’ refusal to criticise Damascus.

“I salute all the people of the Arab Spring, or rather the Islamic Winter,” Haniya told several thousand cheering people who attended a rally in support of the Palestinians and Syrians. (more…)

Hamas Strongman In Gaza Rejects Unity Deal

A rare public rift broke open Sunday in the usually tightly disciplined Islamic movement Hamas over a reconciliation deal that would require it to relinquish key areas of control in the Gaza Strip. (more…)

Threats of war cloud hopes for ME as Syria expected to explode

Fears of an as-yet-undefined Middle Eastern war are darkening the horizons of a Middle East that only a year ago was celebrating the fall of dictators, the ascent of people power and the promise of a new era of democracy. (more…)