Jumblatt urges Hezbollah to defend its accused members in court

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Thursday urged Hezbollah during an interview on Al-Arabiya television to allow Premier Najib Mikati’s government to pay Lebanon’s annual 49% share of funds to the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) . (more…)

Former Lebanese PM criticizes U.S. over pro-Israel bias

Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora Friday vehemently criticized the U.S. for cutting off contributions to UNESCO after the body granted membership to Palestine, and urged Arabs instead to pay Washington’s allotted share. (more…)

Hama: The Syrian holocaust

The mother of all regional massacres, the worst bloodbath to have taken place in the Arab world is one that did not receive the appropriate media and moral coverage. I am talking about the terrible massacre carried out by the Hafez al-Assad regime in 1982 against the Syrian city of Hama.

Palestinian president :Arabs erred in rejecting UN 47 Partition plan

The Palestinian president, in a remarkable assessment delivered on Israeli TV, said Friday the Arab world erred in rejecting the United Nations’ 1947 plan to partition Palestine into a Palestinian and a Jewish state. (more…)

Abbas Takes Palestinian Statehood on the Road

How long will it take the United Nations Security Council to answer the Palestinian application for membership in the global organization? “Technical procedures require about a month,” Mahmoud Abbas replies when the question comes up in Strasbourg, (more…)

Mideast Quartet to meet over restarting Israeli-Palestinian talks

Mideast negotiators will seek ways to restart the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process during a meeting planned for this weekend, the European Union said Friday. (more…)

Mikati: Lebanon is committed to int’l resolutions including STL

During his speech before the UN Security Council on Tuesday Prime Minister Najib Mikati reiterated on Lebanon’s commitment to international resolutions including the resolution pertaining to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) (more…)

Israel approves 1,100 settler homes in Gilo, Jerusalem

Israel has approved the construction of 1,100 homes in the Jewish settlement of Gilo on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

The move comes days after Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called for full UN membership for a Palestinian state. (more…)

Christians must not support brutal regimes, Geagea

Middle East Christians must be “leaders of the Arab liberation movement” not “defenders of backward and brutal regimes,” a Christian Lebanese leader critical of the Syrian regime said Saturday. (more…)

Palestine bid spotlights some unlikely kingmakers

With Friday’s Palestinian bid for statehood now official, the focus turns to the U.N. Security Council, and an array of unlikely kingmakers. (more…)