April 19, 2008
Mideast Snapshot - In The Shadow Of An APC
 Kadamiya, Iraq. March, 2008. Photo CNN's Joe Duran.
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Add a commentApril 18, 2008
Carter In The Middle East - Your reactions
 For U.S. President Jimmy Carter meeting Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in Damascus, April 18, 2008. (Photo AP)Thanks to all of our viewers and readers this week for so passionately contributing to the discussion surrounding former American president Jimmy Carter's tour of the Middle East. His decision to meet with Hamas officials, including exiled Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal in Syria today, generated a fascinating debate this week, both online and on CNN's Your World Today. My round table with the Jerusalem Post's Calev Ben-David and former Palestinian authority advisor Diana Buttu on Thursday was heated and illustrated just how divided both sides are, not just about Carter's meetings with Hamas, but in the protracted and seemingly unresolvable Israeli-Palestinian conflict. One side sees Hamas as terrorists only, akin to Al Qaeda: speaking to them means legitimizing evil. The other side says that no peace can be achieved without dialogue, even with those whose actions we condemn. I am including more of your comments in the comments section below. Thanks again, Hala Mr. Abbas Goes To Moscow
 Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas speaks after receiving an honorary degree from MGIMO (Moscow State Institute of Foreign Relations) in Moscow. Thursday, April 17, 2008. Abbas said Thursday that a Middle East peace conference will be held in Moscow in June. We have great hopes the conference will move forward the peace process between Palestinians and Israel, and that it will lay the grounds for the overall peace process for the entire Middle East that will include Syria and Lebanon," Abbas said in a lecture at a Moscow university. (AP Photo/ Misha Japaridze) April 17, 2008
Carter Meets With Hamas In Egypt
 Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter meets Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak in Cairo. (April 17, 2008. Photo AP) CNN's Aneesh Raman tells me that Carter sources say former U.S. president Jimmy Carter is meeting today with two Hamas officiels. Hamas sources told Aneesh yesterday that two of the men present at the meeting are Mahmud Zahar and Said Siam. Continue to watch Your World Today for more on Carter's visit. The Pope Through Arab Media's Eyes
 -- By CNN's Octavia Nasr How are Middle East news networks and newspapers covering Pope Benedict XVI's first visit to the United States? It is clearly a headline news story on the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera. “The first visit by the pontiff is a way to bridge differences” says the headline. In a suggestion that the visit is meant to paper over the relationship, an anchor uses very similar Arabic words and asks his guest whether the visit aims at "Mussalaha" (reconciliation) or "Mussaraha" (frank dialogue.) The answer from Joseph Greboski, head of the Institute on Religion and Public policy in Washington, D.C. : "a little bit of both. It's a chance to define the role of the Church inside and outside the United States." Al-Jazeera's coverage also included live reporter updates, background and analysis. In sharp contrast with its closest competitor, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya, where the pontiff didn't make it to any spot in the newscast or the website even twenty four hours into his US visit. Salameh Nematt, Washington Bureau Chief of Kuwait’s Awan newspaper: "The pope doesn't mean so much to the people in the Arab and Muslim world because 95% are Muslims and they don't feel he represents anything spiritual as far as they're concerned." That said, the story seems to be a big deal to other media outlets such as Gulf News, one of the leading newspapers in United Arab Emirates. On the Lebanese Muslim Shiite station, NBN, also saw news value to the story. The anchor highlighting that the visit will bring up to the surface issues of religious freedoms, immigration, Middle East extremism and human rights. Others believed the meeting will bridge a divide between the Vatican and the U.S., especially on the issue of the war in Iraq and the child abuse scandal involving Catholic priests. No mention on this Iraqi TV newscast.. Modest coverage on Egypt's Nile TV and many other Arabic publications.. Salameh Nematt: “Because the pope carries a lot of weight among Christians and Americans especially; and that should be of interest in my view to Arab and Muslim audiences anyway, but of course this is an editorial decision." Meantime, Al-Jazeera DC correspondent reporter Wajd Waqfi explains to her audience that while President Bush is Protestant and the Pope Catholic, they share the same conservative agenda when it comes to abortion and same sex marriages. At other media outlets, the story waits. There is always tomorrow.
April 15, 2008
In Tehran, Even Mannequins Get Nose Jobs
 In a Tehran shopping mall, January 18th, 2008. The sign against the mannequin's bust in a shop that sells traditional hijabs reads "Arabic Chador" in Farsi. Notice the bandage over its nose? I'm told that indicates that - if it were human -the mannequin would be privileged enough to have had cosmetic surgery. In Iran, a bandaged nose has become a status symbol. In recent years, Iranian women have been lining up in record numbers to alter their appearance through plastic surgery. And the most popular procedure remains the old fashioned nose job. Photo CNN's Mitra Mobasherat. April 14, 2008
Olmert Snubs Carter In Israel
 Jimmy Carter is shown some home-made Palestinian rockets Israeli police say were fired at the southern border city of Sderot. Carter today called the rocket attacks a "despicable crime."April 14, 2008. (Ap Photo/Sebastian Scheiner) Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni refused to meet with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, currently touring the Middle East on a peace tour. they are angry Carter has agreed to meet this week with top Hamas official Khaled Meshaal in Damascus. According to Jerusalem correspondent Atika Shubert, staff travelling with Carter told CNN that 'Israel's security service refused to provide any assistance to the US Secret Service travelling with the former President. Israeli officials deny they received any request for help." What do you think of the Carter trip? Send us your thoughts at mideast@cnn.com or add a comment below. We will read some of your comments on air later this week. Mideast Snaphot
 Baiji, Iraq. March 11th, 2008. (Photo CNN's Joe Duran)April 13, 2008
Carter "Quite At Ease" With Possible Hamas Meeting
 WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Carter said he feels "quite at ease" about meeting Hamas militants over the objections of Washington because the Palestinian group is essential to a future peace with Israel. Carter, interviewed Saturday for ABC News' "This Week," airing Sunday, also said he would oppose a U.S. Olympic boycott and hopes all countries will join in the Beijing games. (...) "I feel quite at ease in doing this," he said. "I think there's no doubt in anyone's mind that, if Israel is ever going to find peace with justice concerning the relationship with their next-door neighbors, the Palestinians, that Hamas will have to be included in the process." Although he said the meeting would not be a negotiation, he outlined distinct goals. "I think that it's very important that at least someone meet with the Hamas leaders to express their views, to ascertain what flexibility they have, to try to induce them to stop all attacks against innocent civilians in Israel and to cooperate with the Fatah as a group that unites the Palestinians, maybe to get them to agree to a cease-fire — things of this kind," he said. The State Department says it advised Carter twice against meeting representatives of Hamas, which Washington considers a terrorist organization. "I find it hard to understand what is going to be gained by having discussions with Hamas about peace when Hamas is, in fact, the impediment to peace," Rice said Friday, after reports of the planned meeting surfaced. Carter said he'd be meeting Syrians, Egyptians, Jordanians, Saudi Arabians and others "who might have to play a crucial role in any future peace agreement that involves the Middle East." Asked whether it was right to meet a group that has not renounced violence or recognized Israel, he said, "Well, you can't always get prerequisites adopted by other people before you even talk to them."
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