Mideast Brief

…the Internet has become not only a clearinghouse for Koranic text, but also for religious guidance and even fatwas (religious edicts). This new, global online Islam has been propagated by countless websites maintained by sheikhs, religious scholars and even laymen.

Often constrained in their own organization, Brotherhood bloggers have begun to savor the freer outlet of the Internet. Though the Muslim Brotherhood may have initially approved of its younger members starting blogs, the bloggers have gone beyond their role as a media tool; now they are writing unprecedented, blunt public criticism of certain aspects of the Brotherhood.

Iran”s global trade ties and leading role in energy production make it difficult for the United States to isolate Iran and pressure it to reduce proliferation and support for terrorism.

Lebanon”s twelve Palestinian camps form an archipelago both inside and outside the state. Inside the camps Palestinian identity is shaped and maintained, and the main employers are the United Nations and resistance factions who compete and occasionally clash with one another. Outside the camp Lebanese factions and even neighboring countries have always used Palestinians to further their sectarian or political interests.

President George W. Bush has been using somewhat stronger language than he has uttered previously about the Israeli-Palestinian situation and has made some optimistic predictions of a peace agreement within a year. Nevertheless, there is little reason to hope that the president is any more serious about or is any more likely to be successful in bringing about a negotiated settlement to the conflict.

President Bush has come to the Gulf and gone, delivering stern messages in public and, reportedly, in private about the Iranian threat and the need for stiff, manly resolve. Did he manage to sway the Gulf leaders who had previously appeared to be more in the mood to engage with and accomodate rising Iranian power? Today”s Arab media offers some suggestive hints:

Any doubts as to the president”s sincerity in committing himself to the Palestinian-Israeli peace process were increased, not dispelled, by his performance once he left Israel for Abu Dhabi.

What most argues against a presidential success on Middle East peace is the particularly blinkered “war on terror” narrative to which the president has so rigidly adhered since 9/11. In the Israeli-Palestinian context this dramatically handicaps the president”s ability to understand and interpret the conflict in a sophisticated, meaningful and realistic way.

It is not easy to be an Arab these days. If you are old, the place where you live is likely to have changed so much that little seems friendly and familiar. If you are young, years of rote learning in dreary state schools did not prepare you well for this new world. In your own country you have few rights. Travel abroad and they take you for a terrorist.