Articles from the author

In the late 1990s, a marriage occurred with great consequences for global politics: Osama bin Laden's visions and religious fantasy-scape merged with the logistical brains and daring of Islamic Jihad to culminate in the attacks of September 11.

One of the most difficult yet stimulating exercises to attempt in the Middle East is "regional prognostications". There are simply too many changing variables to know for certain what will happen in the Middle East and how these variables will interact under changing circumstances: Chaos Theory may in fact be more useful here than political science.

Two weeks ago, former Israeli Minister Yossi Beilin and Palestinian Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo released the "Geneva Accord", a document detailing a potential Israel-Palestinian peace deal, an effort that "marks the historic reconciliation between the Arab world and Israel".

Two months ago, I made a tour of Israel and Palestine to meet with people in what is called the peace movement.

Learning a lesson or two from the Lebanese conflict

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's attack on Syria appears to have created convulsions of analysis in the region.

The border between Israel and Lebanon is a beautiful place. From Naqoura on the Mediterranean to the small bifurcated town of Ghajar, the rolling green hills on both sides of the border speak of a pastoral tranquility.

The so-called "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" is a short booklet that outlines in strategic detail the plan for Jewish control over global economics and politics with the goal of pursuing the ideology of Zionism and the establishment of a state for the Jewish people.

Land is the currency of contention between Arabs and Israelis. Whether it is Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, or the land of Palestine, the two sides have now tussled for land, sacred or economic, for over half a century.

The Geneva Accord is a valiant effort to bridge the gap between Palestinians and Israelis. Like all valiant efforts, it is bound to attract criticism: Sharon's government is attacking them as illegitimate; circumventions of the legally elected government of Israel, and therefore null and void.

The Cedars of Lebanon stand solitary on a mountain top. What little remains of these majestic trees is a silent testament to the health, or lack of it, of Lebanon and the rest of the Middle East.

Ariel Sharon has announced his ultimate move in the Israeli-Palestinian chess game and, lo and behold, it's not a Likud move, but a solid manoeuvre from the Israeli left: "deal with us or we will withdraw unilaterally".