Ari Shavit on Love, Brutality and Hope
Israeli journalist Ari Shavit on his award-winning new book, “My Promised Land”
05
Feb
22
Dec
Michael Doran on the “Bad Deal” with Iran
By Lucille Marshall
America’s recent agreement with Iran is a “bad deal,” former Bush National Security Council official Michael Doran told students and community members at Columbia University last week.
The United States’ interim agreement with Iran, announced late last month, aims to slow the country’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. But Doran claimed the arrangement abandons the United States’ demand to prevent all nuclear progress in Iran.
“In making the deal, we ceded an enormous amount of leverage to the Iranians,” said Doran, now a senior fellow in Middle East policy at the Brookings Institution. “We said that we are going to recognize their right to enrichment.”
He also asserted that America’s recognition of Iranian enrichment sets the tone for the future, warning that Iran “made absolutely reversible concessions, in return for what I believe, on...
26
Nov
The Environment: A New Prospect for Peace in the Middle East
By Lucille Marshall
As Israelis and Palestinians embark on yet another round of negotiations this year, Shahar Sadeh, a visiting professor at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, is proposing a different strategy for peace in the Middle East: environmentalism.
Sadeh, who previously studied at Tel Aviv University, focuses her academic research on the concept of peace parks, a protected natural area that spans across borders and allows the free movement of people and animals throughout. The idea is that with shared authority over this land, opposing parties would cooperate in an effort to provide regional security and environmental sensitivity.
As Sadeh explains, the environment “creates a positive impetus of opposing sides to cooperate, because it makes sense to jointly manage a cross-border environmental problem or topic.”
More than 130 peace parks exist around the globe, and Israel’s political history is...