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IS IT THAT SIMPLE TO EXPLAIN, OR, JUST ONE SIDE OF THE STORY The Middle East conflict is framed as one of the most complex problems in the world. But, in reality, it's very simple. Israelis want to live in peace and are willing to accept a neighboring Palestinian state. And most Palestinians do not want Israel to exist. As Dennis Prager explains, this is really all you need to know. In 5 minutes, understand how Israel was founded, and how, since that auspicious day in 1948, its neighbors have tried to destroy it, again and again When I did my graduate studies at the Middle East Institute at Columbia University’s School of International Affairs, I took many courses on the question of the Middle East conflict. Semester after semester, we studied the Middle East conflict as if it was the most complex conflict in the world – when in fact, it is probably the easiest conflict in the world to explain. It may be the hardest to solve, but it is the easiest to explain.  In a nutshell, i...

By: Ayesha Nasir Have you heard of  Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi ? Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi was a 14-year-old Iraqi girl who lived in a house to the southwest of Yusufiyah, a village to the west of the town of  Al-Mahmudiyah, Iraq . She lived a middle-class life with her 34-year-old mother Fakhriyah Taha Muhsin, 45-year-old father Qasim Hamza Raheem, two brothers and younger sister, six-year-old Hadeel Qasim Hamza. Though not much is known about  Abeer , one can imagine her childhood; playing with rag dolls, following her mother as she made khameeri rotis and tossing one pebble after another in a stream running near their house. ol but kept Abeer home due to security concerns. Neighbours later recalled that she wasn’t allowed to do much other than assist her mother in the chores and tend to their vegetable garden. Their house was only 200 meters away from a US traffic checkpoint, and the neighbours later remarked that they often observed the soldiers watchi...

Despite Israel's propaganda campaigns on Gaza conflict, world public opinion remains critical of Tel Aviv. TEL AVIV - Israel has taken a battering in the global media battle over its war on Gaza, despite deploying a propaganda campaign that used Youtube and blogs, experts said. Populations and even governments worldwide have slammed the Israeli military onslaught on the Gaza Strip, with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemning attacks near UN schools that killed dozens and foreign media angry at being kept out of the Palestinian territory. With images of parents carrying lifeless children to overwhelmed hospitals dominating international media, angry protests have been staged in major capitals and Israeli websites have reportedly come under cyber attack. European Union External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner told President Shimon Peres in a meeting on Tuesday that "Israel's image is being destroyed" by its refusal to heed appeals for a ceasefire. H...