Middle East

The Czech EU Presidency was thrown right into the middle of the war in Gaza. And Czech politicians stumbled. Unlike the majority of their colleagues from Western Europe, who condemned Israel’s actions as disproportionate, the Czech prime and foreign ministers initially blamed Hamas for the conflict.

A publication by offline:events in collaboration with independent Iraqi artists, filmmakers, and authors documenting the lives of Iraqis navigating the space between home and exile and lending Iraqi refugees and those living in exile a voice to express their realities and reflections inter alia on notions such as Homeland and Exile, East and West, and Identity.

The crucial question is whether Israel under the given circumstances had a choice? Could anything be achieved otherwise? Where the objectives justified? Are we any closer now to a better future? The tragic paradox four weeks ago was that any course of action Israel would have chosen had the potential of being self-defeating.

Shlomo Brom analyses the objectives of the Israeli campaign in Gaza and suggests possible ways for Israel to maximise a sound exit strategy in light of these objectives.

It is clear that Operation Cast Lead will end with a new ceasefire. Still, it remains to be seen what the new US Administrations policies for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are.

The Heinrich Böll Foundation has offices in Tunis (Tunisia), Tel Aviv (Israel), Ramallah (Palestine), Rabat (Morocco) and in Beirut (Lebanon).

Far from achieving the intended blow against al-Qaeda and Sunni insurgents in Iraq, the recent American incursion into Syrian territory undermines voices of moderation in Syria, and facilitates the recruitment efforts of extremist Islamist groups in a country that has every reason to be wary of the terrorist threat.

The particular danger of islamophobia is its potential to forge a broad alliance of otherwise opposed political forces: Muslims serve as the embodiment of the ultimate enemy for conservatives striving for Western hegemony – and for progressives standing up for freedom of expression, rationality, human rights, and the rights of women.