by Henelito A. Sevilla, Jr.* Recent gas attack to a civilian population in the suburbs of Syria that led to the death of hundreds of Syrian was undeniably a crime against humanity and merits an international intervention. The attack was the “largest mass killing of the Syrian Civil War” and the “most deadliest chemical weapons Read more
Continue ReadingA fragile alliance: how the crisis in Egypt caused a rift within the anti-Syrian government block by Ahmed E. Souaiaia* Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirate (UAE), Turkey, and the West condemned in unison the Syrian government for its harsh treatment of Syrians from the first day of the uprising in that country. Many observers Read more
Continue Readingby Mariz Tadros* Thursday was a day of funerals in Egypt. Most international actors have rightly condemned the ruthless violence witnessed against the pro-Morsi protestors, but with the exception of Catherine Ashton of the EU, they have turned a blind eye to the violence witnessed across the country over the course of the same day. Read more
Continue ReadingBy Steve Rendall and Sara McCloskey The murder of British soldier Sgt. Lee Rigby on a London street in May received massive U.S. media attention. The brazenness of the attackers—who allegedly struck Rigby with a car in broad daylight before hacking him to death with bladed weapons—guaranteed coverage. That the crime was captured on videotape Read more
Continue Readingby Henelito A. Sevilla, Jr.* In a positive gesture to the recent Iranian presidential election that led to the victory of its moderate president, Hassan Rowhani, more than 130 members of the US Congress and 29 other experts from various sectors in America have called on President Obama to give a fresh start of diplomatic Read more
Continue ReadingBalancing political interests and religious idealism in Islamic Societies by Ahmed E. Souaiaia* Alarabiya channel cheered the ouster of Morsi and the Brotherhood Many analysts and observers of Middle Eastern affairs were surprised when the Salafi political party, al-Nour, supported the protest movement and the military that ousted Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood from Read more
Continue ReadingThe Coalition will either negotiate with the regime or it will become irrelevant by Ahmed E. Souaiaia* Responding to a non-scientific poll posted on the website of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces (the Coalition), 66.2% of the respondents wanted the group to attend the Geneva-2 conference. In fact, 33.6% of the Read more
Continue Readingby Henelito A. Sevilla Jr* The ouster of the first democratically elected president of Egypt, Mohammad Morsi, puzzled many analysts and made it hard to predict the future of Egypt. People from the beginning of the revolution have been asking for economic and political reform. Instead, Morsi’s government first step was to amend the constitution, Read more
Continue ReadingNusra fighters transporting weapons in Syria, Monday. By Fawzi Najm* In a series of gruesome acts designed to be a show of force and to intimidate opponents, Islamist fighters affiliated with al-Qaidah have slaughtered rebel leaders belonging to the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) and confiscated their large cache of weapons. Parts of a plan Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed Magdy Youssef* Egypt’s last two weeks’ incessant events not only gripped the minds and hearts of the Egyptians, but they captured the interest of the national and international media as well. For many Egyptians, mostly those who filled public squares across the country to demand Mr. Morsi’s removal and early presidential elections, the Read more
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