Israel

Obama: America's 'first Jewish president'?

Obama is the "the first Jewish President". That's the title of New York magazine's lead article, written by John Heilemann and quoting a major Obama fundraiser.

Listening to Obama speak at the United Nations on Wednesday many would nod in agreement, not less in Palestine and the Arab world. 

The US president has embraced the rejectionist Israeli position on the question of international recognition of an independent Palestinian state.

But that's not a Jewish position. It's a radical Zionist position. Many Jews, including US and Israeli Jews, do not embrace such extremist views.

But the fact that Obama surpassed his predecessor George W Bush, the most radical supporter of Israel among all US Presidents, has left everyone in Israel dumbstruck. The latest Zionist US president sounded like Israel's own founding fathers.

Never have they heard a US president read straight from the papers of the Israeli government.

Easing the siege or passing the buck?

The image of Palestinians crossing Rafah on Saturday was heart warming. Not only did it signal the release of Gazans from their mental and physical prison, but also Egyptians from a moral responsibility they have evaded for four years.

Israel’s response has been much like a disappointed parent - shaking its head at Egyptian officials and warning of what’s to come from their foolishness.

Israel is worried. Not so much about the opening of Rafah but because in so doing Egypt did what they promised they wouldn’t and Israel feared they would - they went back on a previous agreement. For years, Israel handled former president Hosni Mubarak, now it has to handle 80 million Egyptians.

The Gaza end game

A constitutional monarchy works

The Jordanian people’s demand for a constitutional monarchy is no longer a taboo subject.

Protests in the country inspired by uprisings elsewhere in the Arab world have emboldened the masses to publicly speak about the formerly unmentionable issue of the monarchy’s role.

The demand, echoed clearly by the influential Muslim Brotherhood and repeated by other groups, requires a return to the 1952 constitution.

The constitution had a provision for parliamentary form of government, democratic elections, and political parties were influential, while the Jordanian Hashemite monarch had less executive power than he has today.

Following the influx of refugees from the Palestinian territories in 1948 and 1967, that ideal constitution saw extensive changes and transformations from the 1950s onwards.

The changes handed the monarch sweeping powers to appoint prime ministers and cabinets and dissolve parliament.

After suspension of parliam

Live blog Feb 12 - Egypt protests

From our headquarters in Doha, we keep you updated on all things in Egypt, with reporting from Al Jazeera staff in Cairo and Alexandria.