Word: arabs
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...extreme case of the willful jumbling of science and faith is threatening Jerusalem's precarious spiritual balance. It could not come at a worse time: Israeli-Arab peace talks have stalled; Israel has a hawkish government disinclined to compromise; and radical Islamist group Hamas remains powerful among Palestinians. Any tilt in Jerusalem's religious equilibrium could create a wave of unrest spreading far beyond the city's ramparts. Eric Meyers, who teaches Jewish studies and archaeology at Duke University, says: "Right now, Jerusalem is a tinderbox...
Unlike many U.S. embassies in the Arab world that have been forced by security concerns to move from the center of capital cities to fortress-like suburban compounds, the Damascus embassy still occupies prime real estate - just a stone's throw from the residence of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Syria's much feared state-security apparatus keeps close tabs on everyone entering and leaving the embassy; it also helps keeps the embassy relatively safe from the occasional jihadist sneak attack. In turn, living close to the Americans may help Assad sleep more easily at night, say Damascene wags, because...
...Syria, the return of an American ambassador is a much desired signal that the U.S. needs Syria to help stabilize Iraq, keep the peace in Lebanon and solve the Arab-Israeli conflict. Syrians like to think of their country as the crossroads of the Middle East; they grew worried when Damascus simply fell off the itinerary of most major world players. More worrying is the country's dismal neo-Soviet-style economy, which needs reform and foreign investment if it is to create enough jobs for the country's young, growing and restless population...
...Ford does indeed take the road to Damascus, he will want more than just Arab hospitality when he gets there. He'll expect Syria to distance itself from its old friends in Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hizballah and will hope to coax Assad away from his alliance with Iran. But the Syrians aren't in such a hurry. While Damascus might be ready to recognize Israel if it hands back the Golan Heights region captured from Syria in 1967, it reserves the right to support Palestinian and Lebanese militants as long as Israel occupies Palestinian and Lebanese territory (the latter...
...point a woman approached me, visibly angry. Her husband is one of the last remaining detainees in Guantánamo, she said. He had escorted his sister to Afghanistan to marry an Arab fighter but was captured in Kandahar by the Americans. Eight years later, she is waiting for President Obama to close the prison and return her husband. Nearly half of the remaining detainees at Guantánamo are Yemeni; their transfers were halted after the failed Christmas Day bombing attempt. Said Ali al-Shihri, one of several former detainees who reportedly returned to terrorism after their release, is now deputy...