Shaffaf Interview with Toufic Gaspard Shaffaf- From a Beirut perspective, how did the Daesh disaster come about? Who is to…
Author: Sarah Akel
Sarah Akel
Sarah akel, blablabla blablabla
The terrorist network responsible for killing seventeen people in Paris last week is a troubling combination of three generations of…
BEIRUT — Around a kitchen table in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a midlevel Hezbollah commander moved empty coffee cups and a…
In all the discussions about Turkey not being particularly supportive to the coalition fighting the “Islamic State”/ISIS, little has been…
In the 1998 Embassy Bombings Court Case in the U.S. one of the key witnesses was the former al-Qa’ida member…
For centuries, ideologues and politicians in the West have positioned themselves regarding Islam in a defensive way. Christian Europe always…
Although Egypt is an important strategic asset for the United States — granting priority Suez Canal access to American warships…
In America and worldwide, civil and political organizations have emerged to support the Syrian Revolution and the people’s calls for…
The origins of the 7 January attack in Paris against Charlie Hebdo goes back first to al-Qa’ida in the Arabian…
By Erich Follath For years, it was thought that Israel had destroyed Syria’s nuclear weapons capability with its 2007 raid…
There are still some mysteries surrounding the jihadi attack on the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo in Paris on 7 January…
A controversial French writer is putting the final touches on a book about the Persian Gulf.. with the help of…
Political life in Israel is based on ethnic and religious identities. There are Jewish parties that occasionally have a token…
By Hamza Hendawi and Qassim Abdul-Zahra, The Associated Press RAWASHID, Iraq — Sunni residents of this tiny village north of…
Over fifty Shiite militia organizations in Syria and Iraq currently claim to be training and fighting against the “Islamic State”/ISIS.…
The official announcement that King Abdullah had been taken into a Riyadh hospital “to undergo some medical checkups” suggests serious…
While agreeing with many U.S. analysts’ critique of president Obama’s Middle East policy, it is important to take exception to…
BY KATIE SIMMONS The pervasive conflicts that have gripped the Middle East over recent years — from political turmoil in…
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report Hamas’ political leader Khaled Meshaak, forced to quit his old headquarters in Damascus after abandoning his longtime…
Shaffaf Exclusive: How does the Islamic State turmoil and the dislocation of Syria and Iraq look from a Turkish perspetive.…
“We had a language which was very suitable for science; yet we slept over it one night and the next…
Arwa Othman has been a regular Middle East Transparent. Her articles, in arabic, are available here. * Arwa Othman, awarded…
More than three months after the guns fell silent in and around the Gaza Strip, the postwar reconstruction of Gaza…
By SAM DAGHER AL-QARDAHA, Syria—On the fourth day of a rebel assault on President Bashar al-Assad ’s seat of power…
On Dec. 7, the Israeli air force carried out a series of surgical air strikes inside Syria. Such strikes are…
Once again, we find ourselves at the height of election fever in the Jewish “nation-state” — in other words, in…
The Mevlevı ‘sema,’ or whirling ceremony. PHOTO: Fatma Demir. * During the first half of the 13th century in Konya,…
Prior to the ongoing civil war, the Syrian Arab Air Force (SAAF) was never considered a key component of the…
دخول “هيئة العلماء المسلمين” على خط الوساطة مع خاطفي عسكريي الجيش اللبناني ليس مستساغاً من قبل فريق 8 آذار، الذي…
Earlier today, a series of royal orders in the name of King Abdullah announced that eight new members had been…
Eric Edelman is a distinguished fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments and served as undersecretary of defense…
The Catholic Church of St. Anthony of Padua in Istanbul. The break between the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Roman…
As a diplomat and Israel’s ambassador to the Dominican Republic and as a reserve officer in the Israel Defense Forces…
She made a joke about a beard and the medieval clergy went berserk; apparently they do not have a sense…
Within Washington policy circles, many officials regard Syria’s minority Alawite sect as a homogenous bubble within Syria. However, in recent…
Over the last few days, as the United States has stepped up its bombing campaign against ISIS in Syria, it…
Hezbollah wants the world to know it still wants death to Israel, it’s just really busy right now. As Iranian…
By Karen DeYoung The Obama administration is weighing the opening of a new front in the air war against the…
Tango 10 protects the pass leading to the Christian village of Ras Baalbek near the Lebanese-Syrian border * By Holly…
No one doubts that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a Jewish patriot with every fiber of his body. Jewish patriotism…
Last week, fifteen Majlis representatives summoned the minister of intelligence over a report that had been prepared and submitted to…
On Friday, while Americans are recovering from Thanksgiving food comas, Egypt might experience its most violent day in over a…
Reaching a nuclear deal with Iran is proving to be tough, as evidenced by the seven-month extension of talks agreed…
When US defence officials want to give a compliment to a junior military partner they will often use the phrase…
Dennis Ross, a counselor at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, was a special assistant to President Obama from…
The “Vladivostok” Mistral-class helicopter carrier in Saint-Nazaire. Last Thursday, “Vladivostok”, the first of two Mistral-class ships sold to Russia,…
Several Islamic figures who lived long before Columbus have suggested that some Muslim sailors sailed across the Atlantic. According to…
By Editorial Board THE BEHEADING of another American by the Islamic State brought an appropriately harsh condemnation from President Obama,…
Police clash with protesters in the Arab town of Kafr Kana, November 11, 2014. (Photo by Gil Eliyahu) * The…
Yesterday, Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani of Qatar was shown kissing the cheek of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia during…