The modern Turkish town of Demre is on the site of Myra, the birthplace of Saint Nicholas, whom the world now calls Santa Claus. If they are smart, they’ll build a huge amusement park and resort on the theme! A biography of the generous fourth-century saint is here. Here is a video on Saint Nicholas […]
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Middle East
Christmas Trees, Christmas Parties among Egyptian Muslims
Some 500,000 Christmas trees were sold this year in Egypt, an extremely mysterious statistic. The country’s Orthodox Coptic Church celebrates Christmas on January 7, considers the day distinctly less important than Easter, and does not have a tradition of Christmas trees or Santa Claus. The roughly 8 million Copts are the largest national community of […]
Israeli Mayor Forbids Christmas Trees in part of Nazareth; Christian Tourism Boom Fuels Hopes for Palestinian State
The some 50,000 Christians in the West Bank continue to labor under Israeli military occupation this Christmas, though somewhat improved tourism and prosperity have lessened the penury in which they labored in 2005, at the end of the Palestinian uprising or Intifada. Christian Arabs in Israel proper continue to be second-class citizens. In Nazareth (the […]
Al-Khoei: Why We Shouldn’t Be Celebrating Iraq’s New Government: Power-Sharing Means Nothing without Reconciliation
Hayder al-Khoei writes in a guest column for Informed Comment : 22/12/2010 Bickering is still very much the order of the day in Iraq. Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, who has just won a second term, may have a functioning government that enjoys the confidence of parliament, but that is no reason to celebrate. Not yet […]
Iraq has a Government: Can we Please Come Home Now?
Iraq has marked three milestones this fall. The formal military mission of US troops was ended by President Obama on August 31, and while about 50,000 troops remain, some of them occasionally engaged in combat at the invitation of the Iraqi government, there are no large US military campaigns. The remaining 50,000 troops are scheduled […]
Saudi Arabia, Distribution of Annual Rainfall
Found a better rainfall distribution map: Courtesy the National Center for Atmospheric Research, 2007
Obama’s 2010 Successes and Failures in the Middle East – Cole in Truthdig
My new column at Truthdig.com is just out: “Obama’s 2010 Successes and Failures in the Middle East”. Excerpt: ‘ As 2010 dawned, President Barack Obama had four big issues on his plate regarding the Middle East. These were Iraq, Israel-Palestine, Iran, and Afghanistan. The year has been as unkind to him on those issues as […]
Iraq’s al-Maliki Rebuffed on Incomplete Cabinet
Al-Hayat writes in Arabic that prospective Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki faced severe opposition on Monday to his insistence on announcing the formation of a government without naming all the cabinet members. Among the parties opposed to this step was the Iraqiya, the Kurdistan Alliance, and the Sadr Movement. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court issued a ruling […]
HRW on Israeli Racial Discrimination in West Bank
Human Rights Watch has issued a new report on racial discrimination against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. HRW writes: ‘Israel operates a two-tier system for the two populations of the West Bank in the large areas where it exercises exclusive control. The report is based on case studies comparing Israel’s starkly different treatment of […]
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