Tensions are rising between Israel and Lebanon, this time over underwater gas reserves. After months of debate, Israel’s cabinet approved last week a proposed maritime border that overlaps with a competing Lebanese claim, creating a sliver of some 430 square miles in dispute. Typically, after decades of arguments over fishing rights and offshore oil, countries draw up exclusive economic zones with borders extending 200 nautical miles off the low water mark on their coasts. Yet Lebanon refuses to recognize Israel’s zone despite the fact that it does not cover any …
Hundreds of thousands of protesters poured into the streets of Syrian cities on Friday to call for the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad in one of the largest outpourings of opposition since protests began over three months ago. At least 12 protesters were killed by Assad’s internal security forces. More than 1,400 Syrians, most of them peaceful protesters, have been massacred in a series of violent crackdowns by the embattled regime in Damascus. The Assad regime, which has ruled Syria with an iron hand since seizing power in a military …
In this week’s Heritage in Focus podcast, Heritage Middle East expert Jim Phillips reflects on the current unrest between Israel and Syria. To listen to the full interview, click here. A few days ago marked the anniversary of “nakba,” or “the day of catastrophe,” for Palestinians and their Arab allies. That day is May 15, 1948: The day Israel gained its independence. Israel’s foremost enemies, Syria, Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah, mobilized Palestinian militants recruited from refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza to demonstrate against Israel by marching up to the border to …
The Obama Administration’s engagement policy suffered two major defeats in recent days due to the collapse of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, which followed the collapse of Lebanon’s pro-Western government two weeks ago. The diplomatic dead end over Iran’s nuclear program has received the lion’s share of Western press attention. Although expectations had been low, Iran’s inflexible diplomacy sorely disappointed the few observers who still harbor hopes that a diplomatic process can be designed to resolve the simmering nuclear standoff. Tehran refused to negotiate unless all sanctions imposed on Iran …
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today used the annual celebration of the anniversary of Iran’s Islamic revolution to announce that Iran has become a “nuclear state.” Although the bombastic dictator has made this claim before, his exultant announcement came shortly after Iran had announced that it would enrich uranium to the 20 percent level that it claims it needs to fuel a research reactor that is scheduled to run out of fuel later this year. Ahmadinejad proclaimed: “I want to announce with a loud voice here that the first package of …
Today is the 26th anniversary of the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, by Lebanese terrorists supported and directed by Iran. The attack, which killed 241 American servicemen (220 Marines, 16 Navy personnel, and 3 Army soldiers), was the deadliest single-day death toll for the Marines since the World War II battle of Iwo Jima and the deadliest for the U.S. military since the 1968 Tet offensive in Vietnam. The suicide truck bombing, along with a similar bombing that day that killed 58 French paratroopers, was perpetrated …
Lebanon’s long-suffering history took a turn for the worse in the last couple of days, as Hezbollah, the Shi’ite terrorist army “made in Iran,” occupied the capital city Beirut. Ten people were killed in fierce fire fights and dozens wounded, yet the Lebanese Army sat out the fight. The violence came as response to a feeble attempt by the Lebanese government to shut down Hezbollah’s fiber optic network and begin dismantling its control of Beirut’s international airport. The violence comes as President Bush is planning to embark on a Middle …
