In death, Staff Sergeant Nissim Sean Carmeli, a 21-year old soccer fan, embodies the deep fears, distrust and dehumanization of the other that has exploded into massive bloodshed in Gaza, threatens to spark another uprising on the West Bank and makes achievement of even a temporary Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire an almost impossible task.
A purported letter by the Islamic State, the jihadist group that controls chunks of Syria and Iraq, has warned world soccer body FIFA not to hold the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, reviving concerns first raised in a FIFA security assessment warning.
No matter how entrenched animosities in the Middle East may be, one principle is upheld by all: never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
This year’s World Cup is not just about soccer – at least not as far as the Middle East and North Africa is concerned.
World cup enthusiasm is likely to be tempered by the growing realization that politics, political interference, and whimsical micro-management by vain club owners has stymied performance by potential regional powerhouses.
During a historic visit to Ankara on Monday, Iranian President Hassan Rowhani announced that his government and Turkey’s were determined to stand against together against violence and extremism in the Middle East.
Iran has upped the ante on its efforts to improve its relations with Gulf Arab states with the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling for better ties during a rare visit by Kuwait’s emir on Monday.
Pakistan issued a strong denial on Tuesday that kidnapped Iranian border guards had ever been on its soil, the latest effort to ostensibly patch up strained ties between the two countries as Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif prepares to travel to Iran later this week.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan unexpectedly offered a conciliatory message for the mass killings of Armenians under Ottoman rule during the First World War — the first time a Turkish prime minister has ever offered such explicit condolences for the atrocity.
Saudi spy chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan’s ouster from his position earlier this week was the first real indication that Saudi Arabia’s government has begun to reassess its unusually assertive approach to its foreign policy in recent months.
