BULLETIN No.56

Hope Beyond Muslim Rage? By David Ignatius, Non-Muslim wondering how the cartoons could possibly give such offense should think about American reactions to a word we hesitate to write, calling it instead the "N-word."
Curse of the Moderates By Charles Krauthammer, As much of the Islamic world erupts in a studied frenzy over the Danish Muhammad cartoons, there are voices of reason being heard on both sides. Some Islamic leaders and organizations, while endorsing the demonstrators' sense of grievance and sharing their outrage, speak out against using violence as a vehicle of expression.
NYT David Brooks: Drafting Hitler , A clash of cartoons, and civilizations
IHT Don't yield to extremists MONA ELTAHAWY, The cartoon controversy is as much about freedom of expression in the Muslim world as it is about freedom of expression in Europe.
Andres Fogh Rasmussen speaks to Al-Ahram Weekly
INTERVIEW WITH MUSLIM LEADER TARIQ RAMADAN ON THE CARICATURE CONFLICT "We Have to Turn Up the Volume of Reason" With unrelenting Muslim anger over the Muhammad caricatures, sentiments between Islam and the West once again have all the delicacy of a powder keg. SPIEGEL ONLINE spoke with Tariq Ramadan, Europe's leading Muslim scholar, about the overreaction of the Muslim world, rampant anti-Semitism and the frustrations of Muslim immigrants in Europe.
Al Ahram Editorial: Touch of hypocrisy
Slate Does the media present Muslims as fanatics? By Geoffrey Wheatcroft
Al-Ahram Grapes of wrath By Salama A Salama
The Economist The limits to free speech Cartoon wars There should be limits to free speech, but the principle is a central value in western societies, and some governments have defended it only feebly
Slate Where protesters get those Danish flags Daniel Engber
Al-Ahram Racist depictions By Raouf Mosaad
UPI Analysis: The blame game over the cartoons By ROLAND FLAMINI, After a week of violent rioting against European citizens and embassies in the Islamic world over the Mohammed cartoons the Muslims have lost the moral
Al-Ahram From Damascus to Kandahar Global anti-Danish protests take on a darker tone, Serene Assir writes
NYT A Startling New Lesson in the Power of Imagery By MICHAEL KIMMELMAN, Why a cartoon can sometimes be enough to provoke violence.
Gulf News Controversy rages The furore over the offensive Danish cartoons continues to dominate news in the Arab world. Manal Alafrangi discusses comments from various Arabic newspapers
The Ayatollah Joke Book by Michael Kinsley, The problem with denying the Holocaust and portraying Muhammad is that the offended Muslims do not want a world where people are free to do both. They want a world where you may not portray the prophet but you may deny the Holocaust.
FT Cartoons controversy spills over into UN The international furore over cartoons depicting the Muslim Prophet Mohammed has spilled over into the creation of a new UN Human Rights Council, one of the flagship reforms demanded by world leaders last September.
Danish Premier Faults Iran, Syria By Kevin Sullivan, Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark said Thursday that the governments of Iran and Syria had intentionally
Newsweek Bush told to ‘shut up’ over cartoons Hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslims transformed a religious ceremony in Lebanon on Thursday into an emotional but peaceful protest against cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.Muslim Leaders Urge Calm Over Cartoons By DONNA ABU-NASR, Many Arab governments, Muslim religious leaders and newspapers have been calling for calm in the protests over the Prophet
BBC Mass anti-cartoon rally in Beirut Hundreds of thousands rally in Lebanon as protests continue over cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad.
MSNBC U.S. Muslims calm amid cartoon storm
Dar Al-Hayat I Think They Neglected the Most Important Thing by Jihad el Khazen - Muslims can respond in various ways, most importantly, showing the true Islam, as a religion of tolerance that rejects terrorism. They can ally with churches that show awareness on the issue - many of these churches oppose Israel - to head off the neoconservatives, the Jewish lobby, and other Likudniks like Daniel Pipes, Barbara Lerner and Frank Gaffney.
Gulf News Playing with religion can be dangerous
The genuine anger displayed by people over the offensive cartoons may have been exploited by some governments in the region
Cartoon Fury Hardens East-West Lines By PAUL HAVEN, The images have been shocking: a mob pouring over the ruins of a fire-gutted Danish Embassy. Bullets cutting the air as thousands
Jerusalem Post 'Assad may attack if pressure escalates' IDF to Post: Syria may feel pushed into a corner due to int'l pressure.
MEMRI Feb 10 SR# 40 - Expatriate Syrian Salafi Sheikh Al-Tartusi Comes Out Against Suicide Attacks
Asia Times Iraqi visions on the road to Damascus by Sami Moubayed, Iraqi Shi'ite leader Muqtada al-Sadr has been knocking on Syria's door, promoting himself as a politician and not just a resistance leader, and trying to enrich his pan-Arab contacts. The Syrians have proffered a friendly hand. But Muqtada does not fit their, or the US's, idea for Iraq.
Syria Comment Where are the Jihadists Comming From? - Syria is Not a Transit Center for Jihadists in Iraq - Republicans Question their Syria Policy - Khaddam and Muslim Brothers Team UP
Haaretz Does Israel have a strategy? By Ze'ev Schiff, The idea behind this interim strategy is that Israel cannot be the cause of a humanitarian disaster in the territories while Abbas remains in office.
Yedioth Ahronoth Hamas good for Israel/ Ben-Yisrael
Daily Star On the evidence, corruption is rule of Palestinian politics
New Republic The world misread Fatah. Will it misread Hamas? by Barry Rubin Carnegie Endowment Aftermath of the Hamas Tsunami By Nathan Brown Full Text (PDF)
Al-Ahram Problem or solution? Hamas, writes Hassan Nafaa , could well turn out to be the latter
The Washington Institute Can Hamas Be Tamed? By Michael Herzog, Much has happened in the decade between the first parliamentary elections for the Palestinian Authority (PA), in 1996, and the second, this year.
UPI Political vacuum sees Gaza out of control By JOSHUA BRILLIANT, Thursday, an Israeli soldier at the Erez Crossing from the Gaza Strip noticed something strange. The stream of Palestinian laborers heading
Jerusalem Post Rattling the Cage: Panicking over Palestine By LARRY DERFNER, Israel should be exploring the ground between war and peace with the PA once Hamas moves in.
Al-Ahram Hamas and the conditions of funding Joseph Massad writes on the implications of the Hamas funding dilemma
Gulf News Israel is defining its borders unilaterally The Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz has made it clear that Occupied Jerusalem and colonies in the West bank "will set the State of Israel's borders".
Al-Ahram Handling defeat Fatah's defeat in the Palestinian elections is no less significant than Hamas's victory, writes Graham Usher in Gaza
Al-Ahram To be decided The policy architecture of the new Palestinian government is yet to be formed while Hamas is standing strong on its long-held refusal to negotiate with Israel, reports Erica Silverman
Al-Ahram Strategic pragmatism Ahead of forming the new Palestinian government, Hamas is working hard to allay the fears of international actors and Fatah competitors, reports Khaled Amayreh in the West Bank
Putin to Issue Invite To Hamas Leaders By Scott Wilson, Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated Thursday that he would soon invite the leaders of Hamas to visit Moscow, signaling
Haaretz Minister Sheetrit: Russia stabbed Israel in the back Putin says he plans to invite Hamas leaders to Moscow, despite Quartet call for renunciation of terror.
Jerusalem Post US demands clarification of Putin's invitation to Hamas Israel, Russia edge toward diplomatic crisis when Putin invites Hamas to Moscow, says Hamas not terror organization.
U.S. Says Russia Must Stand Firm on Hamas By ANNE GEARAN, The United States reminded Russia on Thursday that it is on record condemning Hamas' violent tenets, but did not criticize Russia's
Relations Between Russia and HAMAS
BBC Egyptian diplomat seized in Gaza An Egyptian diplomat has been abducted on a street in Gaza City by masked Palestinian gunmen.
Hamas floats Palestinian 'army'
Gulf News Israeli foreign minister wants world to isolate Hamas government Israel's new foreign minister urged the world on Wednesday to isolate a Hamas-led government in the Palestinian territories, saying the militant group would turn them into a "terror state."
Times Ariel Sharon forgotten but not gone From Stephen Farrell in Ein Karem, Ariel Sharon’s successor, Ehud Olmert, has struck the right note of pragmatic sorrow by preparing Kadima for the March 28 ballot shorn of its founder
Two Allies' Tacks On Hamas Dilemma By Glenn Kessler, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni struck quite a tableau as they met yesterday with reporters in the
Haaretz Editorial In praise of revamping This Knesset will be completely different from the current one.
Reuters NATO Secretary General: Israel's membership is 'not on the table'
Al-Ahram This is not according to law While almost assured to be referred to the Security Council for punitive measures, Iran still has right on its side, writes Mustafa El-Labbad
Foreign Policy How to Keep Iran Honest By Dan Badger, The referral of Iran to the UN Security Council apparently leads either to economic sanctions or military action. But neither option solves the problem. Although it won’t make hawks happy, helping Iran build its civilian nuclear program may just be the best way to keep it from building bombs.
Christian Science Monitor 'New populists' vs. the West Can the leaders of Iran and Venezuela forge a political counterweight to US power?
IHT Evil deeds in Iran? British are suspects No. 1 By MICHAEL SLACKMAN / NYTTo understand who it is that Iranians distrust most of all, one need only to visit Bobby Sands Street. Named after the Irish republican who died of a hunger strike in 1981, the street runs right past the British Embassy in a busy neighborhood of Tehran.
Asia Times China's energy insecurity and Iran's nuclear crisis China is in a bind. Its burgeoning energy and business ties with Iran make Tehran a vital partner that Beijing can increasingly ill afford to lose. But side with Iran over its nuclear program, and the consequences on the global stage will be just as dire. The United States is exploiting the situation to the full. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi
For Americans, It Can Pay to Play in Iran's Court By Karl Vick, Making himself as inconspicuous as a 7-foot-2 black man can be in Iran, Garth Joseph sidled up to the store counter. His air was at once
Newsweek China Walks Tightrope on Iran’s Nukes