Safe Democracy Foundation - Safe Democracy

Strung up between radical and polarizing militant forces, a leadership lacking credibility, and a firmly rooted history of antagonism, the Israeli and Palestinian people face a strong and ever-escalating conflict. The author claims that few of those caught in the crossfire allow themselves to hope for an end in the near future. How does a peace so long desired, so diligently debated, find itself receding progressively farther from view?

• Gaza: the consequences of the "Hot Winter"
  por Adrián Mac Liman
• Why must Israel be a civil nation of all its citizens
  por Dan Bavly

After days of a military offensive against the Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, Turkey consented to withdraw its troops, in what appears to be a strategy to gain Washington’s trust and ensure that Ankara will have the possibility to carry out new, characteristically similar offensives (limited in scope and duration) in the near future. However, the Kurdish question will not be resolved until Turkey changes its mentality and puts policy before force when making decisions related to national security, states the author.

The Middle East is experiencing a new escalation in the violence between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants. According to the analysts, the only way out involves the reestablishment of a framework for global negotiation between the Israeli authorities and the Palestinian factions of the West Bank and Gaza, an option that could lead to the creation of another National Unity Government, provided that an agreement is reached beforehand. But in order for this to happen, the author states that Israel must renounce its project of getting rid of Hamas by force.

• Alert before the Unreasonableness of Hamas
  por Jana Beris

When it tore down part of the wall at Rafah, Hamas was acting for the party’s own benefit, in an attempt to implement its Islamic Revolution program at the expense of unity between Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The author argues that Israel should lift the sanctions imposed upon Gaza and negotiate a comprehensive peace plan with Palestinian President Abu Mazen for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Neighboring countries such as Egypt should partake in the dialog, and Hamas and other factions must also comply with the peace process.

• Olmert is unaffected by Jerusalem’s storms
  por Mario Sznajder

The publication of the Winograd Commission’s final report on the 2006 Lebanon War has not caused the political destabilization in Jerusalem that could have been expected a couple of months ago. There are several reasons for this, but two stand out above the rest: the report presented the image of an idealized (on a political and military level) Israel that no longer exists. And if the Minister of Defense, Ehud Bark (Labor Party), withdraws from Ehud Olmert’s coalition government, forcing elections to be moved forward, Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) will win.

The author argues that far from being isolated, Iran is embedded in myriad political and economic relations with global outreach. Sanctioning Iran is thus a futile strategy and needs to be substituted with a systematic effort to establish diplomatic relations between the United States and Iran, once the belligerent Bush and Ahmadinejad administrations leave office.

Israel’s Declaration of Independence ensures civil equality for all non-Jews, but the way the country is run today says something different. The author argues that Israel is actually a multiethnic state in which (especially secular) Jews are privileged to more rights than any other group. He argues that, especially in view of the demographics of the country, it is imperative that Arabs and other non-Jewish minorities not be treated as second-class citizens, especially if Israel is to be thought of as a democratic state.

• How might we learn to live together?
  por Dan Bavly
• Is a Comprehensive Middle Eastern Peace Possible?
  por Walid Salem

Morán demonstrated how the spectacular growth of Al Qaeda in northern Africa is tied to the social-political weakness of its host countries, and to the non-existence of intergovernmental police cooperation. In Morán’s opinion, although a common anti-terrorism strategy throughout the Mediterranean would be impossible, progress must be made in bilateral, regional, and bi-regional cooperation.

• Al Qaeda's shade in Lebanon
  por Manuel Torres Soriano
• Al Qaeda in Maghreb
  por Javier Jordán
• How to avoid home-grown Islamic extremism
  por Borja Lasheras
• What is the Jihadist Terror Threat in Spain?
  por Adrián Mac Liman

The author argues that the recent summit in Annapolis marks the beginning of a period of serious negotiations in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Still, there are many obstacles to be overcome in the future: while Hamas’ influence is diminishing and the Palestinian government is having success in its efforts to provide the region with stability and security, the crisis in Gaza still remains, and Israel has not been as successful in holding up its end of the deal as set forth in the first stage of the Road Map. The author presents nine points that should be implemented to make the environment more conducive to negotiations in the upcoming year.

• How might we learn to live together?
  por Dan Bavly
• The Summit in Annapolis, different from Camp David?
  por George Chaya
• The Importace of Dialogue between Jerusalem and Damascus
  por Mario Sznajder
• Gaza Coup D'état (Part I)
  por Walid Salem
• Forty Years Without a Lasting Peace
  por Dan Bavly