As Ugly as It Gets

Posted by , 27th May 2010
Ahmadinejad with president of Brazil Luiz Inác...

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Thomas L. Friedman
5/26/2010

Friedman says it is wrong for Brazil and Turkey–democracies who have overcome military rule in their past–to embrace Iran because Iran crushes democratic freedom. The nuclear deal these countries struck with Iran weakens the global coalition to pressure Iran to open its facilities to UN inspectors and legitimizes Ahmadinejad on the one-year anniversary of crushing the Iranian democracy movement that had demanded a recount of Iran’s tainted elections.

Friedman is a New York Times columnist
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Egypt’s Persecuted Christians

Posted by , 18th May 2010
The Hanging Church of Cairo, first built in th...
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Moheb Zaki
5/18/2010

Violence against Copts is on the rise and all but ignored by the state. Despite the suffering of the Copts, the Egyptian government insists that there is no sectarian problem and brands as traitors those who draw international attention to the Copts’ plight. So far the US and the rest of the Western democracies, despite repeated Coptic appeals, have done little besides calling upon the Egyptian regime to foster greater tolerance. The “dhimmi” status of the Copts will not be changed by sweet persuasion. It will only change by persistent domestic struggle supported by international pressure. The Copts do not demand the tolerance of Muslims but rather equal rights with them.

Zaki is a former managing director of the Ibn Khaldun Center, a nonprofit organization that supports democracy and civil rights in Egypt and the Middle East.

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A Beer for Palestine

Posted by , 18th May 2010
West Bank
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Roger Cohen
5/18/2010

Cohen looks at the struggles over the past 15 years of a microbrewery established in the West Bank. Today the company is on the rebound and business is good due to the political situation. Cohen says the business is a barometer of the stronger economy and the institutions of statehood being built by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. If the six percent economic growth is to continue, the West Bank must wean itself off international aid and become self-sustaining, and logistics and infrastructure must improve, along with peace. Cohen says, “Israel won’t do better than Fayyad.”

Cohen is a New York Times columnist.

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