In-depth
As Syria Teeters, So Do Decades-Old Assumptions About the Middle East
The conflict is testing the brittle bonds of a national identity in states carved out of old Ottoman provinces at the end of World War I, writes Tony Karon in TIME.
A revolutionary victory in Syria would certainly embolden those same Iraqi insurgents who lost Iraq’s civil war, but have never reconciled themselves with Shi‘ite power in Baghdad. There are growing signs of the Syrian conflict spilling also into Lebanon, whose own sectarian fault lines are intimately connected with those across the border.
Anti-Semitism: no longer big news
Martin Bright of the Spectator examines the way in which the media reports on attacks on Israeli and Jews around the world.
It is interesting to compare the coverage of the Bulgarian atrocity compared, say, to the blanket front pages devoted to the Batman massacre in Colorado. There is no hierarchy of suffering for the victims’ families. But there is no comparison in global geopolitical terms between an act carried out by a lone psychopath and a terrorist attack on Israeli citizens on foreign territory.
b>Daily Digest
Times of Israel: Tourism minister says Bulgarians foiled terror plot against Israelis months ago
Haaretz: Israeli negotiator: Social protest affected Netanyahu’s decision on Shalit deal
Jerusalem Post: Liberman: Syrian rebels rejected Israeli assistance
New York Times: Syria Threatens Chemical Attack on Foreign Force
Washington Post: The IOC’s missed chance to honor Munich victims
Wall Street Journal: EU Hits Syria With Fresh Sanctions
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