| Suicide rate in Palestine reaches record high
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Suicide rates have reached unprecedented levels in Palestine as economic conditions keep deteriorating and political solutions seem more distant than ever.
According to a report issued by the Ramallah police Planning and Research Department, there have been 250 suicide attempts since the beginning of 2009 with eight deaths. In the Gaza Strip, there were 95 attempts and seven deaths.
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| Wife seeks divorce over "Gitmo" phone name
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 Furious after her husband stores her name on his cellular phone as Guantanamo, a Saudi woman files divorce after the notorious American prison, saying it is enough of a reason to end a 17-year marriage.
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| Choice between bikini or berqa?
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Ray Hanania
As I always do around this time of year, I pushed aside the Arab-Israeli conflict for a moment to contemplate the more serious conflict between secular Muslims and Christian Arabs and the growing religious extremism in the Middle East. There are 22 Arab countries, yet only two had the courage (or pride in their women) to field entrants in this year's Miss Universe Pageant, which was held in the Bahamas, where string bikinis replace car bombs and women are truly free.The only two Arab countries that entered contestants, again, were Egypt and Lebanon.
Now I know Egypt and its president, Hosni Mubarak, get a lot of flack for the alleged oppression of its citizens: The Coptic Christians
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Niqab Debate in Egypt
Divided Scholars
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Alfred Hackensberger
The bone of contention is none less than the Grand Imam of Cairo University and the Al-Azhar Mosque. Mohammed Sayed al-Tantawi, one of the most senior legal scholars in Sunni Islam, declared that a veil that covers a woman's face leaving only a slit for the eyes is not religiously permissible.
During a visit to one of the schools affiliated to Al-Azhar University early in October, the theologian was irritated by a girl's niqab. He then ordered the baffled girl, who had ironically only worn the veil in honor of the high-ranking visitor, to take it off and never put it on again. "These are traditions that have nothing to do with religion," he explained to the students. At the same time the Imam promised to ban this particular kind of veil from the school grounds.
Reasons of security
A few days later, female students veiled with the niqab were no longer allowed to enter the halls of residence at Al-Azhar University. Those who did not take off their niqab were sent
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| Gaza aid, finally arrives! |
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A humanitarian aid convoy carrying food and medical supplies has
arrived in the Gaza Strip nearly a month after it embarked from the UK.Members
of the much-delayed Viva Palestina convoy began passing through Egypt's
Rafah border crossing into Gaza on Wednesday, waving Palestinian flags
and raising their hands in peace signs.
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| Egyptian brides without hymens to be refunded! |
| According to a new Egyptian law, grooms can now complain to the Consumer Protection Agency if
their brides "are missing a hymen, or are otherwise faulty,". If the marital product, also known as "woman", is found without the highly-prized tissue still intact, bride consumers can return the damaged commodity within 7 days of trying it out, in which case they will then receive compensation from its manufacturer, or "parent".
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| Arab diplomat divorces bearded bride |
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A diplomat in the United Arab Emirates has divorced his new bride after discovering her full-face veil, or niqab, concealed a beard, local media reported Wednesday. The man, identified only as "an Arab ambassador,"
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| Les Chadoufs sets record for modern Egyptian art |
 Les Chadoufs, 1934, a spectacular early work by Mahmoud Said (Egyptian, 1897-1964) had already been expected to be one of the highlights of the Christie's auction in Dubai on 27 April 2010. The painting portrays Egyptian peasants drawing water from the Nile
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| Europe from a Palestinian perspective |
| Shirin Abu Fannouna, 23, has a different vision about Europe because she is an Arab Palestinian woman living and studying in France and reconciling different and sometimes contradicting lifestyles.
One the one hand, Shirin is a big fan of the French feminist Simone de Beauvoir. She even memorized some of De Beauvoir's famous quotations. "Women exist only as they are conceived by men," Shirin quoted Beauvoir as saying, describing the line as "very deep as it tells the predetermined role society gives women from childhood."
On the other hand, she still
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| Why is Israel after my brother? |
Marwan Bishara
For Israel's one million Arab citizens, allegations of treason against Azmi Bishara, a former Arab member of the Israeli parliament, is the latest demonstration of a 60-year dilemma: How does an Arab live in dignity in a Jewish state without being treated as a strategic threat?
During last year's summer war against Lebanon, Bishara, like most of the Arabs in Israel, condemned the government's "war of choice" and denounced what he believed amounted to war crimes against the Lebanese people.
The Israeli government responded with an investigation into allegations that he aided the
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| Middle East status quo is untenable |
King Abdullah II
During my recent trip to Washington, I had the pleasure of meeting President Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and numerous other members of Congress. Our meetings recognise 60 years of American-Jordanian partnership. During these decades, American support has helped us address some of our most vital development challenges, expand our trade horizons, and create opportunity for young Jordanians.
I speak for all Jordanians when I say we are grateful for your assistance.
Together, we have also confronted common threats, worked to advance global stability and carried a message of tolerance and understanding.
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| Listen to affected voices and we will have Middle East peace |
Dan Lieberman
A question continually asked: Why has peace in the Middle East not been attainable? Clues to the answer are shunted from biased minds but are revealed in the Lebanese and Gaza conflagrations. They come from asking another question. Why did Israel react strongly to tit-for-tat skirmishes that had occurred for years
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A Royal Jordanian flight from Athens to Amman could have passed off as any other routine trip except this RJ 132 flight was a little different as it boasted a female pilot leading an all female crew.
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