GENERAL RESOURCES

From AICbackground

Please feel free to add to this list of links:

Middle East Journal's Listing of Countries of the Middle East, with basic background on the countries and links to additional resources: http://www.mideasti.org/countries/countries_main.html

The Roadmap: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2003/20062.htm Complete text of the "Road Map" peace initiative outline by George Bush in 2002.

International Crisis Group: http://www.crisisgroup.org They have a strong focus on the Middle East and the conflict, and now have summary sections on most of the major actors. Their reports and briefings are first-rate.

World Press Review This is a great resource for, as you might guess, newspapers from around the world. There is a great section on the Middle East at: http://www.worldpress.org/mideast.htm and you can also follow the link to WORLD NEWSPAPERS to get links to web-based papers, listed by country.

Jerusalem Newswire Right-wing Israeli news service. http://www.jnewswire.com/

Al-Ahram Based in Egypt, this “pan-Arab” paper is supportive of the Egyptian government, but is often critical of American and Israeli policy, and maintains an active bureau in Gaza. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/

Al Jazeera Independent news agency attached to a television station widely viewed in the Arab world. http://www.aljazeera.com/

Bitterlemons.org “presents Israeli and Palestinian viewpoints on prominent issues of concern.” Jointly written by Palestinians and Israelis sympathetic to the peace process. http://www.bitterlemons.org/ Also check out the http://www.bitterlemons-international.org/ site, which looks at issues of the Middle East from a broader, more international perspective.

The Electronic Intifada (EI) “publishes news, commentary, analysis, and reference materials about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict from a Palestinian perspective. EI is the leading Palestinian portal for information about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its depiction in the media.” http://electronicintifada.net/new.shtml

Haaretz Independent Israeli daily newspaper with a broadly liberal outlook both on domestic issues and on international affairs. http://www.haaretzdaily.com/

Iran Daily “Reformist” perspective on the news, this is a paper where President Bush is coming in for his fair share of criticism these days. http://www.iran-daily.com/ See also: http://www.iran-press-service.com/

Palestinian Information Center Official web site of HAMAS http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/am/publish/

Arab News Saudi-based, pro-government English language daily http://www.arabnews.com/

EUobserver.com Excellent source for EU policy information http://euobserver.com/ The European Union’s web page on the Middle East peace process. http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/mepp/index.htm

Pravda is the official Russian news service. http://english.pravda.ru/ see also Gateway to Russia (http://www.gateway2russia.com/) and Russia Journal (www.russiajournal.com)

France Diplomatie Information on French foreign policy, published by the Department of Foreign Affairs. http://www.france.diplomatie.fr

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy An American “think tank” on the conservative end of the spectrum, generally supportive of administration policy http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/

MERIP - Middle East Research and Information Project Also American, but much more critical of American policy. http://www.merip.org/

Al-Hayat Independent newspaper published in Beirut and London. http://english.daralhayat.com/

Palestine Media Center Publishes articles sympathetic to the Palestinian cause from a variety of sources. http://www.palestine-pmc.com/

FromOccupiedPalestine.org “is an independent online journal and resource archive of the Israel-Palestine conflict.” Generally critical of current Israeli and American Mideast policies. http://www.fromoccupiedpalestine.org/index.php

Jordan Times Good source for pro-government perspective http://www.jordantimes.com/

Jordan News Service http://www.petra.gov.jo/Default.asp

Middle East Times British weekly keeps a close eye on the Egyptian government, even archiving stories censored (by Egyptian government censors) from its print edition. http://www.metimes.com

Arabic News Selective daily country by country news, mainly from official Arabic sources. http://www.arabicnews.com

The Daily Star This Lebanese independent paper is a good source of news in translation from across the Middle East, and is surprisingly frank in its editorial criticism of Syria. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/home.asp

Miftah Readings and resources sponsored by “the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy.” http://www.miftah.org

SyriaComment An American academic named Joshua Landis has a blog that focuses on Syria and Syrian-American relations: http://syriacomment.com

Abu Aardvark Mark Lynch (of Williams College) writes more generally about the Middle East at: http://abuaardvark.typepad.com/abuaardvark/

The American Task Force for Palestine (ATFP) ATFP pulls together a daily collection of links to opinion pieces, in the American and international press, regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. You can even have the collection of links e-mailed to you each day. It's a good source for articles with clear opinions. http://www.americantaskforce.org/news/roundup.htm