: On the Brink of War in the Middle East

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Many of us have spent the past weekend glued to the television, as one city after another is reoccupied by the Israeli military and wave after wave of suicide bombings hit major Israeli cities. The week started hopeful enough, with a Saudi peace initiative that would have been unthinkable only a few months ago. However, things unraveled quickly as a devastating suicide bomb struck Netanya and Israeli tanks shelled Arafat’s headquarters in Ramallah. The UN Security Council (along with the US) called for Israel to pull out of Ramallah, but it fell on deaf ears. Now, with another blast taking 14 lives in Haifa (including some Arabs), and tanks entering Bethlehem, the ante has been upped again. Where do things go from here? There remains some hope, as the US and Europe are pushing for an immediate meeting of Middle East leaders to implement a cease-fire, and soul searching continues on both the Arab and Israeli sides.

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.