Middle East

By Teymoor Nabili in Middle East on April 13th, 2012
Dan Meridor, Israel's deputy prime minister [EPA]

Was it a momentary lapse of concentration or an honest admission?

Last week, in an interview with Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor in Jerusalem, I heard something I have not heard before.

Let's start with the background.

With the P5+1 (the US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) talks on Iran's nuclear programme about to kick off, and the air thick with talk of a military attack on Iran, it seemed appropriate to try to gain some perspective from the Israeli establishment.

By Al Jazeera Staff in Middle East on April 13th, 2012
Syrian anti-government protesters hold a pre-Baath Syrian flag during a demonstration in the southern city of Daraa [AFP]

Protests in Syria have escalated into what some are calling a buregoning civil war, and the United Nations says more than 9,000 people have been killed since the uprising began in March last year. The government blames terrorists and "armed gangs" for the unrest and says more than 2,500 members of its security forces have been killed.

We bring you the latest news from various sources.

Al Jazeera is not responsible for content derived from external sites.

By Al Jazeera Staff in Middle East on April 12th, 2012
Supporters of Egyptian Salafi presidential candidate, Hazem Abu Ismail, gather in Tahrir Square in Cairo [Reuters]

Al Jazeera staff and correspondents update you on important developments in Egypt.

Al Jazeera is not responsible for content derived from external sites.

Tags: Cairo
By Sherine Tadros in Middle East on April 12th, 2012

'Islamist' is one of those words journalists hate to use but can’t live without.

Recently, there's been discussion within media organisations about whether to keep using the term, with some arguing it's come to describe such a wide variety of groups, views and individuals that it really doesn’t mean much anymore. I agree.

Tags: Cairo
By Al Jazeera Staff in Middle East on April 12th, 2012
Four anti-government activists were briefly detained after they staged a flash mob in a shopping centre in Damascus on Wednesday

Since most foreign journalists are barred from entering Syria, videos posted online by activists have become a key source of information about the uprising.

Al Jazeera cannot independently verify the veracity of the videos. 

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By Al Jazeera Staff in Middle East on March 30th, 2012
Israeli mounted police disperse hundreds of Palestinian demonstrators during a protest marking Land Day in East Jerusalem [AFP]

To commemorate Land Day this year, activists have planned a "Global March to Jerusalem" to, as they say, highlight processes of land theft and dispossession in the city.

Land day commemorates the killing of six Israeli Arabs in 1976 who were protesting against Israeli government land policies.

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By Al Jazeera Staff in Middle East on March 28th, 2012
[Photo: Reuters]

One year after the pro-democracy uprising began on February 14, protests against the ruling al-Khalifa monarchy continue across Bahrain. 

Al Jazeera is not responsible for content derived from external sites.

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By Al Jazeera Staff in Middle East on March 26th, 2012
Former President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s loyalists have been accused of destabilising the current transitional government [Reuters]

Al Jazeera staff and correspondents update you on important developments in Yemen as the country goes to polls a year after anti-government protests began.

Al Jazeera is not responsible for content derived from external sites.

Tags: Yemen
By Andy Richardson in Middle East on March 22nd, 2012
Photo by GALLO/GETTY

I first saw the Afghanistan cricket team play five years ago. We came across them in Kuwait taking part in a regional Twenty20 event. Little was known about them, and not much was expected. They finished up as joint champions and so began their incredible journey.

This week they qualified for their second consecutive Twenty20 World Cup.

What was as noticeable then as it is now was the level of support the team has. Somehow, thousands of Afghans found that pitch in Kuwait. They arrived on foot, on the back of trucks and in overloaded taxis.

They came because they already knew what the rest of the cricketing world was about to find out. This was a team of winners.

The majority were brought up in refugee camps in Pakistan, their families forced to flee over the border during the Soviet-Afghan war. It was in these camps that they discovered and learned to play cricket.

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By Gregg Carlstrom in Middle East on March 21st, 2012
This February 2011 file photo shows wounded demonstrators being rushed into Salmaniya Medical Complex. [EPA]

The so-called "medics trial" has been one of the most controversial issues stemming from the unrest in Bahrain.

To recap, if you're not familiar with it: Beginning in March, security forces arrested 48 staffers from Salmaniya Medical Complex, the largest hospital in Bahrain. Twenty of them were convicted by a military court and sentenced to jail terms of between five and 15 years, a verdict criticised by the UN as "harsh." (The rest were charged with misdemeanours; a list of their names is here.)

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