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REPORTING FROM THE MIDDLE EAST

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Meet the Syrian refugees who do not dream of Europe
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April 2016
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​Some of those stranded in a Jordanian refugee camp say they would rather wait to return to their homeland.

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Leading Israeli Principal Warns Annual Trip to Concentration Camps Fuel Extreme Nationalism

​April 2016


For decades, tens of thousands of Israeli teens have been taking part in a school trip deemed a ‘rite of passage’ marking the end of their high school years - a visit to Nazi concentration camps in Poland. But this week, a prestigious and historic Israeli school, the Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium - the first modern Hebrew-language school, founded in 1905, before the creation of the city of Tel Aviv and the state of Israel, announced it is breaking with the tradition.



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Meet the Gay Iranian Poet Who Has Taken Refuge in an Unlikely Place: Israel
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March 2016

Payam Feili, a 30-year-old gay Iranian poet, never thought he would find himself living under the jurisdiction of ‘the little Satan’, as the Islamic Republic’s founding Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomenei liked to refer to Israel. But sitting outside a bohemian cafe near the fashionable Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv, Feili looks perfectly at ease. 

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Christian Schools Accuse Israel of Discrimination as Students Strike
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September 2015

Christian schools have accused the state of Israel of discrimination against them by threatening to cut their funds unless they agree to allow themselves to be controlled by the state.




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Meet the Palestinian Who Went From Throwing Stones at Israelis to Building a Town With Them

September 2015

Bashar Masri, 54, looks pensive as he sits in the gleaming, glass-walled luxury apartment showroom of Rawabi, a brand new Palestinian city he has built from scratch. Rawabi is the first planned town to be built in the West Bank.



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Meet the Israeli Women Fighting For the Right to Wear What They Want

​July 2015


When Atara Beck moved halfway across the world from Canada to begin a new life in Israel, the last thing this orthodox Jewish woman expected was to be called a ‘shiksa’ (a derogatory term for a non-Jew) and for her car to be pelted with trash by Jewish youths.


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Inside the Village Caught in the Crossfire Between Israel, Syria and Lebanon​

April 2015

When loud explosions rocked the small hilltop village of Ghajar — partly located in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights — a few months ago, a sense of terror that a long dreaded conflict had finally arrived rippled through the local residents.



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Israel-Gaza conflict: British-Palestinian child treated in East Jerusalem hospital after being hit by a missile in Gaza

5th August 2014
Last summer, Hala Al Waheidi, aged 9, was just another Year 2 pupil at the Maytree Nursery and Infant School in Newtown, Southampton, looking forward to the holidays and a trip to see her grandparents



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Miliband Opens Fire on PM over Israel
3rd August 2014
Ed Miliband has described Israel’s incursion into Gaza as “wrong and unjustifiable” in his toughest comments about the Middle East conflict.


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Israel's Choice: Push Further or Risk Further Unpopularity
31st July 2014
Stark choice between pushing further for outright victory or searching for a ceasefire that will be unpopular with Israeli voters

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Postcard from Qalandia
29th July 2014

The tips of Yasser Arafat’s whiskers look burnt to ashes, as displayed on a now soot-covered mural of the late Palestinian leader on Israel’s separation barrier in Qalandia

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West Bank on edge of third intifada
27th July 2014

WEARING a flowery headscarf and clutching a butterfly-patterned purse, 17-year-old Dalal Mansour, a would-be medical student, talked proudly of her part in last week’s protest, the biggest the West Bank has seen for years.


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Israel snubs US plea to extend ceasefire
27th July 2014

A CEASEFIRE allowed Palestinians to collect their dead yesterday as foreign ministers gathered in Paris for talks to extend the truce despite Israel’s determination to continue its offensive and destroy a vast network of tunnels beneath Gaza used by Hamas.


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Far-Right extremism on the rise in Israel as Gaza conflict continues
26th July 2014

Attacks on journalists and artists and pro-war rallies in Israel point to growing far-Right extremism fuelled by nation's politicians as much as conflict with Hamas

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Israel-Gaza conflict: Hamas calls for 'third intifada' after violent riots in Jerusalem and West Bank
25th July 2014

Hamas and Palestinian Authority call for "day of rage" over Israeli assault on Gaza after two Palestinians killed in overnight riots north of Jerusalem

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Israel tests hi-tech tunnel detection system to fight threat from underground
23rd July 2014

Many bemoan fact that such a large number of tunnels dug by Hamas from Gaza into Israel have gone undetected for so long

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Gaza-Israel conflict: How is the Israeli press reacting to the conflict?
21st July 2014

With no resolution between Israel and Hamas in sight, Israeli commentators express a mixture of hope and criticism of the government

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Battleground moves to Gaza tunnels
20th July 2014

As the Palestinian death toll soars, Israel aims to destroy a vast underground labyrinth used by Hamas to launch attacks across the border

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Gaza crisis: In Israel protestors argue over ground operation on the streets of Tel Aviv
18th July 2014

Israelis have starkly contrasting views on ground operation in Gaza

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Friend of first Israeli victim of Gaza war: 'Dror was one of a kind'
16th July 2014

A friend of Dror Khanin, the first Israeli to be killed in the current Gaza conflict, has told The Telegraph he "only wanted to help people"

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Israel-Palestine ceasefire: who are the key players?
15th July 2014

As Israel accepts an Egypt-brokered ceasefire with Palestine over the Gaza conflict, we look at the interests and allegiances of the key protagonists and mediators


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Briton joins human shield to halt Israeli strikes on hospital

13th July 2014


ON THE fourth floor of al-Wafa rehabilitation hospital for amputees and psychiatric patients in eastern Gaza City, a gaping hole in a ward wall shows where an Israeli “warning” rocket landed in the early hours of Friday. The windows are shattered, doors have been blown out of their frames and shrapnel litters the floor, witnesses report.

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The Iron Dome: what is it and how does it work?
10th July 2014


In a sun-scorched field on the outskirts of the city of Ashkelon, out of sight of the locals who are busy picking ripe water melons nearby, two state of the art anti-missile defence batteries stand on high alert.


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Israel's front line town of Sderot battered by missiles
9th July 2014


Residents of the 'city of rockets' just a mile from Gaza describe the fear of living under bombardment by missiles

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Palestinian rage engulfs Israel over boy ‘burnt alive’
6th July 2014

A WAVE of rage and violent protest swept through parts of Israel and the Palestinian territories yesterday following claims that a 16-year-old Palestinian youth who was abducted and murdered in a forest west of Jerusalem last week was burnt alive by his killers.


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Israel’s hunt for kidnapped boys turns Hamas membership into ‘ticket to hell’
22nd June 2014


HIS toothbrush is still placed precariously on the communal washbasin. “Eyal, we are waiting for you to come back,” reads the handwritten sign on the door of the dormitory where Eyal Yifrach, 19, had a bunk bed and shared a bookshelf, a microwave and a biscuit jar with other teenagers in a religious college until he was abducted with two of his friends on June 12.


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Pope Francis calls for Israelis and Palestinians to 'break spiral of violence'
8th June 2014

Pope Francis calls for 'new journey towards peace' in unprecedented prayer meeting at the Vatican between Israeli and Palestinian presidents, Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas




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Palestinian professor resigns over students' trip to Auschwitz
10th June 2014

A Palestinian professor who took his students on a field trip to Auschwitz has resigned from his post following months-long campaign of death threats, campus riots and intimidation against him.


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Fearful Jews begin Europe Exodus
1st June 2014

Last weekend’s killings in Brussels are an extreme example of a rising anti-semitism driving thousands to Israel, Britain and America

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Benjamin Netanyahu Accused of Meddling in Election to Replace Shimon Peres
29th May 2014

Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused of repeatedly trying to change the outcome of the contest to succeed Shimon Peres as Israel's president

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Pope Steps into Bethlehem Cauldron
25th May 2014


CONTROVERSY threatens to overshadow the Pope’s visit to Bethlehem today where he will discover the plight of a dwindling Christian community that feels                                                            intimidated by its Muslim neighbours.

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Syrian Refugees in Turkey Apologise for Being Refugees
12th May 2014


Turkish frustration at Syrian refugees is evolving into violent attacks on their homes. Fearful Syrians are desperately trying to placate the locals and avoid deportation with door-to-door apologies

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Map left by Britain’s feckless Indiana Jones leads to ‘Citadel of King David’
11th May 2014

A SET of caves beneath Jerusalem, first mapped by a treasure hunting English adventurer searching for the lost ark of the covenant, have led Israeli archeologists to an ancient site which they claim is the citadel captured by King David over 3,000 years ago. The British dig over a century ago loosely inspired the Hollywood film Raiders of the Lost Ark, in which Indiana Jones played by Harrison Ford, went in pursuit of the ark, which holds the key to human existence. [...] 

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West Bank, High Fashion
6th May 2014


A suave electric violin player takes his place on the runway around the edge of the swimming pool at a glitzy hotel. Dance music begins, and glamorous women mingle and pose for photographs, wearing platform heels, designer jackets and patterned silk. Their hair, professionally styled, would not be out of place on the red carpet at the Oscars. Only this isn’t Hollywood, this is second annual Palestine Fashion Week, held in Ramallah, West Bank.

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Bashar al-Assad's Israeli Palace
5th May 2014
Dozens of tanks slowly approach the soaring walls of President Bashar al-Assad’s grandiose palace, their barrels leveled at the Syrian dictator’s stronghold. Everything is on a knife-edge. The tense scene is straight from the front lines of Syria’s revolution—except it’s playing out in Israel, more than 100 miles from the real Damascus palace. 

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Bad Times for the Good Samaritans?
May 2014

The descendants of the Good Samaritan are not only alive and well in the Holy Land, but are also on a quest for love. Finding a partner is difficult in a community of fewer than 800 members, all of whom are blood relations. With genetic diseases threatening their future, Samaritans are, for the first time in their long history, marrying outside the community. Which is how Natasha, 23, from Nikolaevskaya Oblast in Ukraine found herself perched on a holy mountain in the West Bank and following the religious laws of one of the smallest ethnic communities in the world.

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In West Bank, good Samaritans seek foreign brides
30th April 2014

Samaritans, an ancient, shrinking religious sect, are replenishing their ranks by scouting brides from Ukraine and other countries. 

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Starving Syrians Boil Frogs for Food
21st April 2014



Refugees in Syria are eating mushrooms grown in plastic bags and frogs caught in the streets

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Postcard from...Mount Gerizim
23rd April 2014


Off the main road recently in the village of Kfar Luza on the West Bank there was the annual spiritual and bloody Biblical-era celebration of Passover, conducted by the Samaritans, an ancient community who trace their roots back to the original Good Samaritan.


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Fatah and Hamas Agree Unity Government
23rd April 2014

Faltering Middle East talks were plunged further into chaos on Wednesday after two rival Palestinian factions agreed to form a new unity government that could include members opposed to Israel's existence.


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Israeli hospital cares for Syrian children
13 March 201A visit to an Israeli hospital close to the Lebanese and Syrian borders where Syrian children, some badly wounded and traumatized by the war, are treated by Israeli physicians.


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Israeli doctor treating Syrians says snipers deliberately shoot children in the spine
14th March 2014

Doctor makes claim after UN report shows child casualty rates in Syria are the highest recorded in any recent                                                     conflict in the region

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Israel Set to Pass Deal on Peace Referendum
11th March 2014

If passed, the bill would have the Israeli public vote on land withdrawals in East Jerusalem and occupied Golan Heights

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High-Tech Israelis Aim for the Moon

March 2014

What would have happened if the meteor that hit Siberia in February 2013 had been hurtling towards the Middle East? Israeli scientists say they have state-of-the-art technology that could have intercepted it. While the UK is busy replicating Silicon Valley on London's Old Street roundabout, Israeli high-tech start-ups continue to propel themselves farther into the realm of science fiction.


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David Cameron may have to cancel Israel visit over strikes

7th March 2014

High-profile figures, including the Pope and Prime Minister David Cameron, may have to call off official visits to Israel due a strike led by the unlikeliest of culprits - Israel’s own diplomats.

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Israel issues figures on huge settlement expansion
4th March 2014

The Israeli Bureau of Statistics revealed a 123 percent increase on construction of the illegal settlements moments before Netanyahu met Obama at the White House

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Passenger planes could be protected from terrorists by laser defence shield

27th February 2014

Israel carries out series of tests included a wide variety of threats that the SkyShield system would have to tackle in order to protect passenger aircrafts

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Israel's Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Mass Anti Draft Protest

2nd March 2014

In perhaps the biggest demonstration ever seen in the nation’s history, a sea of ultra-Orthodox men and boys blocked the city’s main thoroughfares as 3,500 police were deployed to maintain security.

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                                    Hundreds of thousands of settlers may stay put under leaked framework for Middle East peace deal

31st January 2014

A senior US official involved in negotiations is reported to have briefed that final settlement could also provide compensation for victims on both sides of historic                                                          conflict

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'We need a 1000 SodaStreams Around Here'

31st January 2014

My dispatch from the SodaStream factor in Mishor Adumim



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Israeli religious party anger at girlfriend choice of Netanyahu’s son

28th January 2014

Leader of religious party Shas bemoans relationship of Prime Minister's son with Norwegian

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Israeli jets suspected of attacking Syrian missile store

27th January

Storerooms holding the missiles near the port city of                                                     Latakia were hit by Israeli war planes late on Sunday,                                                     according to a Syrian opposition source talking to                                                         Israel Radio. No confirmed details of the strike had                                                         emerged last night.


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Himmler Letters: 'I am travelling to Auschwitz. Kisses, Your Heini.'

26th January 2014

A collection of letters, notes and photographs from Heinrich Himmler are to be published in full on Sunday, shedding light on the private life of the man who orchestrated the Holocaust.

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Israeli Minister Calls Abbas 'No. 1 Anti-Semite'
30th January 2014

Israeli Intelligence minister claims Palestinian Authority's Mahmoud Abbas is the worst anti-Semite in the world.

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                                    Israeli defence minister says John Kerry should 'take Nobel prize and leave us be'
14th January
Israeli defence minister has reportedly attacked John Kerry, heading up the US-led peace process, for being 'obsessive messianic', saying he should 'take his Nobel prize and leave us alone'

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Russian-born Actress Ania Bukstein brings fiery passion to music   
20th January 2014

To see Ania Bukstein perform in a concert is a theatrical experience. Sometimes, the award-winning actress and singer is Marlene Dietrich, standing in front of the mic in an-all white trouser suit, hair slicked back, her voice, eyes and lips oozing sensuality directly into the microphone while singing in a tone barely louder than a whisper.

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Postcard from Tel Aviv: Asylum Seeker Protests
8th January 2014

                                                            There was no Salmon Benedict all week at a stylish eatery in Tel Aviv’s affluent Ramat Aviv district. Across the city, many of the country’s   top celebrity chefs sweated as they gingerly balanced hors-d’oeuvres on flimsy paper plates. A shortage of dishwashers, cleaners and builders had blemished the carefree vibe of Israel’s main business and party town. The reason was the biggest asylum seeker-led strike in the country’s history, as more than 10,000 Africans stepped out of the shadows to protest Israel’s asylum laws.

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Palestinian Authority threatens Israel with The Hague over settlement building
                                    27th December 2013
                       
            

                                                            The Palestinian Authority has threatened to take Israel                                                 to The Hague if Jerusalem goes ahead with an                                                                 announcement of new settlement construction next                                                     week
               

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Yasser Arafat died of natural causes, Russia says

                                                            26th December 2013

                                                           
Russia has said Yasser Arafat died of natural causes, not radiation                                                                     poisoning.

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Israel to announce settlement building despite pleas
26th December 2013

                                                            Israel is set to announce new settlement construction next                                                            week,coinciding with the release of a third batch of                                                                       Palestinian prisoners as part of peace talks

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Netanyahu calls cabinet meeting over Gaza flare up
25th December 2013

                                                            Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has convened a special                                                                 security cabinet meeting Wednesday morning, in the aftermath of a                                                                 sharp spike in violence and terror acts in recent weeks.

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Nelson Mandela 'received weapons training from Mossad'
20th December 2013

                                               
Nelson Mandela received judo, sabotage and weapons training                                                       from Mossad agents in Ethiopia, it has been claimed.

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Israelis keep gas masks against Syrian threat
15th December 2013

Israel kept its gas mask distribution programme in place last week as sources close to the government voiced suspicions the Assad regime in Damascus was still hiding chemical weapons.

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A Modern Montefiore Takes On Jerusalem

3rd December 2013

The Cambridge-educated author, a descendant of Sir Moses, speaks about the Holy City that has occupied his family for generations

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Israeli Women Battle for Jerusalem Municipality Elections
21st October 2013

  Israeli women, Orthodox and secular, are engaging in campaigns for the upcoming municipal elections in Jerusalem, against the backdrop of judicial battles of women's exclusion from the public sphere.


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Golan Heights Students Return To Syria Despite War
8th October 2013


In the sweltering August heat, Majid was sweating while studying for an upcoming exam. The difficulty was not in the complexity of the                                                                 material, but rather in the fact that the examination hall was going                                                              to be in an active war zone, in Damascus.

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Mubarak claims he personally started the Yom Kippur war
                                                             20th September 2013

                                                            Hosni Mubarak has claimed that he personally started                                                                                      the surprise attack that launched the Yom Kippur war with Israel
                                                            in 1973.

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'Bashar al-Assad will remain in power for years to come'
                                                            18th September 2013
                                                              
                                                              Bashar al-Assad will remain in power “for years to come” despite                                                                   losing overall control of the country, Israel’s top commander on the                                                               frontier with Syria has said.

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Sinai peacekeepers under siege as Egypt battles Islamists
                                                            17th September 2013

                                                            American-led peace-keeping troops in the Sinai are living in a state of                                                             siege as fighting between the Egyptian army and militant Islamists                                                                 groups threatens the viability of the mission.

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Homeland pulls out of filming in Israel, due to Syria war fears
                                                             17th September 2013

                                                            Homeland, the award-winning TV series starring Clare Danes and                                                                     Damian Lewis, has pulled out of filming in Israel over concerns about                                                             the uncertain situation in Syria.

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Netanyahu urged to end "wretched" Oslo Accords
16th September 2013

                                                            Netanyahu urged to end "wretched" Oslo Accords, as Israelis and                                                                      Palestinians announce that they will resume agricultural                                                                                  cooperation after a 13-year hiatus


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Family of Prisoner X to be compensated £700,000
11th September 2013

                                                            Israel is to pay £709,000 in compensation to the family of Prisoner X, a                                                             former Mossad agent who commited suicide in jail.

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Israel's 'Checkpoint Princesses'
6th September 2013

The members of Israeli women's group Machsom Watch (Checkpoint Watch) are ladies with a reputation. Every morning by the crack of dawn, these mostly retired grandmothers travel to the epicenter of the daily conflict and mediate between Palestinians traveling                                                                          through checkpoints and the Israeli soldiers who operate them.

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Israel Prepares for War
30th August 2013

All about Tel Aviv's first public nuclear and chemical weapons-proof bunker, the highly explosive Haifa ammonia plant, and a town nicknamed 'Katyusha'...



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‘I lost consciousness in the blast. When I woke up, I was in a hospital in Israel’
9th August 2013

I met three Syrian girls, aged from 3 to 13, injured by the war in Syria, who were being treated in an intensive care children's unit in Israel's Western Galilee Hospital


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Israelis on Sinai Border Face Islamist Threat
23rd July 2013

A once quiet border is now threatened by instability and violence from the rise of Salafist groups.

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Crossing back to Israel from war-torn Syria, university students face tough choices
16th July 2013


The choice of studying in cosmopolitan Damascus used to be very popular among the Druze and Alawites of the Golan Heights. Today, students making the passage have difficult stories to tell.

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The Holy Rail
June 2013

During its construction, every kilometre of Jerusalem’s tram track, from its archaeological foundations to its geo-political ramifications, was scrutinized, criticised and even boycotted.Today, the light rail glides seamlessly across the divisions of the holy city.


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The War in Syria: Let's call a spade a spade
8th May 2013


While the UK, France and the US are still deliberating over what to do, and volunteers from all over Europe are joining the ranks of the al Qaeda-affiliated rebel groups, Israel has decided to take action twice in less than 48 hours.

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Teaching Women to Scream
30th April 2013


 An unprecedented women-led initiative to combat domestic violence is promoted among the communities of African asylum seekers in the slums of Tel Aviv

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Obama places Iran in the Crosshairs
5th April 2013

President Barack Obama’s recent visit to
Israel has strategically                             re-aligned Israel and the United States, readying them for potential                         action to stop the Iranian nuclear program.

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Israeli Soldiers Enter Syrian Golan Heights
28th March 2013

On March 8, while 21 UN observers were being held captive by Syrian rebels, another group of observers was running for their lives.

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Potent tear gas used in Syrian chemical attack
24th March 2013

THE substance used in an alleged chemical attack in Syria last week was a “super-strength tear gas” of the type employed for riot control                                                             rather than a nerve agent, according to preliminary inquiries by                                                                      British scientists.

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Israel hopes for healing effect from Obama visit
17th March 2013

I interview Zalman Shoval, twice Israeli ambassador to Washington and advisor to Netanyahu on the eve of President Obama's visit to                                                                   Israel this week.

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Israel Worries Syria War Will Spread
1st February 2013

In Majdal Shams, the Druze village in the Israeli-annexed Golan, and throughout Israel, people are voicing concerns about the spread of the Syrian conflict and the threat of chemical weapons.

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Bibi eyes third term as Israeli nationalism snowballs
                                                           
                                                                20th January 2013
                                                   
I report from Ashdod, Southern Israel, where PM Netanyahu and ex-Foreign Minister Lieberman tap into a core voter base: the Russian speaking electorate. 

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 Israel's Hezbollah hunter grabs at power : An interview with Naftali Bennett
                                                           
 13th January 2013
                                                           
I interview Naftali Bennett, a hardliner politician riding high in the polls for next week's Israeli elections who says he would have launched a ground attack on Gaza.

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Through a (communist) looking glass, then and now:
An interview with Anne Applebaum

                                                                4th January 2013

My interview with Pulitzer-winning journalist and historian Anne Appelbaum, who explores life in post-war, communist Eastern Europe –and what we can learn from it today.

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Radio News Reports on Israeli political developments: ongoing

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Savings and development in Uganda
26th November 2012
I report from Soroti, eastern Uganda where the local Village Savings and Loans Association is turning the residents into savers and entrepreneurs who no longer have to rely on the support of outside organisations.

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Out of poverty and into politics
26th November 2012

A single mother tells about her women's rights work in Uganda.

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Drinking money away: savings and alcoholism
26th November 2012
Alcoholism is having a great effect on productivity and family development in Uganda, but VSLAs are providing an opportunity for change

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Tailoring financial services to meet the needs of Uganda's poorest people
26th November 2012

The Grameen Foundation is working with commercial partners to encourage poor people in Uganda to move their money into the formal financial system

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Gaza could help Hamas overcome the Fatah movement
                                                   22nd November 2012
This time, Israel is not interested in destroying Hamas. Rather, it is struggling to fight an even bigger perceived strategic battle – at the United Nations.

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Eleven members of family die in Gaza air strike
18th November 2012
Eleven members of family die in Gaza air strike as two-storey home is flattened in deadliest incident of five-day-old conflict

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Israeli Town After Rocket Attack
15th November 2012
'They had nowhere to run': My dispatch from inside the devastated apartment where three people were killed by Hamas rocket as they ate breakfast

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On Bibi's Spat with Obama
27th September 2012

Netanyahu’s interference in the US elections may well turn out to swing US Democrats away from their erstwhile ally.

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Bear Trap: Russia’s self-defeating Middle East policy (Report)
25th July 2012

I present the argument that Syria forms the latest episode in the Kremlin's self-defeating policy pattern on other regional flash-points - notably Libya and Iran, which are set to backfire against its own key assets in the region.

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Russia's Support for Assad Will Backfire
12th July 2012

Whether the Syrian dictator stays or goes, the Kremlin is risking an economic and diplomatic catastrophe.

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Girl brides in Yemen:
The fight for the right to say no
(Shortlisted for the Guardian's International Development Journalism Competition)         30th May 2012
           
Unlike other developing countries who have raised the minimum age for marriage, in 1999 Yemen has scrapped it altogether.  I interview the Yemeni Human Rights Minister, Hooria Mashhour, and talk to a former child bride and other activists about new initiatives to tackle this issue.                                                                                                                                                                          

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EU Needs Creativity with Iran
13th April 2012

The nuclear negotiations with Tehran are too important for Europe to settle for unimaginative repetition of old strategies. The existing tools can be deployed in more effective way to combine incentives and penalties to keep Iran at the negotiating table and serve the EU’s interests.

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You Can Run But You Can't Hide
20th February 2012

On Jan. 28, Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh arrived in the United States to seek medical treatment for wounds received during his country's continuing civil strife. Not so fast, say some human rights activists. They're planning to bring Saleh to justice in a foreign court, where Yemen's laws don't apply.

 

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Talking with the Brotherhood
27th January 2012

The same week that the first democratically elected parliament in Egypt in sixty years held its opening session in Cairo, I spoke to Dr Mohammed Ghanem, the Muslim Brotherhood's Spokesman in London.

 

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Putin and the Arab Spring: will Russia's foreign policy end up on the wrong side?
22nd December 2011

The Arab Spring has forced countries to take sides – always a risky business, but in Syria and Libya particularly so, because the possible financial losses if Russia ends up on the wrong side are considerable. Recent Russian decisions have seemed at the very least surprising, but this cannot simply be the result of the rotating Putin/Medvedev carousel.

 

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Syrian Prisoner Talks of Assad's Torture Regime
10th October 2011

I report the story of a Syrian activist who was imprisoned and tortured by the secret police in Syria in 2011.

..."Denial and removal of evidence is a key strategy of the Syrian secret police. After the hanging and standing torture, a doctor employed by the secret police was called in. He made sure all signs of torture disappeared – the regime is scared of the media finding out about their “interrogation” practices."

 

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Moroccans Want Evolution, Not Revolution
10th June 2011

 French speaking Casablanca-based journalist and media consultant Rachid Jankari tells me that in Casablanca, "people do not have a problem with the king, but rather the pace of change within the establishment".

 

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 Hands Up, Who Wants to be a Child Soldier?
10th March 2011

Extreme poverty, malnutrition and a lack of access to education and skills are driving significant numbers of children in the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, to voluntarily join armed groups. I interview activists who say that not enough done to address reasons for children joining armed groups of their own free will. 

 

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Prosecuting Conflict Mineral Traders:  Ways Forward
24th December 2010

I write on new proposals to pursue those who benefit from the illegal exploitation of minerals by using a long neglected, post-Nazi era law. Under new measures put forward by lawyers and human rights activists, companies who profit from the trade in so-called conflict minerals in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, could face war crimes prosecution.


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