Sangwon Yoon south korean journalist reporting on asia and the middle eastskype:sangwon.yoon1
sangwon.yoon1@gmail.com
Reuters AxisMundi
Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox Jews take on Intel | Analysis & Opinion |
Last week, the Shabbat Strife took a surprising turn with some ultra-Orthodox taking aim at the world’s biggest electronic chip maker for keeping their new Jerusalem plant open on the Jewish day of rest.
Recycling garbage into art, Gaza style | Analysis & Opinion |
With funding from USAID, the Organisation for Supporters of Palestinian Environment launched a project that trains and assists 24 women in creating craft items for sale out of household garbage.
‘Retarded and obsequious’ | Analysis & Opinion |
The Reuters news desk, along with many foreign journalists in Israel, received a peculiarly worded beeper message in English from the Israel Defence Forces Spokesman’s Office on Israel’s seizure of a ship carrying hundreds of tons of Iranian-supplied arms on Wednesday.
Coffee Politics | Analysis & Opinion |
An Israeli coffee chain is boycotting ‘Turkish’ coffee in response to the current anti-Turkish sentiment in Israel following the screening in Turkey of a TV drama which portrays Israeli soldiers in a negative light.
It’s always sunny on West Bank’s Sesame Street | Analysis & Opinion |
It’s always a sunny day on Sesame Street in the West Bank, where the neighbors are friendly and the muppets never see an Israeli army checkpoint all day long.
“Little Palestine” | Analysis & Opinion |
Most Palestinians believe a unity deal is crucial to achieving Palestinian statehood but don’t think an agreement is likely. However, the rare case of successful Fatah-Hamas partnership in the West Bank village of Beita might convince them otherwise.
Tony Blair assailed at a Palestinian mosque | Analysis & Opinion |
Tony Blair, the Middle East envoy for the “Quartet” of powers – the European Union, the United States, Russia and the United Nations, was assailed by a Palestinian man during a visit to a mosque in the West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday.
On the rocks | Analysis & Opinion |
A new primetime drama series called “Ayrılık” (meaning ’separation’ or ‘farewell’ in Turkish) recently made its début in Turkey on the state-run TRT 1 television channel. Israel’s Channel Two aired a scene from the fictional show, showing a Palestinian father holding a baby above his head and an Israeli soldier in full combat gear taking aim and shooting the infant. Since the broadcast, Israel-Turkey relations have been put under more strain.
“An intifada of the wealthy” | Analysis & Opinion |
Living conditions seem to be improving in the West Bank. Many Palestinians, like Nimmer Nazal, acknowledge the economic improvements but are still wary of how long this trend might last.
Effort vs. Action | Analysis & Opinion |
U.S. President Barack Obama’s surprise Nobel Peace Prize win last Friday has generated mixed and wary reactions from the Israeli and Arab public.
Gazan zebra, the wild donkey | Analysis & Opinion |
Palestinian children in Gaza received a very special treat today. They had the opportunity to see a zebra in flesh. Well, a “zebra”. A small Gaza zoo dyed two female donkeys white and striped the two using women’s hair-dye and a paint brush. It charged $15 for a full busload of children to meet the zebras [...]
Palestinian Non-Alcoholic Beer | Analysis & Opinion |
The fifth annual Palestinian Oktoberfest was held on October 3rd and 4th, at the mainly Christian town of Taybeh, West Bank. Located several kilometers north of Ramallah, Taybeh, is home to the first and only Palestinian beer – Taybeh Beer. Established in 1995, Taybeh Beer can also be found abroad, being sold and distributed in Germany, the United Kingdom and even Japan.
Predicting a Third Intifada | Analysis & Opinion |
At the rate things have been going, expecting another act of violence to follow might be the next logical step.
Peace Without Hamas? | Analysis & Opinion |
According to International Peace Institute’s (IPI) new poll conducted in both Hamas-ruled Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank administered by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah movement, Palestinians still offer substantial support for the Islamist Hamas group for being “the party of resistance”.
Evaluating Obama | Analysis & Opinion |
Reviews of his performance are in from the Middle East and they are not in the main favorable.
The Iran question, again | Analysis & Opinion |
It seems last week’s focus, settlement expansion, has given way to this week’s prime focus: Might Israel attack Iran?
Hopeless or Hopeful? | Analysis & Opinion |
The trilateral summit tomorrow at the United Nations in New York will be the first time the Israeli prime minister and the Palestinian president will be meeting since the suspension of peace talks last December, but nobody’s waiting with bated breath.
Operation Goldstone? | Analysis & Opinion |
Israeli media reacted strongly to the report issued by the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, which criticised both the Israeli military and Palestinian militants for actions that could be considered war crimes during the December-January Gaza War. A “declaration of war” and “classic anti-Semitism” against Israel were some of the descriptions used by the Israeli media . (Read [...]