Although Israelis and Palestinians have been meeting and communicating at a grassroots level to better understand one another and work toward a more peaceful future, the initiatives that bring them together do not receive the recognition that they deserve. Until a comprehensive solution to the Israe

I had to rub my eyes a few times to be sure that what I was seeing was real. The setting: downtown Ramallah. The event: International Youth Day. The participants were wearing white T-shirts with logos on the front and back, and red hats.
Palestinians from all over the West Bank were participating i

Sitting in my Tokyo apartment two years ago and planning a worldwide trip, I only considered travelling through Lebanon, Syria and Jordan as a means to get from Turkey to Egypt. The thought of travelling through the Middle East both terrified and intrigued me.
The majority of the news I heard from

Senior journalists have pledged to set up an information hub, with all data and other information relating to children's issues. These journalists, associated with 'Media for Children' - a joint initiative of Media Nest and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) - have asked the UNICEF to use its c

I went to Khushpur for the 5th death anniversary of my beloved daddy James Paul but suddenly I heard the ringing of Church bells. The sound of these bells was not charming because when these bells ring with a little pause it means there is funeral of some one in the church.
I walked to the church b

The future of Afghanistan–and with it, global security–is being decided as the results from the 20 August Afghan elections are trickling in, with current president Hamid Karzai taking only a marginal lead over his main contender, Abdullah Abdullah. However, news reports of election fraud, including

After decades of conflict and repressive policies, Turkey appears to be taking crucial steps toward introducing a peace initiative to resolve longstanding unrest among its Kurdish population. But for any plan to succeed, it cannot be simply another state-run, unilateral initiative that fails to take

The Darul Uloom Nadvatul Ulema, Lucknow’s fatwa against iftar parties hosted by political organisations has come as a dampener against the annual wooing of the minority community by the political parties.
The fatwa was issued on August 18, 2009 on a query made by (retired) Colonel MJ Shamsi. In th

Iran is amongst those unfortunate countries of the Middle East where authoritarian regimes frequently use unyielding measures to gag the press in order to prevent free flow of information. Media watchdog Reporters without Borders Press Freedom Index puts Iran at number 152 out of 173 countries. The

On 27 July 2009, about three months after the Obama administration unveiled its new comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan and three weeks before the Afghan presidential election scheduled for 20 August, the Taliban published a book outlining a code of conduct for its members. The book—containing 13

Riots erupted in a village near Gojra in Pakistan’s Punjab province on 31 July when it was alleged that three Christians desecrated pages of the Holy Qur'an at a wedding, claims that the Pakistani police later reported as unfounded. As a result, dozens of houses in an enclave called Christian Town w

Turkey has been plagued with multiple unwieldy coalition governments whose divisiveness has sparked regular military intervention. To understand the dynamics at the heart of Turkey’s current political landscape, and how the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has established itself at the political

A new report released on 29 July 2009 sponsored by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has blamed environmental, political, economic and social problems, together with the Middle East’s vulnerability to external occupation or military intervention, for hindering development in the Arab wor

Article 25 (1) of the Constitution of Pakistan describes” All citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law.”
Constitution of any state is a sacred book and it is for the entire nation. It is without any bias, prejudice or discrimination against any individual, caste,

"Media must take up cudgels for victimized children. Sans allegiance to any powerful lobby and simply because they are not a vote bank, these children seem to be on nobody’s priority list. Media must speak for them," urged leading human rights advocate Tulika Srivastava.
She asked the media to st