More in ‘Lebanon’

A Palestinian academic in Lebanon named Sari Hanafi—he teaches at the American University in Beirut—has come under fire for collaborating with two Israeli scholars on a book, in violation of a formal academic boycott of Israel’s academy and cultural institutions.
Here’s what’s odd. The two Israeli scholars are anti-Zionist. The book in question is called The ...

• The Palestine Liberation Organization formally dropped its requirement that Israel freeze all settlements before peace talks commence, in order to allow a new round of U.S.-mediated indirect negotiations. [AP/NYT]
• Vice President Joe Biden arrives in Israel today, ostensibly to kick-start those talks, but perhaps most of all to signal to Israeli leaders that America ...

• Saying he’s “almost certain” the Mossad was behind the assassination of Hamas weapons man Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, the Dubai police chief is seeking arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and Mossad chief Meir Dagan. More on this story later in the day. [Reuters/Laura Rozen]
• The top U.N. official for humanitarian relief condemned the Gaza blockade, ...

• Prime Minister Netanyahu met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow to push for further Iran sanctions. [WP]
• Netanyahu also asked Medvedev to tell Hamas that his previous offer for kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit—a deal Hamas did not accept, leaving talks at an impasse—would not be improved upon. [Haaretz]
• Lebanese soldiers fired anti-aircraft guns ...

• Russia was unusually prominent among those who condemned Iran’s latest nuclear provocations. However, China, the final U.N. Security Council veto, remains reluctant to criticize Iran or seem to support sanctions. [LAT]
• Meanwhile, U.S. officials revealed plans to devise a new, harsher sanctions regime specifically designed to put Iran’s Revolutionary Guards at odds with its ...

• New (ostensibly peaceful) rocket test-fires and official revelations demonstrated that Iran has developed sophisticated satellite technology. [WSJ]
• At least two barrels containing explosives washed ashore on Israel’s Mediterranean coast, prompting Israel to close beaches up there and launch airstrikes in Gaza. [WSJ]
• Hamas suspended the indirect negotiations over kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit in protest ...

• Israel has a military presence just inside the Lebanon border, protecting over 2,000 citizens who reside on the Lebanese side of the town of Ghajar. The United States and United Nations have asked it to leave; Hezbollah, a U.S. diplomat says, would prefer it to stay—it’s a P.R. coup. [WSJ]
• President Barack Obama defended ...

Today in Tablet Magazine, we bring word of Israel’s real disproportionate response: not in Lebanon or in Gaza, but in Haiti. Yes, it’s time for another Emails of Zion! The Scroll, meanwhile, strives for a more neutral tone.

“Where’s the synagogue?” I ask a young solider in a beret. A member of the large security detail guarding the Lebanese prime minister’s residence, he is leaning against a jeep and cradling an automatic weapon in one hand. He pulls on a cigarette and regards me warily. I am a foreigner asking directions to a ...

Today in Tablet Magazine, Beirut-based Hanin Ghaddar struggles with her Lebanese grandmother, whom she loves, but who herself loves Hezbollah and is, er, less bullish on Israelis and Jews. Columnist Seth Lipsky takes a break from the Jew beat to profile Raymond Joseph, Haiti’s ambassador to the United States—and a former Wall Street Journal business ...