Dovid Efune, 12.31.2010

Director, The Algemeiner Journal

The Finkler Question portrays the sad fact that most Jews today simply don't know what being Jewish means. Perhaps the Finkler answer comes with a shift in focus.

Elcin Poyrazlar, 12.30.2010

Washington Correspondent, Cumhuriyet

In 2010 there were so many bumps on the road that two countries' ride became distinctly unpleasant. It looks like 2011 will be tough as well, if relations do not dive into an abyss.

Ben S. Cohen, 12.30.2010

Associate Director of Communications, AJC

Marx's observation, proffered in The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon, about history repeating itself first as tragedy, then as farce, has been r...

Stephen Zunes, 12.31.2010

Professor of Politics and Chair of Mid-Eastern Studies at the University of San Francisco

When Congress begins denying well-documented cases of government-backed repression of human rights activists in Israel, one wonders how long it will be until the same happens here in the US as well.

Bradley Burston, 12.30.2010

Senior Editor, Haaretz.com

Keen to avoid elections at literally all costs, Benjamin Netanyahu's actions in recent weeks mean that his government now meets the five essential criteria of a settlement.

David Harris, 12.28.2010

Executive Director, AJC, and Senior Associate, St. Antony's College, Oxford University

I'd never say Israel is perfect. It has its flaws and foibles. It's made its share of mistakes. But, then again, so has every democratic, liberal and peace-seeking country I know.

Frankie Martin, 12.26.2010

Ibn Khaldun Chair Research Fellow, American University

Wherever one looks, the gap between Jews and Muslims appears to be growing. For the past two years, I have been in a unique position in which to observe relations between the two communities.

James Zogby, 12.26.2010

President of the Arab American Institute, Author of "Arab Voices" (Palgrave Macmillan 10/10)

The constriction of growth and the lack of economic opportunity have forced Bethlehemites to flee in search of jobs and freedom, with tens of thousands of them and their descendants now living in the U.S. and the Americas.

MJ Rosenberg, 12.27.2010

Senior Foreign Policy Fellow, Media Matters Action Network

Anti-Semitism was once a serious problem in this country that contributed to dire consequences. But that was then. The assertion that anti-Semitism is a bigger problem in America than Islamo-hatred trivializes the serious situation Muslims face.

Taylor Marsh, 12.22.2010

Political analyst and veteran national politics writer

Whatever President Obama once hoped to do in the Middle East is gone. Democrats respect him, but in the hard boiled land of Middle East politics he's proven himself very weak.

Alon Ben-Meir, 12.22.2010

Senior Fellow at NYU's Center for Global Affairs

It is hard to describe the state of affairs of the Arab-Israeli conflict at this particular juncture without using adjectives such as "sad," "unfortunate" or even "tragic," which I think is the most appropriate description.

Ami Kaufman, 12.21.2010

Levantine-Anglo Journalist & Blogger

I can't get away from it. Every place I go, everything I read, everything I watch -- it's always there. The racism is always there. Towards Arabs, towards foreign workers, towards Morroccans, Russians, Ashkenazim, Mizrahim.

Qanta Ahmed, MD, 12.22.2010

Author, Land of Invisible Women

Many British Muslims fervently erase their ethnicity with ritualistic religiosity, deliberately choosing distinction from that of their parents'. They do so in a desperate search of politicized Muslim identity, with little understanding of either Islam, or politics.

Scott Baker, 12.21.2010

President, Common Ground

Share the buildings, share the land, save the world.

Stephen Zunes, 12.20.2010

Professor of Politics and Chair of Mid-Eastern Studies at the University of San Francisco

Congress has correctly condemned violence by extremist Palestinian groups like Hamas, yet when the PA tries to advance their freedom through nonviolent means, the Democrats are just as quick to condemn them as well.

Ben S. Cohen, 12.18.2010

Associate Director of Communications, AJC

Rather than engage in negotiations which will reinforce the need for compromise, the Palestinian Authority has embarked on a strategy that, places its "passions" over its "interests." They key here is how the PA plays the image of powerlessness to its advantage.

Daniel Sokatch, 12.17.2010

CEO, New Israel Fund (NIF)

When dozens of Israeli ultra-Orthodox rabbis signed a formal edict prohibiting Jews from renting or selling real estate to non-Jews, the ensuing uproar was reassuring to those of us working for a democratic, pluralist Israel.

Alan Dershowitz, 12.20.2010

Criminal and civil liberties lawyer

A statement recently made by a Hamas leader confirms that Israel was correct in claiming that approximately 700 combatants were killed in the Gaza operation of late 2008 and early 2009.

Carlo Strenger, 12.17.2010

Chair of the Clinical Graduate Program of the Department of Psychology, Tel Aviv University

Israel needs the two-state solution not to please the gentiles, but because of Jewish values, and the lessons of Jewish history.

Bradley Burston, 12.16.2010

Senior Editor, Haaretz.com

A year ago at this time, I wrote a piece which I ultimately decided was too venom-laced, too cruel, and too socially un-redeeming even for this often ...

Carlo Strenger, 12.16.2010

Chair of the Clinical Graduate Program of the Department of Psychology, Tel Aviv University

Palestinians have made a terrible mistake in rejecting the 1947 UN partition plan. Will they use their historical opportunity for peace, or repeat their mistake?