• Rallying Cry of Jerusalem May Have Lost Force in Arab World - The New York Times
    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/06/world/middleeast/arabs-jerusalem-trump.html

    Avec Moustapha Hamoui comme juge du “monde arabe”....

    “ ‘Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine’ joins ‘Palestinian refugees are going back home one day’ in the let’s-hope-it-will-happen-but-it-never-will department,” Mustapha Hamoui, a Lebanese blogger, wrote in a rueful tweet.

    For The New York Times, Gauging “The Arab World’s” Reaction to Jerusalem Move Means a Focus on the 1% | The Mideastwire Blog
    https://mideastwire.wordpress.com/2017/12/07/for-the-new-york-times-gauging-the-arab-worlds-reaction-to-je

    This is a deeply problematic article by Anne, Mr. Hubbard and Mr. Walsh. One would have expected that Anne, especially, would have recognized the pitfalls of the approach she co-authors here. A few points, but one initially to keep front and center: we have been and are in the midst of a major series of transitions when it comes to the issue of Palestine. One key trend is towards an ultimate, military engagement or series of engagements as the military-technology matrix is changing and since the peace track has long been shown to be inoperative. Any article that draws much from very initial reactions are missing the larger, structural changes that are underway and that are leading to much more violence. That said:

    1) Leading with a Lebanese blogger who has very little engagement with or impact on the issue at hand is simply confounding. Mustapha is a good blogger on Lebanese politics but he has zero impact and relation to the headline that suggests the “Arab World” has lost its voice and impact on Jerusalem.

    [...]