We’ve been hiking a narrow canyon for nearly half an hour, hemmed in by huge sunset-colored cliffs, and the suspense is killing me. Where’s Petra?  “It’s becoming clear why it was lost for so long,” quips one of my fellow travelers to the ancient Middle Eastern city. Read full article > >

See the article here:
Petra, Jordan’s famous city of stone, faces a preservation struggle

The undercover agent who infiltrated al-Qaeda and foiled an “underwear bomb” plot was a British man of Middle Eastern origin, US reports say.

Link:
Underwear bomb spy ‘was British’

Turkey’s besting Iran in the contest for the hearts and minds of advocates of change in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa is proving to be both a blessing and a curse. With tension mounting over Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the perceived window of opportunity for a military strike closing, Turkey faces increased challenges and the threat of a proxy war with Syria and the Islamic republic. This is compounded by the fact that the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia need Turkey in their effort to further corner the regime in Syria and to isolate Iran, but want to prevent a shift in regional power away from the kingdom and the Israeli state to Ankara — increasingly held up as the model of an economically successful, Islamist-led democracy.

Excerpt from:
Turkey and Tehran: Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place (JMD in Turkish Review)

Dr. Dawn Chatty, is a social anthropologist, whose ethnographic interests lie in the Middle East. Currently teaching at the University of Oxford, and as the Director of the Refugee Studies Center in the Oxford Department of International Development, Dr. Chatty shares her experiences from on the ground. She helps us understand the daily struggle some of the refugees often face.

Original post:
Meet Dr. Dawn Chatty, An Expert on Refugee and Displaced Persons

There is almost universal scepticism in the press in the Middle East as well as further afield about the fragile UN-Arab League-brokered ceasefire in Syria.

Go here to see the original:
Press has dim hopes for Syria ceasefire

ISTANBUL — The six world powers gathering here for nuclear talks beginning Friday are finding themselves divided over how best to curb Iran’s ambitions while defusing the possibility of a new military confrontation in the volatile Middle East. Read full article > >

See the original post here:
Iran nuclear program talks reveal internal divisions between diplomats

Click to watch video In a Dubai café, patrons sip camel-milk lattes, camel-ccinos and shakes made with camel milk. The newly opened Cafe2Go is one of the first to put camel milk on its menu and it seems to be passing the taste test with intrigued customers. “I'm surprised because I was thinking it was tasting really different from the normal milk, but … it's really nice,” said customer Nadia Rizk. “I thought it would be weird when I tried it, but it's just like everything else,” said another, Sal Hobbi. It is the latest sign of a boom in camel-milk products in the United Arab Emirates. Read the full-story on Inside the Middle East: “Forget cappuccino, Dubai drinkers get a taste for camel-ccino” Editor's note: Each month, Inside the Middle East takes you behind the headlines to see a different side of this diverse region. Follow us on on Twitter: Presenter Rima Maktabi: @rimamaktabi , producer Jon Jensen: @jonjensen , digital producer Mairi Mackay @mairicnn and writer Cat Davies @catrionadavies

Here is the original post:
In Dubai, camel milk is the creme de la creme

The Archbishop of Canterbury will call for peace in the Middle East and warn against “downgrading” religious education in secondary schools in his final Easter sermon.

See the rest here:
VIDEO: Archbishop’s final Easter message

Aisha Stoby, 23, is young, but her knowledge about the art scene in the Middle East is vast. As an Omani art historian, raised in New York City, Aisha’s perspective is fresh and innovative. She’s currently working on developing her love for art into online ventures covering the amazing art scene across the region. We got a chance to speak to her.

See more here:
Meet Aisha Stoby, an Expert on Middle Eastern Art

The concept of “the future” has often been the subject of art, literature, and cinema with the question, “what will tomorrow look like?” pressing on the minds of many over the centuries. Between the turmoil currently afflicting the greater Middle East from the aftermath of the Arab Spring in Egypt and Libya, the plague of unrest that still pummels opposition in Syria, and the heightened tensions between Iran and Israel, the threat of continuing conflict into the future between disparate groups seems inevitable.

Follow this link:
The Future, Now on View: A Review of Ala Ebtekar’s Elsewhen

The murder of four at a Jewish school in Toulouse, France, the worst act of anti-Semitic violence since 1982, was a tragedy. And yet, there was also an aspect of this killing which, up to now, has been largely overlooked. As the New York Times reported , French President Nicolas Sarkozy “has sent gendarmes and riot police officers to guard all Jewish and Muslim schools and places of worship until the killer is stopped.” Other media, pointing to the same gun being used in other murders over the past week or so, have speculated that the killer may be a serial killer – one whose victims also include French Muslim soldiers headed to Afghanistan. So here is the puzzle. French Jews and Muslims have made common cause against this extremist, even as Middle Eastern Jews and Muslims are at each others’ throats. So whether Jews and Muslims are allies or enemies seemingly depends on the quirks of geography. The same Muslim with whom I, a Jew, am allied in France becomes my fearsome enemy in the Middle East. This makes sense?

See the original post here:
Ending the Muslim-Jewish Blame Game

Iran’s nuclear ambitions could plunge the Middle East into “a new Cold War”, warns UK Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Link:
Hague fears over Iran ‘Cold War’

Anthony Shadid, a prize-winning journalist, was reporting inside Syria when he suffered a fatal asthma attack.

Original post:
Anthony Shadid, a New York Times Reporter, Dies in Syria

BEIRUT — Fears of an as-yet-undefined Middle Eastern war are darkening the horizons of a Middle East that only a year ago was celebrating the fall of dictators, the ascent of people power and the promise of a new era of democracy. Read full article > >

Read the original:
Threats of war cloud hopes for Middle East

Last month, Wadah Khanfar, erstwhile Director General of Al Jazeera and now President of the Sharq Forum, an independent think tank dedicated to developing long-term strategies for Mideast development and social justice, visited London. Appearing at the Frontline Club , Middle East monitor , London School of Economics and the Chaltham House , Khanfar discussed the Arab Spring, Al Jazeera, and political Islam.

Excerpt from:
Wadah Khanfar Discusses The Arab Spring, Al Jazeera, and Political Islam