World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

The body of the late Palestinian leader, Yasir Arafat, was exhumed and recently examined by Swiss, Russian, and French medical experts.  Arafat, who died in 2004, was the founder of the Palestine Liberation Organization (now the Palestinian Authority), and, for much of his life, advocated armed struggle to eliminate the state of Israel and return the land to the control of the Palestinian people.  in 1993, Arafat accepted the existence of the state of Israel in what are called the Oslo Accords, but the Israelis never forgave him for his use of armed terrorism against Israeli citizens.  His death was always suspicious, and the results of the Swiss autopsy suggests that he was poisoned by Polonium-210.  The radioactive element has been used in the past to poison individuals, most recently to kill Alexander Litvinenko, a Russian dissident, in 2006.  Needless to say, the Palestinians suspect the Israelis of the poisoning, but one should wait for the Russians and the French to release their own, independent, reports.

A report by the European Union’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) showed that anti-Semitism in Europe has risen dramatically over the last five years.   The report was based on a poll of European Jews, 76 percent of whom believed that anti-Semitic views has increased and that a third of Jews have considered leaving their countries because of the rise in negative feelings.   The increase was largely based in the rise of internet communication and other social media.   The findings are particularly troubling in light of the rise of the far-right political parties in Europe.

The buzz in Geneva is getting louder.  Not only has US Secretary of State arrived for the negotiations with Iran, but he has been joined by other high officials from Britain, France, and Germany, and the Russian Foreign Minister is now scheduled to join the talks.   These are all indications that the negotiations have reached a point where the differences between the two sides have narrowed considerably, but the ones that remain can only be decided at the highest levels of decision-making.  It is therefore very difficult to predict success, but one can probably say that success is viewed as a clear possibility.  The Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu, however, has dismissed the reports and believes that the Iranian position remains unacceptable.