Reform under siege
Yasser Arafat is pledging reforms of the Palestinian Authority. But following Israel's military offensive such pledges are meaningless, writes Graham Usher from Jerusalem

In the heart of Cairo
Demonstrators took to the streets yesterday to mark the 54th anniversary of Al-Nakbah, reports Amira Howeidy

The Egyptian solidarity movement this week commemorated the 1948 dispossession of the Palestinians. On Tuesday, some 200 women activists held a protest demonstration before the Giza apartment-building housing the Israeli Embassy on its 16 floor. Yesterday, thousands of people attended a protest demonstration in Tahrir Square, in the heart of central Cairo

Opinion

INTIFADA IN FOCUS

NAKBA 1948-2002

Demons of the Nakbah
Israel has long denied its responsibility for the events of 1948, the Nakbah, that forced the Palestinian population from Palestine at the point of Israeli guns. However, today when recognition of the wrongs done to the Palestinians in 1948 is finally dawning, many Israeli politicians are openly advocating a new "Transfer Option", writes Ilan Pappe

Catastrophe without end
From the 1948 Nakbah to events in the occupied territories today, Israel's aims and supporting myths have been remarkably similar, writes Salman Abu Sitta -- to carry out the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by transferring the Arab population

Egypt

Holding out for peace
After yet another summit in which the Arabs spelled out their peaceful intentions it is now time for Israel to show its true colours. Nevine Khalil and Soha Abdelaty review the outcome of the Sharm El-Sheikh meeting

Continuing solidarity
With the arrest of several Palestine solidarity activists in Cairo and Alexandria this week, friction between the movement and the government seemed to heat up. Amira Howeidy reports

Cross-border fallout
As regional tensions remain at an all-time high, Israeli tourism to Egypt is plunging to new lows. Rehab Saad investigates

Standard of proof
As the retrial of prominent human rights activist Saadeddin Ibrahim continued, his lawyers argued that the foggy prosecution case proved their client was innocent. Jailan Halawi reports

Region

Arafat: free but increasingly isolated
Likud's decision to reject Palestinian statehood coincided with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's attempts to reassert his failing authority. Khaled Amayreh reports from occupied Jerusalem

From siege to exile
Yasser Arafat's "deals" to end the Israeli siege of the Church of the Nativity, as well as his own captivity, has brought his approval rating among Palestinians plunging. Michael Jansen reports from Bethlehem

'To break the mirror'
Israeli historian Ilan Pappe faces expulsion from Haifa University for supporting Palestinian rights, Hala Sakr reports

'A sense of achievement'
A year after taking office as Arab League secretary-general, Amr Moussa says that his sense of achievement is incomplete Dina Ezzat revisits 12 months of work

Focus

The battle for a moral world
By mobilising the moral force of world opinion behind the tools of international law, the Palestinians might finally win their rights, argues Fouad Abdel-Moneim Riad. Aziza Sami listens to the prominent Egyptian lawyer and former judge on a war crimes tribunal

Against all the odds
Genocide, ethnic cleansing and unparalleled strife -- just some of the 20th century's worst crimes that the International Criminal Court will seek to adjudicate? Soha Abdelaty examines the challenges facing the newborn institution

International

Great white hope
The Netherlands lost the rising star of its far-right wing when an animal rights activist assassinated populist politician Pim Fortuyn, reports Judit Neurink from Amsterdam

Trouble in FATA ; Chaos in Karachi
Iffat Malik from Islamabad examines the disturbing impact of US infiltration into the tribal areas of Pakistan in search of remaining Al-Qa'eda and Taliban fighters, and looks into the implications of Karachi's bomb blast

Children first
Last week, the world's most powerful gathered to attend a landmark UN special session on children. The resulting declaration purports to improve the well-being of the world's smallest, most vulnerable citizens, reports Dahlia Hammouda from New York

Economy

Exports: The five-piece puzzle
In the first of a two-part article, Talaat Abdel-Malek argues that the unsatisfactory performance of the Egyptian export sector is the result of a complexity of political, social, cultural, as well as economic, factors

Liberalisation vs protectionism
MPs are unanimous that Egypt needs to export more; they just can't agree how. Gamal Essam El-Din reports

Features

Living

Filtering the propaganda
The US is intensifying its propaganda war by launching a new radio station targeting Arab youth. Ayman El-Amir asks if young Arab minds are America's for the taking

Sports

Still in the water
Egypt's greatest swimmer before she retired, Rania Elwani's love affair with water continues -- but there has been a career change. Nashwa Abdel-Tawab talks to the gold fish who has a new wish

Do-or-die clashes becoming common
Must-win matches are now plentiful for the leaders of the tightest football league race in years, writes Alaa Shahine