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	<title>RE-THINK THE MIDDLE EAST</title>
	<link>http://www.rethinkme.org</link>
	<description>Re-Think the Middle East’s blog is designed to provoke thinking about the future of the region and to encourage an honest and open exchange of views on key conflict issues.</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:23:55 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>New York City Mosque: Part III, Religion</title>
		<description><![CDATA[by Michael Lame, posted on August 30, 2010
 
The Cordoba Initiative, the organization which first promoted the controversial Park51 project, works to “cultivate multi-cultural and multi-faith understanding” and “to strengthen the bridge between Islam and the West.” But how is Islam to be understood?
One of the conceptual fixtures of the modern world is the yoking [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.rethinkme.org/?p=643</link>
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		<title>New York City Mosque: Part II, Cordoba</title>
		<description><![CDATA[by Michael Lame, posted on August 16, 2010
Most of the editorial comments, pro and con, regarding the proposed new mosque complex for lower Manhattan, are concerned with Who and Where: the people behind the mosque and its proximity to Ground Zero. My purpose in these articles is not to support or oppose the project but [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.rethinkme.org/?p=636</link>
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		<title>New York City Mosque: Part I, Jihad</title>
		<description><![CDATA[by Michael Lame, posted on August 10, 2010
The Cordoba Initiative, the leading sponsor of the mosque complex slated to be built near the site of the Twin Towers, seeks to improve Muslim-Western relations through interfaith dialogue and outreach. Its founder and chairman, Feisal Abdul Rauf, has served for many years as the imam of a [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.rethinkme.org/?p=620</link>
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		<title>The Politics of Wishful Thinking</title>
		<description><![CDATA[by Michael Lame, posted on August 3, 2010
In the Rose Garden last week, President Obama asserted that “if we&#8217;ve learned anything from the tragedy in the Gulf, it&#8217;s that our current energy policy is unsustainable.” Perhaps he meant energy practices rather than energy policy, since an energy policy would presumably be government policy which means [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.rethinkme.org/?p=613</link>
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		<title>Kosovo and Palestine</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Declaring Independence Without Permission
by Michael Lame, posted on July 26, 2010
 Last week, on July 22nd, the International Court of Justice in the Hague issued an advisory opinion regarding Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia. According to the opinion issued by the ICJ, “the Court considers that general international law contains no applicable prohibition [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.rethinkme.org/?p=602</link>
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		<title>What&#8217;s Wrong with J Street?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[As published in HAARETZ, July 16, 2010: http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/what-s-wrong-with-j-street-1.302317


Scroll down below the following article to read the &#8220;What&#8217;s Wrong with J Street?&#8221; blog post plus responses and to add your comments.
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		<link>http://www.rethinkme.org/?p=581</link>
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		<title>A call for U.S. mediation between Turkey and Israel</title>
		<description><![CDATA[by Michael Lame, posted on July 15, 2010
Two of America’s key strategic allies at the east end of the Mediterranean are at loggerheads. Ever since the deadly flotilla incident in May, harsh words have flowed from Jerusalem and threats have issued from Ankara.
Although Prime Minister Netanyahu stated on Israel’s behalf that “We regret the loss [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.rethinkme.org/?p=575</link>
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		<title>What’s Wrong with J Street?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[by Michael Lame, posted on July 9, 2010
J Street, the “pro-Israel, pro-peace” lobby, ran its first television commercial this past week. Watching the ad online confirmed my worst suspicions about this new organization which likes to portray itself as the “real voice” of the mainstream American Jewish community: 

Of course it is legitimate for American [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.rethinkme.org/?p=556</link>
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		<title>“Without Palestine, what meaning is there to childhood?”</title>
		<description><![CDATA[by Michael Lame, posted on July 2, 2010
I found the following video clip online this week, along with a story about it in Haaretz. (http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/new-hit-song-for-palestinian-children-when-we-die-as-martyrs-1.297731) Please view the clip before reading the rest of this piece.


The tune is catchy and the kids are cute, so what is wrong with this video? First of all, the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.rethinkme.org/?p=544</link>
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		<title>Insights of the Times Square Bomber</title>
		<description><![CDATA[by Michael Lame, posted on June 25, 2010
Faisal Shahzad, the would-be Times Square car bomber pleaded guilty earlier this week to ten terrorism and weapons charges. During his court appearance he made a political statement that deserves more attention than it has so far received:
“[U]ntil the hour the U.S. pulls its forces from Iraq and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.rethinkme.org/?p=531</link>
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