Victor Kattan is Senior Research Fellow at the Middle East Institute of the National University of Singapore and an Associate Fellow at the Faculty of Law. He is the author of From Coexistence to Conquest: International Law and the Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (Pluto Press 2009). Twitter: @VictorKattan
Fueled by Trump's peace plan, rumors are running rife that Saudi Arabia is muscling in on Jordan's control of Islam's third holiest shrine. The repercussions of interfering with a status quo that's lasted a century could be explosive
Kushner's 'economic peace' plan repeatedly claims that occupied Palestine can model itself after Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. That's certainly ambitious – but also ignorant, absurd and even dangerous
Annexation would be disastrous for the Palestinians. It would also be enormously damaging for Israel. Netanyahu knows that – but he also knows his base has moved rightwards, and that Trump will back him anyway
The U.S. president has just knifed the international legal order in the back, on Israel's behalf. Now there's nothing to stop him backing an Israeli annexation of the West Bank
John Bolton dismisses the efforts of the 'so-called State of Palestine' to legally challenge Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital; Palestinian leaders believe international law is key to their fight back against hostile U.S. policy. But what are their chances of success?
Palestine is determined to bring the full weight of international law down on Israel. And it’s starting now
Obama’s lawyers never thought Trump would be the next White House incumbent, or that it would be Bolton whispering in his ear. If they had, maybe they wouldn’t have corroded the U.S.’s commitment to following international law before launching military strikes abroad
The exaggerated reports and rumours about ever-closer ties are trial balloons: Jerusalem is signalling its reluctant assent to Riyadh obtaining a nuclear deterrent – but at a high price
The Palestinian president was taken by surprise by one of the most-flagged U.S. diplomatic moves ever. Panicked, he ran into Erdogan's arms, reframed the conflict in religious terms – but misunderstood that Trump did not give Israel a free pass
The Balfour Declaration was intended as Britain's answer to the 'Jewish Question', an attempt to divert Jewish immigration away from its own shores. But Britain ruled over more Muslims than any other European power - and their protests threatened the Empire