Hello, If you are interested in how people in the Middle East and the Arab world view what is happening in the world, you want to read the Cairo-based English language Al-Ahram Weekly Online. The magazine includes, e.g., a "Opinion" section with regular commentaries by such people as Edward Said (like this week) and sometimes Noam Chomsky: of Weekly's own columnists Hani Shukrallah is someone who doesn't mince his words. Counterpunch has started to publish his commentaries. The "War" section of Weekly is about the "war" in Afghanistan (I'm not sure if it can be called a war...) but in this week's edition also the section "Egypt" includes one article about the war and the ordinary Egyptians' reactions to the bombings: Anger rises as bomb drops The majority of Egyptians continue to be outraged by the US-British strikes against Afghanistan by Rana Allam. a quote: "The death of fellow Muslims in Afghanistan has angered and frustrated many Egyptians who believe there is little they can do to stop what they perceive as unwarranted aggression. For the third consecutive week, students staged demonstrations on university campuses. Thousands denounced the US-British strikes and also condemned the "weak" position of Arab and Muslim governments. The largest demonstration took place on Sunday at Ain Shams University. Professors joined about 5,000 students in marching around the campus, demanding an end to the murder of Palestinians and Afghans. The demonstrators set fire to the Israeli and American flags along with effigies of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and President George W Bush. " And for those who still wonder why again Ariel Sharon and Israel, read the Region section, and also the special section of Weekly called Intifada in Focus (accessible through the front page). Please read there the 50 Years of Dispossession archive - it is Palestinians movingly recounting how they were driven from their homes a little more than 50 years ago. And then you will perhaps understand a little more. At least I did. Weekly is high quality journalism, and the online version has got a well functioning search and back issues from 1998 onwards. There is no web forum, but there is a Letters section (Weekly is also published in print; the Arab language Al-Ahram is a daily, one of the most influential in the Arab world, website at the same address). The letters have been getting pretty lively lately:). Fresh Weekly published online every Saturday the latest (this week's already online). Includes also news about culture, arts, history, sports etc. Best regards Pirkko (from Helsinki, Finland)