RAFAH, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - Mustapha Suleiman, 27, from J Block east of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, crosses through gaps in the iron fence on the border carrying bread, water, cans of meat and a handful of vegetables for Egyptian soldiers stationed on the other side. Read more about Palestinians in Gaza feed Egyptian troops 

CAIRO (IPS) - Over recent years, Egypt has witnessed mounting tension between its Muslim majority and its sizeable Coptic Christian minority. But in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the site of ongoing mass protests against the ruling regime, members of both faiths chant in unison “Muslim, Christian, doesn’t matter; We’re all in this boat together!” Read more about Muslim-Christian unity characterizes Egypt's uprising 

While all eyes are on the people’s revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, ongoing efforts to form a new government in Lebanon have garnered little media attention. But the collapse of the Hariri government in Lebanon was another major blow to US interests and the standing of its long-time Israeli and “moderate” Arab allies. Read more about Meet the Lebanese Press: the end of Hariri or of Harirism?  

Economic dependency and an oppressive security state is the recipe that many dictatorial, one-person, or one-party regimes apply across the region. This model was followed by the once American-supported, and then American-deposed Saddam Hussein, to Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi, who was first a pariah in the West and then became its darling, to Tunisia’s Zine El Abedine Ben Ali who was overthrown by his people, among others. While the Egyptian people stand steadfast in an effort to overthrow their own Pharoah, a similar “pharoah regime” is steadily being built for Palestinians in the West Bank. Read more about The ascent of the Palestinian pharaoh 

With today’s technology, every person on the street with a cell phone can be a reporter and the entire world can bear witness almost in real time to what happens in the dark alleyways and secret corners of a police state. Yet even this has its risks. Read more about Egypt's revolution through a million eyes 

In the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah last weekend, security forces belonging to the Palestinian Authority attempted to pacify a protest of 2,000 persons. Read more about Despite PA repression, Palestinians rally for Egypt 

OCCUPIED GAZA STRIP (IRIN) - More than a week of political unrest in Egypt has heightened the threat of a humanitarian crisis in neighboring Gaza. Egyptian soldiers fled their posts on the northern border on 30 January, forcing the Rafah crossing — a critical valve for the 1.5 million Palestinians living in Gaza — to close. Read more about Palestinians detained, prices soar as Rafah stays closed 

I am not a big fan of Tunisia’s Prime Minister Mohammad Ghannouchi. Yet, I very much appreciated some of what Ghannouchi had to say last Friday, 4 February 2011, to journalist Piers Morgan on his new CNN show. Nouri Gana comments for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Revolution is an export Tunisia can be proud of 

CAIRO (IPS) - Imam Mohammed al-Saba of the Eisa mosque here in the center of the rural town Kirdasa takes the pulpit to tell his congregation he can smell “the air of freedom for the first time in thirty years.” Read more about Smell of freedom is sweet in this small Egyptian town