A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Thursday, August 5, 2010

The Arabist: Could Sinai Bedouin be Behind Rockets?

First, Issandr at The Arabist gets my attention by linking to one of my headlines (yes, I'm vain), but then he offers some intriguing suggestions about the possible source of the Eilat/Aqaba rockets. (He also tosses in a video of William Shatner singing "Rocketman," which may appeal to those who think Shatner can sing, if they exist, though I gather he's not among them.

Anyway, his question is whether this could somehow be connected with the recent dissidence among the Sinai Bedouin. At first it seems unlikely (why would they attack Eilat and not one of the Egyptian resorts?) but then, this is a complex region and the issues have odd overlaps. He admits it's an "outlier" among possible explanations, but we've had more Bedouin dissent in the last few weeks than in recent memory. Could there be a connection?

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