The Turkish government believes that ties with the EU could be further boosted during the rotating presidency of Greece and Italy in 2014
Archives for December 2013
Dubai Fireworks for New Year 2014
(By Juan Cole) Dubai Fireworks spectacular for New Year at Burj Khalifa (2 million gather): Dubai will be the site of the 2020 world expo which will help it further emerge as a major hub of world commerce. Dubai has an annual GDP of over $80 bn, and a population of 2.1 million, about the […]
Iraq Gov’t Collapsing as 44 Sunni MPs Withdraw from Parliament
(By AFP) Clashes kill 10 as Iraq forces clear Sunni protest camp (via AFP) Iraqi forces killed 10 gunmen Monday in clashes that erupted as they cleared a year-old Sunni Arab protest camp, a move likely to fan resentment among the minority community. As the fighting raged, mosques exhorted followers to “go to jihad,” or […]
A Delegation of Congressional Christian Zionists to Israel
(By Shalom Goldman) Shalom Goldman Just before Christmas, GOP Reps. Michele Bachmann (Minn.), Steve King (Iowa) and Louie Gohmert (Texas) wrapped up a largely secretive week-long congressional delegation or CODEL trip that included stops in Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, and Israel. While there didn’t appear to be any public announcements about December’s trip out of Egypt, […]
17% of Americans Support Afghanistan War: CNN (Video of the Day)
(By Juan Cole) A CNN/ ORC International poll has found that only 17% of Americans support the war in Afghanistan. That is down from 52% in 2008. 82% of Americans are against the war. Other recent polls found that 57% of Americans think the US was wrong to go into Afghanistan in the first place, […]
Top Ten Middle East Stories 2013: How the Region has Changed
(By Juan Cole) 10. Tunisia suffered the assassination of two leftist politicians, provoking demonstrations bigger than the ones that brought down the government of dictator Zine El Abidin Ben Ali in 2011. The second of these assassinations, this summer, provoked students, youth activists and the major national labor union to mount concerted demonstrations demanding that […]
Israeli Public favors Teaching Peace, Palestinian Narrative in Schools
(By Commondreams.org Staff reporters) A new survey out Wednesday found that, contrary to the actions of their political leaders, the majority of the Israeli public favors teaching peace in schools and believes the Palestinian narrative should be presented to students. According to the findings, which were presented at an education conference at Tel Aviv University, […]
Israel plans 1400 New Squatter Homes in Palestinian West Bank
(AFP reports) Israel plans new settler homes while freeing Palestinians (via AFP) Israel will reveal plans to build 1,400 settler homes in the West Bank and in east Jerusalem to coincide with the weekend release of Palestinian prisoners, military radio said Friday. A third batch of Palestinian prisoners is due to be released on Sunday… […]
Assange warns of Information Apartheid & Encompassing State: “This is the Last Free Generation”
(By Juan Cole) Wired notes that Wikileaks activist Julian Assange addressed the Chaos Communication Congress by Skype Sunday. Assange said, “This is the last free generation… The coming together of the systems of government and the information apartheid is such that none of us will be able to escape it in just a decade.” . […]