(By Juan Cole) It can only be called an Escherian Mobius Strip foreign policy. The Obama administration is sending hellfire missiles and surveillance drones to the Shiite Islamic Mission Party-dominated government of Iraq to help in the latter’s struggle against radical Sunni rebels who have increased their bombings and attacks this year. If the helicopter […]
Archives for December 2013
Israel Plans New Settlement Push Despite Threat to Peace Talks
Israel plans to announce a push for more construction in Jewish settlements when it frees two dozen Palestinian prisoners next week, an Israeli official said on Wednesday, in a move that could jeopardise U.S.-brokered peace talks. Click here for the rest of the article…
Calls for Turkey PM to resign as 3 scandal-ridden ministers quit, forcing new Cabinet
(By Fulya Ozerkan and Dilay Gundogan) Turkey PM reshuffles cabinet amid graft scandal (via AFP) Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan replaced nearly half his cabinet in a dramatic reshuffle late Wednesday after a spreading graft scandal forced the resignation of three top ministers and threatened the premier’s own hold on power. Erdogan… Related […]
Freed Pussy Riot Band Members call for ‘Russia without Putin’ (Video of the Day)
Channel 4 News reports: On this occasion of their release, it is worthwhile reprinting excerpts from the translation of an interview by Elena Masyuk with Maria “Masha” Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova from last January that appears on the Free Pussy Riot web site: Masyuk: “— I attended almost every single day of your [Maria’s} trial […]
Snowden’s Christmas Message on Privacy: Does NSA threaten 9th, 14th Amendments, ‘Inviolate Personality’?
(By Juan Cole) Edward Snowden’s Christmas address, carried by the British Channel 4, concentrated on the disappearance of privacy. He said that a child born today might “never know what it means to have a private moment to themselves, an unrecorded, unanalyzed thought.” People walk around with a tracking device in their pockets, he noted, […]
Egyptian Junta designates Muslim Brotherhood as “Terrorist Organization” in Attempt to Crush Dissent
(By Juan Cole) In Egypt, the interim appointed government of Prime Minister Hazem Biblawi, backed by the military junta that made the coup of July 3, on Wednesday formally categorized the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. The decree was published by the feared Interior Ministry (kind of like US FBI but with torture) on […]
Benjamin Netanyahu's 'Jewish' Christmas Message Gaffe
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered his holiday blessings to the Christian citizens of Israel on Tuesday, in which he stressed the importance of the community’s contribution to the Israel Defense Forces – accidentally stopping just short of uttering the word “Jewish” state. Click here for the rest of the article…
Wounded by Apartheid Wall, Occupied Bethlehem Hopes for Pilgrimage Revival
(Agence France Presse) Bethlehem eyes tourist boom after dark decade (via AFP) After a decade of unrest, Bethlehem has seen a surge in visits to Christ’s traditional birthplace, raising hopes of a tourism bonanza in the West Bank town despite Israel’s separation barrier. The Palestinian territories’ top tourist destination is… —- Related Video AFP: […]
Assyrian Christian Revival in Turkey
(By Alexander Christie-Miller) The Christian Science Monitor recently reported on an Assyrian Christian revival in southeastern Turkey, fueled by a burgeoning Turkish economy and more tolerant laws enacted by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. In eastern Turkey, a rare renaissance for Middle East Christians (via The Christian Science Monitor) Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses the […]
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