Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Many policy and scientific questions have the form of a Whodunnit. In what Umberto Eco called the “closed” mystery, the aftermath of a crime is described by the novelist but the identity and the motives of the killer are not known. A big mystery is where all the methane in […]
Archives for February 2020
The Kushner-Netanyahu Plan for Israel to Annex Squatter Settlements in West Bank aims at Forever Blocking a Palestinian State
By Ghassan al-Shami | – (Middle East Monitor) – Israel and its allies in Washington view the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem as the focal points for the implementation of the deal of the century, which aims to liquidate the Palestinian cause. Hence, the process has already started there, with the maps prepared which show […]
In Syria’s Idlib, Turkey is trying to play middle man between Russia and the US – with little success
By Umut Korkut and Tarik Basbugoglu | – The recent turn of events in Idlib, an opposition stronghold in north-western Syria undergoing bombardment by the Syrian military, has put Turkey in a difficult position. Since the end of January, Syrian regime forces have killed 13 Turkish soldiers who were monitoring a tense ceasefire in Idlib. […]
Can the Democrats’ Foreign Policy Visions clean up Trump’s Global Mess?
( Foreign Policy in Focus) – Democratic candidates offer a wide range of foreign policy views. These won’t decide the election, but they could have a huge post-Trump impact. The next presidential election will not likely hinge on foreign policy. Americans will go to the polls in November to express their fervent support, or disgust, […]
94% of Palestinians reject Trump’s Kushner Plan, with Massive Rallies, and 2/3s say Two-State Solution is Dead
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Some 94% of Palestinians reject the Kushner Plan for Palestine, and two thirds of Palestinians ,according to a recent opinion poll, support the way in which President Mahmoud Abbas has tackled it. Abbas has cut off diplomatic relations and security cooperation with Israel and the United States. In fact, 82 […]
The unexpected link between the ozone hole and Arctic warming
By Karen Smith | – One of the earliest climate model predictions of how human-made climate change would affect our planet showed that the Arctic would warm about two to three times more than the global average. Forty years later, this “Arctic amplification” has been observed firsthand. Record-breaking Arctic warming and the dramatic decline of […]
Palestinian prisoner Khalida Jarrar in her own words: The age of freedom will come
By Khalida Jarrar | Ramzy Baroud | – Khalida Jarrar is a Palestinian feminist, a lawyer, educator and an elected parliamentarian. Over the years, she came to symbolize Palestinian popular resistance in the occupied West Bank, enraging the Israeli occupation authorities that arrested her repeatedly. Despite her failing health, as she is suffering from multiple […]
Trump on Steroids and Torture’s Legacy of Impunity
( Tomdispatch.com) – On February 5th, the Senate voted to acquit President Donald J. Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. In other words, Trump’s pre-election boast that he “could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody” and not “lose any voters” proved something more than high-flown hyperbole. (To be […]
Will the new, Left-led Ireland Recognize Palestine and Boycott Israeli Squatters?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – That the Left has swept to power in Ireland may position that country to play an important role in the Israel-Palestine conflict. The European Union member states sometimes rail against their irrelevance on foreign policy. Despite Europe’s enormous population (pop. 445 million vs. 320 million in the U.S.) and a […]