Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Israel’s attempt to stay more or less neutral on Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine is faltering, as the government of Naftali Bennett has come under enormous pressure from the Biden administration to take a stand. But even neutrality would not please Vladimir Putin, who wants the Israelis to back the […]
Archives for April 2022
From Ukraine to Palestine: The Boycotting Double Standard
By Abderrahmane Amor | – ( Middle East Monitor) – It was Putin’s recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent breakaway regions in Eastern Ukraine that paved the way for an all-out Russian invasion of a sovereign Ukraine. Since the beginning of the invasion, we’ve seen a united global boycott of Russian goods, events and […]
Is it possible to heal the damage we have already done to the Earth?
Scott Denning | – Sometimes it may seem that humans have altered the Earth beyond repair. But our planet is an incredible system in which energy, water, carbon and so much else flows and nurtures life. It is about 4.5 billion years old and has been through enormous changes. Is it possible to heal the […]
Can we Afford a Fair Global Climate Transition?
By Tom Athanasiou | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – How to create the political backing for the international effort necessary to achieve a fair and rapid global climate transition, even though that support would be properly denominated not in billions of dollars but rather in trillions, or even as percentages of Gross […]
California Briefly Runs on 97% Renewable Energy, Showing a Future in which Oil and Gas Dictators like Putin are defunded
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – California’s energy mix was powered 97% by renewable energy on Sunday, April 3 at 3:39 p.m., the highest contribution of renewables to the state’s grid on record, according to David Knowles at Yahoo News. Although the milestone lasted only for a brief time, it points to a future in which […]
Students Society at McGill University must have the Right to Boycott Israel over Human Rights Violations (MESA)
Committee on Academic Freedom, Middle East Studies Association | – Letter to the provost of McGill University Provost Christopher Manfredi Office of the Provost and Vice Principal (Academic) McGill University 845 Sherbrooke Street West, Suite 504 Montreal, Quebec H3A OG4 via fax: 514-398-4768 Dear Provost Manfredi: We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies […]
Palestine needs immediate Attention to stave off a major Food Crisis: Ukraine Fall-Out
(Middle East Monitor ) – A young journalist friend of mine in Gaza, Mohammed Rafik Mhawesh, told me that food prices in the besieged territory have rocketed in recent weeks. Already impoverished families are struggling to put food on the table. “Food prices are surging dramatically,” he explained, “particularly since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine […]
How to End the War in Ukraine: A Solution Beyond Sanctions
( Tomdispatch.com ) – As the war in Ukraine heads for its third month amid a rising toll of death and destruction, Washington and its European allies are scrambling, so far unsuccessfully, to end that devastating, globally disruptive conflict. Spurred by troubling images of executed Ukrainian civilians scattered in the streets of Bucha and ruined […]
Was Jared Kushner the anti-Jon Snow in the Saudi Game of Thrones?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – According to investigative journalist Vicki Ward, Jared Kushner, a minor New York hustler who managed to marry into the Donald Trump crime family, became the anti-Jon Snow in the Saudi game of thrones. That is, he enabled the worst possible ruler to come to power, and got a $2 billion […]