By Feras Abu-Helal | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – At the end of last month, Benjamin Netanyahu formed the most extreme Israeli government since the Occupation of Palestine in 1948. The government includes two of the most racist and extremist politicians, namely Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of the Otzma Yehudit Party, and Bezael Smotrich, […]
Archives for January 2023
Housing Unaffordable for Half of US Renters
By Matt McConnell | Researcher, Economic Justice and Rights Division | – ( Human Rights Watch ) – New survey data released recently by the United States Census Bureau found that housing payments for about half of all US renters were unaffordable in 2021 under guidelines set by the US Department of Housing and Urban […]
Islamic paintings of the Prophet Muhammad are an important Piece of History – here’s why Art Historians teach them
By Christiane Gruber, University of Michigan | – Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, recently dismissed Erika López Prater, an adjunct faculty member, for showing two historical Islamic paintings of the Prophet Muhammad in her global survey of art history. Following complaints from some Muslim students, university administrators described such images as disrespectful and Islamophobic. […]
Israelis mass to Protest “Thuggish” “Fascist” new Government, as it Proceeds to Ensconce Apartheid toward Palestinians
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The new, far right wing government in Israel, some elements of which are fairly characterized as fascist, has in a few short days already generated a lot of news. It has provoked large demonstrations against itself by anti-fascist Israelis; it has elicited a strong international condemnation when one of its […]
Will Iran’s Protest Movement Survive?
( RFE/RL) – Antiestablishment protests have raged across Iran for months, despite a brutal state crackdown in which hundreds of demonstrators have been killed and thousands more detained. Triggered by the death of a young woman died after she was arrested by Iran’s morality police in mid-September, the ongoing nationwide protests have become the longest-running […]
Why American Exceptionalism can be a Very Bad Thing
( Tomdispatch.com ) – Let me start with a confession: I no longer read all the way through newspaper stories about the war in Ukraine. After years of writing about war and torture, I’ve reached my limit. These days, I just can’t pore through the details of the ongoing nightmare there. It’s shameful, but I […]
Christian Nationalism is downplayed in the Jan. 6 report and Collective Memory
By Joyce Dalsheim, University of North Carolina – Charlotte; and Gregory Starret, University of North Carolina – Charlotte | – (The Conversation) – When they entered the Senate chamber on Jan. 6, 2021, a group of insurgents stopped and bowed their heads in prayer to consecrate the building and their cause to Jesus. When the […]
Brazil’s Jan. 6: Right wing Mob invades Nat’l Congress, Tries to Stop Progressive Policies like Saving Amazon
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, denounced the invasion of the national Congress and some ministry buildings in Brasilia on Sunday by a far right wing mob as “reprehensible and anti-democratic coup attempt by conservatives in Brazil, incited by the leaders of oligarchic power, its spokespersons and […]
Is Israel Being Turned into a Jewish Theocracy?
By Mohammad Makram Balawi | – ( Middle East Monitor ) = Benjamin Netanyahu, the longest serving prime minister of Israel, built his entire career on confronting Iran. His argument is, Iran is building a nuclear weapon and its intent on using it against Israel and wiping out the Jewish people and he is the […]