Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Wednesday the House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the chanting of the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Since Congress, which appears to have a disproportionate number of genocidal maniacs in its ranks, is all right with the Palestinians being subjected to mass […]
Archives for April 2024
SecState Blinken is Squelching Recommendations to Sanction Israeli Units for Killings or Rapes
By Brett Murphy | – ( ProPublica ) – A special State Department panel recommended months ago that Secretary of State Antony Blinken disqualify multiple Israeli military and police units from receiving U.S. aid after reviewing allegations that they committed serious human rights abuses. But Blinken has failed to act on the proposal in the […]
Colonialists have long used Starvation as a Tool of Oppression
By Ateqah Khaki, The Conversation and Vinita Srivastava, The Conversation | – In this episode of Don’t Call Me Resilient, we continue our conversation about forced famine and its use as a powerful tool to control people, land and resources. Starvation has, for centuries, been a part of the colonizer’s “playbook.” We speak with two […]
Playing Russian Roulette with our Only Planet: Middle East Gets Failing Grades on Climate Action
This is my latest column for Tomdispatch.com. Do check in over there for Tom Engelhardt’s essential introduction. ( Tomdispatch.com ) – Last September witnessed what used to be a truly rare weather phenomenon: a Mediterranean hurricane, or “medicane.” Once upon a time, the Mediterranean Sea simply didn’t get hot enough to produce hurricanes more than […]
Palestinian History: Understanding the Past, Engaging with the Present
My 20-minute presentation on Israel Palestine is the first segment in the below below. In recognition of Arab American Heritage Month and in light of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, UM-Flint, in partnership with the Arab American Heritage Council, invited historians Juan Cole, University of Michigan Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History, and […]
A Brief History of Kill Lists, From Langley to Lavender
( Code Pink ) – The Israeli online magazine +972 has published a detailed report on Israel’s use of an artificial intelligence (AI) system called “Lavender” to target thousands of Palestinian men in its bombing campaign in Gaza. When Israel attacked Gaza after October 7, the Lavender system had a database of 37,000 Palestinian men […]
The NYT’s Palestinian-Israeli Lexicon: Special Edition of the Ghoul’s Glossary
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – American humorist and, oddly, horror author, Ambrose Bierce (d. 1913), produced a serial, staccato newspaper column consisting of humorous and sardonic definitions of words, which he later published as a book, The Devil’s Dictionary. (He initially had to entitle it “The Cynic’s Wordbook,” which doesn’t have the same ring, because […]
Shadow War no more: With Direct Warfare between Israel and Iran, is there any going Back?
By Javed Ali, University of Michigan | – For decades, Iran and Israel have been engaged in a “shadow war.” Falling short of direct military confrontation, this conflict has been characterized by war through other means – through proxies, cyber attacks, economic sanctions and fiery rhetoric. Events over the last few weeks in the Middle […]
Protesting Columbia University’s Arbitrary Suspension and Eviction of Students
Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association | – Minouche Shafik President, Columbia University officeofthepresident@columbia.edu Dennis Mitchell Provost, Columbia University dml48@cumc.columbia.edu . . . Dear President Shafik and colleagues: We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom to express […]