Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israelis are not only expelling thousands of innocent civilians from the town of Deir al-Balah in the center of the Gaza Strip, they gave only a few hours notice that some 200 UN personnel had to abruptly depart their offices and dwellings there. UN head of safety and security, […]
Archives for August 2024
In a new era of Campus Upheaval, the 1970 Kent State Shootings show the Danger of deploying Troops to crush legal Protests
By Brian VanDeMark, United States Naval Academy | – (The Conversation) – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has expressed his intention, if elected to a second term, to use the U.S. armed forces to suppress domestic protests. The New York Times reports that Trump’s allies are marshaling legal arguments to justify using National Guard or […]
Denouncing the University of Pennsylvania’s collaboration with the House Education Committee investigation of Faculty Members
Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association | – Larry Jameson Interim President, the University of Pennsylvania president@upenn.edu John Jackson Provost, the University of Pennsylvania provost@upenn.edu . . . We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom to express our […]
Morocco: Popular anger against Israel’s war on Gaza Spills into the Streets, Posing Dilemma for Rabat
Istanbul (Speciall to Informed Comment, Feature) – The Palestinian question has been a central topic for the Arab world for many decades now. Over the years, Arab leaders have used the Palestinian cause as one of their talking points to gain support from the populace. Over the last decade, however, the topic began to lose […]
Israel and Hezbollah step Back from War, but for how Long? All eyes are now on Iran’s next Move
By Ian Parmeter, Australian National University | – (The Conversation) – For weeks, Israel had been anticipating a major attack from Hezbollah in retaliation for its killing of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Lebanon at the end of July. In the early hours of Sunday, that attack finally came – and Israel was apparently ready. […]
Israel: Palestinian Healthcare Workers Tortured
Human Rights Watch – (Jerusalem) – Israeli forces have arbitrarily detained Palestinian healthcare workers in Gaza since hostilities began in October 2023, deported them to detention facilities in Israel, and allegedly tortured and ill-treated them, Human Rights Watch said today. The detention of healthcare workers in the context of the Israeli military’s repeated attacks on hospitals in […]
What would America be Like if it was Like Gaza?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – What would America be like if it was like Gaza? On October 8, 2023, the Alien invasion long feared by science fiction buffs and Area 51 conspiracy theorists finally materialized, as unidentified anomalous phenomena (a.k.a. UFOs) appeared over America’s skies. The Aliens from beyond Pluto intercepted the US internet and […]
The Verse “Hear O Israel” is Common to Judaism and Islam
( The Times of Israel) – This Shabbat we read the second paragraph of the Shema, and last week we read the first paragraph which opens with a call — arguably the most famous prayer in our liturgy: Listen, Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is one” (Deut. 6:4). “The first paragraph of […]
We, alumni recipients of the MLK Spirit Award, return our awards and urge the University to divest
By Anna Dang and 65 other MLK Spirit Award Recipients | – ( Michigan Daily ) – We, the undersigned, are alumni recipients of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Spirit Award at the University of Michigan. In January of this year, the University awarded recent alum Salma Hamamy the MLK Spirit Award in recognition of […]