Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Palestinian Ministry of Education released a report this week detailing that 11,923 students in Gaza have been killed by Israel’s total war in the past year. In addition, 19,199 have been wounded, many with life-altering injuries. A physician working in Gaza last summer reported to HRW, “We are talking […]
Archives for November 2024
Valencia Floods: Our warming Climate is making once-rare Weather more Common, and more Destructive
By Antonio Ruiz de Elvira Serra, Universidad de Alcalá | – (The Conversation) – In the last few days, a seasonal weather system known in Spain as the “cold drop” or DANA (an acronym of depresión aislada en niveles altos: isolated depression at high levels) has caused heavy rain and flooding across Spain’s Mediterranean coast […]
Protesting U of Minnesota Barring Students from Campus for Protesting Gaza War
Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association | – Rebecca M. Cunningham President, University of Minnesota upres@umn.edu . . . Dear President Cunningham and Colleagues: We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom to express our concern about the decision of […]
Trump would be an “Extinction-Level Event” for the Planet, Turbocharging Climate Change. Vote Accordingly.
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – UC Berkeley scholars warn that “with plans to expand the production of fossil fuels, curtail environmental regulations, dismantle key climate monitoring agencies and even undermine the Endangered Species Act, there is no question that Project 2025 would be disastrous for the climate.” Project 2025, despite his dishonest denials, is Trump’s […]
Heartfelt Thanks to our Generous Readers
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Much gratitude to all of you who donated to our successful fundraiser this year, in which we sought some extra funds to defend Informed Comment from a trolling copyright lawsuit that is without merit. Your donations helped us secure the services of one of Michigan’s top intellectual property attorneys, who […]
Israeli Attacks on Lebanese Medics Apparent War Crimes: Israel’s Allies should Suspend Arms Sales
Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – The Israeli military has repeatedly attacked medical workers and healthcare facilities in Lebanon, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch documented three attacks, involving apparent war crimes, in which Israeli forces unlawfully struck medical personnel, transports, and facilities, including paramedics at a civil defense center in central Beirut on October […]
Israel’s Relations with the UN have hit a new Low with ban on UN Relief and Works Agency
By Lisa Strömbom, Lund University | – (The Conversation) – Israel’s relationship with the United Nations has historically been strained, but over the past year, tensions have reached new levels. On October 28, the Israeli parliament (the Knesset) passed a law to prohibit operations of the UN’s relief and works agency (Unrwa) – the UN […]
How did the Mideast become a Nuclear Flashpoint?
Eau Claire, WI (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – The state of world politics since the end of the Cold War has been marked by more conflicts and wars. The United States’ imperialist impulses during the Cold War had to consider the threat of Communism in Europe and at the global level. Today, the ongoing […]
Israel’s Wars and Occupation Today are not about Self Defense
By Stephen R. Shalom | ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – “Israel has the right to defend itself,” President Joseph Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and countless commentators have declared multiple times over the past year. But does Israel in fact have such a right? Even if there were an Israeli right to self-defense, […]