Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Donald J. Trump held an impromptu press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Monday. In the course of his remarks, he said a couple of things about the Middle East, Informed Comment’s beat. Since he’ll be back in the White House in about a month, these observations give some clue as to […]
Archives for December 2024
Protesting New York University’s Arbitrary Repressive Actions toward Faculty and Students Protest Gaza War
Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association | – Linda G. Mills President, New York University linda.mills@nyu.edu Georgina Dopico Provost, New York University georgina.dopico@nyu.edu Dear President Mills and Provost Dopico: We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom to express […]
What the Fall of Assad says about Putin’s Ambitions for Russia’s Great-Power Status
By Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham (The Conversation) – The lightning-fast collapse of the Assad regime in Syria has sent shock waves across the Middle East. The disposal of the dictator whose family had ruled the country with an iron fist for more than half a century has triggered a potentially seismic shift in the […]
Iraq’s Barzani hails Syrian Leader’s Assurances on future of Syrian Kurds
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The fall of the al-Assad regime in Syria has broached again the issue of the largely Kurdish Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) and its relationship to the new government. Many Kurds are fearful for their future, as Euronews reports. The officers of the new government have said […]
Reel Resistance: Netflix’s Removal of Palestinian Films adds to the Erasure of Palestine
By Chandni Desai, University of Toronto (The Conversation) – Netflix faces calls for a boycott after it removed its “Palestinian Stories” collection this October. This includes approximately 24 films. Netflix cited the expiration of three-year licences as the reason for pulling the films from the collection. Nonetheless, some viewers were outraged and almost 12,000 people […]
Iran Detains Singer Who Performed Without Head Scarf
Update: Ms. Ahmadi was released from prison Sunday. She will face trial for the concert. By RFE/RL’s Radio Farda ( RFE/ RL ) – Iranian police released singer Parastoo Ahmadi in the early hours of December 15 following a brief detention after she performed without the mandatory head scarf, her lawyer has confirmed. Ahmadi caused […]
How did we Get Here? Excerpt from my new book “Gaza Yet Stands”
This is an excerpt from a draft of the introduction to my new book, Gaza Yet Stands, which briefly sketches how Israeli colonial policies turned it into an open-air concentration camp. By the way, the book makes a great Christmas gift for your progressive friends and family members who agree that Christmas should mean that […]
Genocide or Crimes Against Humanity? Amnesty Int’l’s Verdict on Israel’s War on Gaza
By Binoy Kampmark ( Middle East Monitor ) – It was bound to happen. With continuing operations in Gaza and increasingly violent acts against Palestinians in the occupied territories, human rights organisations are making progressively severe assessments of Israel’s warring cause. While the world awaits the findings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on […]
Rising Desertification shows we can’t keep Farming with Fossil Fuels; 3/4s of Earth’s Land is Drier
By Jack Marley, The Conversation Three-quarters of Earth’s land has become drier since 1990. Droughts come and go – more often and more extreme with the incessant rise of greenhouse gas emissions over the last three decades – but burning fossil fuels is transforming our blue planet. A new report from scientists convened by the […]