Greenfield, Mass. (Special to Informed Comment, Feature) – My father was a family doctor in the mid-twentieth century whose main political issue was socialized medicine, which he preached against to his “large, poor family,” as he liked to describe us. Dad never turned away a patient who couldn’t pay and brought in indigent patients from […]
Archives for January 2025
Iran: Unchecked Repression of Dissent
Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Iranian authorities have continued their brutal, targeted repression even though the new Iranian president has promised change, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025. The authorities have targeted human rights defenders, women, ethnic and religious minorities, and families of those arrested or killed in the 2022 protests. For […]
‘Every Blast is an open Wound’: how the Chaos of War breeds deadly Superbugs that spread around the World
By Christine Carson, The University of Western Australia (The Conversation) – The war in Gaza will leave its mark in many ways, long after the recently negotiated ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. One legacy relates to how the chaos of war provides the perfect storm for the rise in antimicrobial resistance. This is when […]
Trump 2.0 and Palestinians: From Reversal to Repression
The first Trump administration reversed decades of US policies regarding Palestinians. The new one shuns genocidal atrocities. It prefers cultural genocide. New York (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – In my new book, The Fall of Israel (2025), I examine the activities of all US postwar administrations regarding the Israelis and Palestinians. The first Trump […]
As Gaza Ceasefire takes hold, Israeli Forces turn to Jenin – a regular Target seen as a Center of Palestinian Resistance
By Maha Nassar, University of Arizona (The Conversation) – Just two days after a shaky ceasefire took hold in the Gaza Strip, Israel on Jan. 21, 2025, launched a large-scale incursion of the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. Soldiers raided hundreds of homes in the West Bank city in what the Israeli military […]
The Moment Trump Won the 2024 election, the 8 Richest Men in the World gained another $64 billion
By Liz Theoharis and William D. Hartung ( Tomdispatch.com ) – With the return of Donald Trump to the White House, advocates for peace, social justice, racial and economic equality, fair immigration policies, climate renewal, trans rights, and other movements for change are bracing for hard times. The new administration will be doggedly opposed to […]
Trump’s Envoy Witkoff on Gaza Deal: “Now We Have to Implement it”
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, gave an interview with Fox Cable News. Below I will quote him and present a little commentary with further information and context. Witkoff was asked about a statement by Hamas reported in the New York Times “We’re prepared for a […]
Can nonviolent Struggle defeat a Dictator? This Database emphatically says Yes
The Global Nonviolent Action Database details some 40 cases of mass movements overcoming tyrants through strategic nonviolent campaigns. ( Waging Nonviolence ) – With Donald Trump set to take office after a fear-mongering campaign that reignited concerns about his desire to become a dictator, a reasonable question comes up: Can nonviolent struggle defeat a tyrant? There […]
Syria’s New Government is already Oppressing Women, Posing a dire Threat to their Future
By Vrinda Narain, McGill University and Fatemeh Sadeghi, UCL (The Conversation) – As the international community celebrates the fall of another dictatorship following the collapse of Syria’s Assad regime, the future of women’s rights remains precarious. Global leaders are commending Syria’s liberation and discussing the return of 5.5 million refugees, but women’s rights advocates are […]
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