Shalom L. Goldman | (Informed Comment) | – – On Donald Trump’s two- day visit to Jerusalem in late May, a visit which disrupted commercial and cultural life in both the Jewish and Arab sectors of the city, the American president, his extended family, and others in his very large (or should I say Huge) […]
Top Five things to know about Sharia (Muslim Canon Law)
Asma Afsaruddin | (The Conversation) | – – Editor’s note: A conservative grassroots organization, ACT for America, organized a “March against Sharia” in at least 20 cities across the United States on Saturday, June 10. Professor of Islamic Studies at Indiana University Asma Afsaruddin explains Sharia and dispels a number of myths about it. What […]
What can today’s Activists learn from the Summer of Love and the New Left?
Ira Chernus | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – It’s the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love. What better place to celebrate than that fabled era’s epicenter, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, where the DeYoung Museum has mounted a dazzling exhibition, chock full of rock music, light shows, posters, and fashions from the mind-bending […]
Have Syria’s Kurds invented a Democratic Neo-Socialism?
Dmitry Petrov | (OpenDemocracy.net) | – – In an effort to get through to the Syrian Kurdish autonomous region, I met kindred spirits and found out more about the political and cultural landscape of Iraqi Kurdistan. Sulaymaniyah’s Market Square. Image courtesy of the author.Tossing about on a broken bed in a cheap hostel in the […]
Do Egyptians have any Rights Left at All? – HRW
Human Rights Watch | – – (Beirut) – Egyptian authorities in recent weeks have arrested at least 50 peaceful political activists, blocked at least 62 websites, and opened a criminal prosecution against a former presidential candidate, Human Rights Watch said today. The actions are further closing any remaining space for free expression. The charges against […]
Aerospace Campaign in Syria: Did Putin kill ISIL’s so-called ‘caliph’?
TeleSur | – – The statement came a day after Russia said it killed several senior leaders, 30 field commanders and up to 300 of their personal guards in an airstrike last month. Russian Aerospace Forces based in Syria have made significant gains in the first half of June, eliminating two Islamic State group field […]
Don’t Slow Down on Impeachment
Robert Reich. | Yes! Magazine | – – The three previous presidential impeachment inquiries rested on less evidence of obstruction of justice than is already publicly known about Trump. The real reason Democratic leaders don’t want to seek an impeachment now is they know there’s zero chance that Republicans, who now control both houses of […]
Iraq Deployed Shiite Volunteers to defeat ISIL, but now has a Militia Problem
Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) |. – The Iraqi government’s next big problem is coming into view: The group of powerful Shiite Muslim militias loyal to Iran seem to want to keep the country enmeshed in regional turmoil. As the extremist group known as the Islamic State is driven out of the country, the […]
How Long can Qatar defy its powerful neighbors? It depends on Trump
By Nader Habibi | (Conversation) | – – The recent decision by half the nations in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and a few other countries to isolate fellow member Qatar came as a surprise to many – though perhaps it shouldn’t have. Nearly all of Qatar’s residents live in its capital, Doha. Doha skyline […]