By Mohammed Nuruzzaman | (Informed Comment) | – – Mr. Donald Trump’s electoral victory has created shockwaves worldwide. It was as unexpected as it was unwelcome to many peoples, particularly in the Middle East. Most people in the region appear to be at a loss. Political commentators and pundits are projecting a series of hard […]
America’s Sisi: On What Has Been Lost, and What Must Be Done
David M. Faris | (Informed Comment) | – – “When the people love you, that is the most important thing for me.” So spoke General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the onetime savior and now iron-fisted tyrant of the Arab Republic of Egypt, days after he had seized power in a military coup in July 2013. Egypt’s […]
Israeli parliament moves to ban Boycott, Divestment Backers from entering Israel
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A bill preventing supporters of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement from entering Israel was authorized on Monday for its first reading in the Israeli parliament, according to Israeli media. According to the Jerusalem Post, the interior committee of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, approved the bill, which was initiated by Knesset […]
Election Westworld? Bots were 20% of your Twitter News Feed
By Emilio Ferrara | (The Conversation) | – – Key to democracy is public engagement – when people discuss the issues of the day with each other openly, honestly and without outside influence. But what happens when large numbers of participants in that conversation are biased robots created by unseen groups with unknown agendas? As […]
European journalists brand Turkey ‘biggest prison in the world’
By Herbert Vytiska | EurActiv.de | Translated By Samuel Morgan | EurActiv | – – Curbs on press freedom have been dramatically increased since the failed coup attempt against President Erdoğan. The Association of European Journalists (AEJ) has called on the European institutions to exert more pressure on Turkey, in face of further restrictions on […]
Have Americans joined Egyptians in losing right to Protest & to Privacy?
By Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah | (Inter Press Service) | – – LONDON (IPS) – Many US citizens may instinctively believe they still live in the land of the free, but a new global rights rating system shows the country is far less tolerant than they may think. The world’s first systematic review of how well countries […]
W. Bank Palestinian farmers: Israeli squatters stole harvest of 400 olive trees
NABLUS (Ma’an) — Palestinian farmers in the northern occupied West Bank district of Nablus reported on Monday that Israeli settlers stole the harvest of 400 olive trees planted on their private lands. Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official who monitors settlement activities in the northern West Bank told Ma’an that more than 30 Palestinian families from […]
Iraq’s Mosul Campaign: ISIL using civilians as Human Shields
Human Rights Watch | – – All Forces Should Take Necessary Precautions to Protect Civilians (Erbil) – In areas around Mosul, the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, is forcibly evacuating civilians under their control with its fighters, apparently to use them as human shields. There are also grave concerns that ISIS is rounding up […]
Mosul Is My Hometown, Here Is Why ISIL Was Able To Stay There
Special Correspondent | Baghdad | Niqash.org | – – NIQASH’s Mosul correspondent explains why people in the city did not resist the [so-called] Islamic State group at first, why his family and others decided to stay and how extremists kept control of a city of around 2 million. Mohammed* is NIQASH’s Mosul correspondent. He grew […]