(By Emad Shahin) Statement to my Students, Family and Friends January 23, 2014 It was with severe shock that I received news that I have been named in a case known as the “Grand Espionage,” which also included former President Mohamed Morsi and senior leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood. These claims are baseless and politically […]
Perennial US Rush to War: Syrian Chem issue was too Foggy to Justify Bombing
(By William R. Polk) Nearly five months have passed since the United States nearly went to war with Syria. The issue has cooled down but has not been resolved. Resolving it is not simply a matter of getting history right but is crucial to what happens next, perhaps in Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, or even the […]
Human Rights Abuses grow in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
(By Sarah Leah Whitson) (Jerusalem) – Human rights abuses by Israel and by Palestinian security forces in the West Bank grew during 2013, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2014. Israeli forces killed more Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and demolished more Palestinian homes than in 2012. Israel continued to build […]
Hard Times for Journalists, but A Golden Age for Canny Readers
(By Tom Englehardt) It was 1949. My mother — known in the gossip columns of that era as “New York’s girl caricaturist” — was freelancing theatrical sketches to a number of New York’s newspapers and magazines, including the Brooklyn Eagle. That paper, then more than a century old, had just a few years of life […]
As Geneva II Conference Opens, 1.3 mn. Syrian Refugees Shiver in Lebanon
(By Molly Crabapple) COFFEE WITH REFUGEES (via techexile.com) “In Lebanon’s Mountains, Syrians Face a Grim Future The teacher never imagined he would live in a tent. He once taught high school philosophy in Homs. He holds a Masters Degree. But now he lives with several dozen other refugee families in a huddle… —– Related […]
Israeli Policy Divides Palestinian Families
(By AFP) Israel policy splits Palestinian families (via AFP) Israel’s restrictions on Palestinian movement between Gaza and the West Bank is separating relatives and making family life impossible for tens of thousands of people, an Israeli human rights report said Monday. Jointly published by rights watchdogs… ——– Related Video: RT reports on “Between the […]
Unbalanced: 85 Super-Wealthy own as Much as Half the World’s Population
(By Andrea Germanos) The global elite have rigged the rules so that "economic growth looks more like a winner-take-all system" that undermines democracy and threatens future generations with a "cascade of privilege and disadvantage," a new report from Oxfam states. The report, Working for the Few: Political capture and economic inequality, states that just 85 […]
Healing Iraq’s Rift requires less Black and White Thinking
(By Nelson Lowhim) The news from Iraq has grown dire lately. Al Qaeda has taken over certain cities (hotbeds of insurgency in earlier times) and has pushed the Iraqi government into a similar position as was the American military less than a decade ago. It is only the fact that the bogeyman—Al Qaeda—has pushed into […]
Netanyahu Tells Kerry he will Grab 13% of Palestinian West Bank
(By AFP) Israel wants to annex fourth settlement bloc: radio (via AFP) Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told US Secretary of State John Kerry that he wants to annex a fourth bloc of West Bank settlements, army radio reported on Sunday. Until now, Israel has always spoken of its intention to annex three blocs… […]