By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Iraqi prime minister Haydar al-Abadi announced Friday that after the city of Ramadi was recovered from Daesh (ISIS, ISIL), the Iraqi army would go on to liberate Mosul (a city of some 2 million before Daesh took it), 420 km. north of Ramadi. On Friday, the […]
The Regime Strikes Back: Syrian Gov’t advances, Bolstered by Russia
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Russia’s aerial intervention in Syria is apparently yielding some modest battlefield advances for the Baath regime of Bashar al-Assad. Russia is also resupplying the Syrian Arab Army, training it in tactics, and giving it strategic advice. The big news is that Russia airstrikes on the secret […]
Palestine: Friday clashes erupt across occupied West Bank as Israeli Occupiers use Lethal Force
Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Weekly Friday demonstrations took place across the occupied West Bank on Friday, locals said. Locals told Ma’an that clashes broke out between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers in the village of al-Khader south of Bethlehem, where dozens — including elderly residents — suffered from tear gas inhalation. […]
In Iraq’s Ur, Archeologists Explore History’s Potential to Unite A Divided Land
By Ahmad Thamer Jihad | (Niqash.org) | – – The best way to combat the damage done to Iraq’s antiquities during the current security crisis is to put more effort into exploring and maintaining the ancient sites that extremists cannot reach, says Abdulamir al-Hamdani , an Iraqi archeologist who was studying at Stony Brook University […]
Christmas and Christians in the Middle East
by Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Whether Christmas is joyous sad or nervous-making for Christians in the Middle East this year depends very much on the country in which they live. It should be noted that many of them follow Eastern traditions such that Christmas is not celebrated on December 25. The […]
British Muslim Family Not Allowed To Board Plane To Visit Disneyland: Are US visa officials Islamophobes?
AJ+ | (Video Report) | – – “On a family trip to Disneyland, one British Muslim family wasn’t allowed to get on the plane. No reason was given. And they’re not the only ones. Their MP has taken their case to Prime Minister David Cameron, and the Council on American–Islamic Relations has called for an […]
Would Syrian Refugee Baby Jesus be allowed to immigrate to the US?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – In this political season in which Syrian refugees have become a political football, it is worthwhile remembering that baby Jesus is depicted by the Bible as being a Syrian political refugee not once but twice. In ancient times, “Syria” referred not to the area of the […]
Ghoul’s Glossary: A Donald Trump Translation Dictionary
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Constitution, US: 1. An time-consuming optional document that can be abrogated for lack of time. 2. syn. politically correct (s.v.) criminal: 1. syn. Mexican. 2. syn. Hillary Clinton. family: accomplices. (As in, the families of ISIL members must be killed.) fascism: (word not found in this […]
Obama: Is the Media Hyping the threat from Daesh/ ISIL?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – President Obama gave an interview on National Public Radio on Monday in which he attempted to reassure the US public about the threat of Daesh (ISIL, ISIS). Poor Obama was constrained to defend the point that “ISIL isn’t the Soviet Union” and we are not engaged […]
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