Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Egyptian Foreign Ministry forcefully denounced on Saturday the remarks of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state on part of Saudi territory. Cairo warned that such statements threatened Saudi security. Saudi Arabia says it will not recognize Israel until a concrete process is […]
China dominates Middle East Solar Sector as Trump hobbles Renewables in US
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Chinese firms dominate the manufacture of photovoltaic solar panels, accounting for 80% of the global market (along with most elements of the supply chain). Volumes in China’s solar sector, including panels, batteries and EVs, expanded by a third in 2024, even though panel prices had plummeted. The Chinese will, however, […]
Trump, an American Stalin? Massive Population Transfers were a Feature of Communist Dictatorship
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump’s proposal to ethnically cleanse Gaza of its 2.3 million Palestinians constitutes a profound reversal of post-1945 U.S. norms, which condemned such mass relocations of indigenous populations. It is the sort of thing Soviet dictator Josef Stalin used to do, and Trump has to decide if he wants his legacy […]
Global South “Hague Group” Pledges Israel Arms Boycott and Backing for Palestinian State and Int’l Law
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The governments of “Belize, Plurinational State of Bolivia, Republic of Colombia, Republic of Cuba, Republic of Honduras, Malaysia, Republic of Namibia, Republic of Senegal and Republic of South Africa” gathered in The Hague in the Netherlands on Friday to announce the formation of “The Hague Group.” The entire document is […]
The Israelis Left behind 50 mn. Tons of Bomb-Infested Rubble in Gaza, as Hundreds of Thousands Stream Home
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli systemic destruction of civilian building infrastructure in Gaza generated over 50 million tons of debris by 1 December 2024. Clearing this rubble will be extremely dangerous for the following reasons. Since returning to Gaza in November 2023, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams of the UN Mine Action Service […]
CIA Predecessor: Simple Sabotage Field Manual against Fascist Offices, 1944
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The United States defeated a global and extremely dangerous fascist movement in World War II, but soldiers, armies and violence were not its only weapons. Wikipedia tells us, “The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was an intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed […]
China’s Wind and Solar Soar by 357 Gigawatts, as Trump Mires us in backward, Planet-Wrecking Fossil Fuels
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Trump’s attempt to derail the wind and solar industries in the United States in favor of dirty fossil fuels is a threat to the health of the planet, of course. But it is also a threat to the US economy. Fossil fuels are sources of short term profits. As […]
Memo to Trump: How Dumping 2.2 Million more Palestinians on Jordan would Destabilize the Middle East even More than the Iraq War Did
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – First, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet proposed ethnically cleansing Gaza of its Palestinian inhabitants in the fall of 2023, following many years of such calls from the Israeli equivalent of neo-Nazis. Then last year Joe Biden and Antony Blinken, dissatisfied with merely enabling an ongoing Israeli genocide, […]
Interview: Juan Cole’s ‘Gaza Yet Stands’ and the Fate of Palestine
Interview of Juan Cole on his book Gaza Yet Stands by Shubhda Chaudhary for her Middle East Insights YouTube channel. Dr. Chaudhary Dr. Shubhda Chaudhary is the Founder of Middle East Insights Platform – India’s dynamic online volunteer-based organization with members from South Asia, Middle East, and Africa. She is an accomplished academic in Global […]