Juan Cole

Egypt is on the knife edge between plunging into Algeria-style faction-fighting between secularists and Muslim fundamentalists, and finding a graceful way for its elected president to climb down from his more extreme assertions of power and privilege vis-a-vis the other branches of government. The toll from fighting in Egypt between pro- and anti-Morsi activists all […]

Youth try to play cards in the midst of demonstrations and clashes between leftists and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and seem really devoted to their game.

Steep sand-surfing:

The authors of Our Harsh Logic, Israeli veterans who protest the treatment of Palestinians via an organization, “Breaking the Silence,” write at Tomdispatch.com: “It’s Mostly Punishment…” Testimonies by Veterans of the Israeli Defense Forces From Gaza and the Occupied Territories By Breaking the Silence “There is no country on Earth that would tolerate missiles raining […]

The executive order issued by President Muhammad Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party last Thursday has thrown the country into substantial turmoil, with demonstrations, clashes and civil strikes throughout much of the country. The struggle against Morsi’s 7-point executive order is being fought on four levels: 1. Morsi’s rivals for political power, […]

Abby Martin of Russia Today’s Brainwash Update pointed out that Israel’s targeting of Gaza media centers, which killed journalists and endangered employees of many news organizations, was a war crime. (She was hardly alone in this). She was the victim of a smear attempt by the Israel lobby, which accused her of support for terrorism […]

The New Left youth movements led a powerful charge against Thursday’s presidential decree by Muhammad Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood’s civil wing, the Freedom and Justice Party. Protests were held at some scale in 8 governorates. The Egyptian religious Right (the Muslim Brotherhood) and the secular liberals and leftists had been allies in overthrowing Hosni […]

Americans face an erosion of the rights they fought for in their revolution (checks and balances on executive power, right to privacy from government snooping, right to due process, right to have the people decide things, not kings and popes) But they gathered in masses to celebrate consumerism on Black Friday: Egyptians face an erosion […]

Egypt’s president Muhammad Morsi, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood’s civil wing, the Freedom and Justice Party, issued a wide-ranging set of decrees on Thursday that greatly enhanced his power and would have led to a constitutional crisis if there were a constitution. He seems likely, in any case, to have set off substantial social turmoil, […]