Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On the eve of Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s controversial visit to the United States, which several members of Congress say they will boycott, Israeli society is coming apart at the seams. The presidency in Israel is a purely symbolic post. Power resides with the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu and his […]
Progressive Dem Caucus Chair Condemns Israel as a Racist State, says Palestinian Statehood increasingly “not Possible”
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Update: See Rep. Jayapal’s clarification below. Remarks Saturday by Rep. Pramila Jayapal may signal the end of the “liberal except on Palestine” ploy of most Congressional Democrats, who decry police brutality against US minorities but are perfectly all right with Israeli government repression of the Palestinians being kept stateless and […]
The “Cerberus” Heat Wave and the Closing of the Parthenon: Why the Climate Crisis Evokes Cosmic Mythology
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – High daytime temperatures in the Mediterranean basin are disrupting life in many ways, in Spain, Morocco, Greece, Turkey and elsewhere. Tourists in Greece suffered frustrations on Friday when government authorities abruptly closed the Parthenon from midday until evening. There were fears that the tourists up there would have a heat […]
Should Congress be inviting Illiberal Government Leaders Like those of India and Israel to address it? Is it all Right to Boycott Human Rights Offenders?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Let us imagine a country somewhere in the world, let us call it Qorlu. It has two major ethnic groups, the Laval and the Zorbi. The Laval are the majority in Qorlu, and the Zorbi are a minority. But Qorlu had a war several decades ago in which it conquered […]
Is Turkey abandoning Russia to turn back toward the West?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Given the decisions announced by Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, some have speculated that Turkey is “turning back toward the West” after a long period of estrangement and flirtation with Russia. Erdogan finally dropped his opposition to Sweden joining NATO. He backed NATO membership […]
Iraq’s Climate Crisis: America’s War for Oil and the Great Mesopotamian Dustbowl
( Tomdispatch.com ) – It was one of the fabled rivers of history and the Marines needed to cross it. In early April 2003, as American forces sought to wrap up their conquest of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and take strongholds to its north, the Marine Corps formed “Task Force Tripoli.” It was commanded by […]
Turkiye’s Erdogan Urges NATO membership for Ukraine, but Stiff-Arms Sweden over Kurdish Issue
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan invited Ukraine’s leader, Volodomir Zelensky, to Istanbul for consultations. Zelensky arrived late on Friday and met for two and a half hours with Erdogan at the Vahidettin Palace, the old residence of the last Ottoman emperor. In remarks after the meeting, Erdogan deplored the continuing war […]
Average Earth Temperature this week was Highest in at least 120,000 Years, When Modern Homo Sapiens was a Young Species
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The earth is getting especially hot this year, as record after record falls. Seth Borenstein at AP reports that three times this past week, the average temperature of the earth topped anything ever recorded. Thursday’s average 62.9 °F. (17.18 °C.) broke the record yet again. You don’t break all those […]
Jenin and Sharpeville: Systemic Colonial Violence in Apartheid Israel and South Africa
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The relationship of the Jewish-dominated Israeli state to the Muslim and Christian Palestinians of the occupied Palestinian West Bank and the Gaza Strip has been characterized in many ways. Israeli sources depict the Palestinians as irrationally violent, as inveterate “terrorists,” and characterize Israeli military operations in these territories as counter-terrorism. […]
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