Culture

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The brave and highly ethical Oscar-award-winning director, Jonathan Glazer, has been targeted by the crazies on the Zionist (Israeli-nationalist) right wing, as were all the actors and film people who expressed horror at the genocide in Gaza. Their allegations on social media are so bizarre and crazed that they are […]

Culture

The Ongoing Genocidal Violence against the Palestinian People and their Cultural Heritage in Gaza: MESA

Committee on Academic Freedom

The Middle East Studies Association of North America | Letters from the Board | Committee on Academic Freedom | The Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association and its Committee on Academic Freedom condemn in the strongest possible terms the ongoing attack on Gaza by the state of Israel, which has now claimed […]

Books

Dune Part Two: The Islamic Dimension

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Journalist and science fiction writer Frank Herbert’s Dune epic has many themes. One is, clearly, environmentalism and the need for humans to adapt to their environment. Another is the struggle between regimented bureaucratic civilization and individualism. Yet another is the temptation to use religion for liberatory purposes. The Denis Villeneuve […]

Climate Crisis

In our National Crisis, We need Public Voices of Optimism — not Gadflies circling a Black Hole

Bahman Fozouni

Sacramento (Special to Informed Comment) – Who is a public intellectual? What role should they play? Searching the internet yields several answers. Alan Lightman’s The Role of the Public Intellectual offers a thoughtful discussion of different visions of the public intellectual and their role and responsibilities. I have opted for a broader description, but with […]

art and photography

Artists Bring Human Richness at Times of Strife – and must be allowed to Speak about the Israel and Gaza

The Conversation

By Lowell Gasoi, Carleton University | – The current Israel-Hamas war has dominated the news for the past few months. As reports of military machinations and diplomatic efforts have gained attention, the art world has struggled with responses to the horrors of this war. For example, controversy and calls for transparency and accountability followed the […]

Books

The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam: “When New Year’s rainclouds wash the tulip’s face”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In the quatrains attributed to the medieval Iranian astronomer Omar Khayyam, the Rubáiyát, the renewal that comes with New Year is an important theme. Since the Iranian New Year is held on the spring solstice (typically March 21), it is associated with the rebirth of greenery. This year I’m sharing […]

art and photography

How I express my diasporic Palestinian Grief through Art

Waging Nonviolence

Liz Bajjalieh November 14, 2023 ( Waging Nonviolence ) – I woke up on Oct. 7 to a Facebook timeline full of friends posting about how the world is just so cruel. Confused, I scrolled a bit further, and read what Western newspapers were saying: Israel and Hamas were targeting each other again. The heaviness […]

Books

In the Shadow of War: Life and Fiction in Twenty-First Century America

Tomdispatch

By Beverly Gologorsky ( Tomdispatch.com) – I’m a voracious reader of American fiction and I’ve noticed something odd in recent years. This country has been eternally “at war” and you just wouldn’t know that — a small amount of veteran’s fiction aside — from the novels that are generally published. For at least a decade, […]

film

“Killers of the Flower Moon” puts Oklahoma’s Dark History of Native Osage Murders on Display

Florida Phoenix

By: Carmen Forman ( Florida Phoenix) – OKLAHOMA CITY — Although many Oklahomans were long ignorant about how white settlers systematically murdered members of the Osage Nation for their oil wealth in the 1920s, “Killers of the Flower Moon” will mark a milestone in how the state addresses its complex and painful history. The Friday […]