Featured

Auburn, Al. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Author Zeke Hernandez’s new book is The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2024: $30.00). The author, an immigrant born in Uruguay, lived in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Argentina, before coming to the US. Hernandez received his B.A. and M.A. […]

Featured

UN Idled, as Israel Expels 258K Palestinian Civilians in Gaza, including Aid workers, imperiling Polio Vaccination Drive

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israelis are not only expelling thousands of innocent civilians from the town of Deir al-Balah in the center of the Gaza Strip, they gave only a few hours notice that some 200 UN personnel had to abruptly depart their offices and dwellings there. UN head of safety and security, […]

Featured

Morocco: Popular anger against Israel’s war on Gaza Spills into the Streets, Posing Dilemma for Rabat

Mohamed Jegham

Istanbul (Speciall to Informed Comment, Feature) – The Palestinian question has been a central topic for the Arab world for many decades now. Over the years, Arab leaders have used the Palestinian cause as one of their talking points to gain support from the populace. Over the last decade, however, the topic began to lose […]

Featured

What would America be Like if it was Like Gaza?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – What would America be like if it was like Gaza? On October 8, 2023, the Alien invasion long feared by science fiction buffs and Area 51 conspiracy theorists finally materialized, as unidentified anomalous phenomena (a.k.a. UFOs) appeared over America’s skies. The Aliens from beyond Pluto intercepted the US internet and […]

Animals

We Humans are embedded in a Web of Intelligent Life, not the Pinnacle of a Hierarchy

H. Patricia Hynes

Greenfield, Mass. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – From the largest to the smallest and the oldest to the youngest creatures on Earth–Antarctic blue whales and coastal redwood trees, minute bacteria and human beings–we are all enmeshed in layers of relationships. We need each other, though some more than others. Plants evolved hundreds of millions […]

Displaced and Refugees

Palestinian Baby in Gaza Paralyzed by Polio, as Israel Rejects UN Ceasefire Call to allow Vaccinations

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Julian Borger at The Guardian reports that the first verified case of type 2 poliovirus in 25 years in Gaza, in a baby, has resulted in the paralysis of the infant. It is only the first of many if the UN is not allowed to administer vaccines to 650,000 children […]

Featured

What you Didn’t Hear at DNC: Israeli Expulsion Decrees Disrupt last Gaza Aid Hub, jeopardizing Aid Workers, Thousands of Civilians

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Norwegian Refugee Council, an aid NGO active in Palestine, reports that new Israeli decrees have forced thousands in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah to flee once more, and have disrupted the Strip’s last aid hub. The former “safe zone” is now under concerted attack by Israeli forces. It and numerous other […]

Climate Crisis

Tim Walz took Minnesota to 54% Clean Electricty and Annual Reductions of Carbon; Can he do it for the USA?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Democratic National Convention on Wednesday evening introduce Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, to the American public. It was a touching scene, with the enthusiasm of Walz’s family on full display, and his own folksy demeanor and common sense, along with a wry sense of humor, clearly wowed the […]

Climate Crisis

There’s only One Issue in the 2024 Election: The Survival of a Habitable Earth

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In mid-July, Nature Climate Change published a global survey of over 9,000 scientists. Its findings should be like the sirens for a 5-alarm fire to our ears. Scientists are trained to be cautious and to base anything they assert on firm empirical evidence and close analytical reasoning. They want to […]