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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Reuters reports, based on sources in Beirut, that Russia is increasing its involvement in Syria, backing the military of beleaguered dictator Bashar al-Assad. Russia appears to be offloading tanks at its Tartous naval base on the Syrian coast, and may also be establishing an interior air […]

African-Americans

What if Kim Davis Refused to License Marriages of Inter-Racial Couples?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Kentucky court clerk Kim Davis was released from prison on Tuesday after having been jailed for 5 days for contempt of court because she will not issue marriage licenses to her gay constituents. Her release was turned into a circus by Mike Huckabee, seeking a way […]

Apartheid

Israel plans to tear down 13,000 Palestinian Buildings in Palestine

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has produced a report [pdf] in which it finds that “Official data released by the Israeli authorities indicate that over 11,000 demolition orders – affecting an estimated 13,000 Palestinian- owned structures, including homes -are currently ‘outstanding’ […]

Christianity

Pope Francis’ call to host Refugees contrasts w/ anti-Immigrant US “Religious Right”

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Not all American Christian leaders have covered themselves in glory when it comes to the issue of Syrian refugees being accepted by the US ( not many are). Evangelist Franklin Graham sees these refugees as a security threat because many of them are Muslim (though there […]

American Jews

Whether Jewish Refugees in ’30s or Syrians today, USA Falls Short of own Ideals

contributors

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Germany, a country of 80 million, will take in 800,000 refugees this year, many of them Syrians. That is 1 percent of their population. It would be like the USA taking in 3 million refugees in one year. The US takes in 70,000 refugees a year. […]

Featured

Unlike Israel’s Netanyahu, Saudi Arabia now says it supports Iran Nuclear Deal

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Saudi-owned, pan-Arab London daily al-Sharq al-Awsat (the Middle East) reported on the meeting Friday between King Salman of Saudi Arabia and President Obama and their top foreign policy and security teams. It said, “American officials told al-Sharq al-Awsat that President Obama is eager to calm […]

Featured

Top 4 Issues Saudi King Salman will discuss in first visit to Obama’s White House

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Saudi King Salman is meeting Friday with President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, and National Security Adviser Susan Rice. King Salman had declined to attend Obama’s Gulf Summit in May, apparently over anger at the negotiations with Iran over its civilian […]

Barack Obama

Obama’s Journey: Top 10 signs of Extreme Climate Change in Alaska and why it Should Scare Us

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – American corporate news has not devoted the hours to President Obama’s trip to Alaska that it deserves, focusing on the GOP clown car back in the lower 48 instead. I did a Lexis Nexis search under Arctic Summit (yes, there was one, which Obama attended) in […]

Democratic Party

Obama 1, Netanyahu 0, as Dems & Public rally to Iran Deal

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Israel lobbies don’t win every fight on Capitol Hill, but over time they have tended to win the big ones in recent decades. This time, they are going down. Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, a notorious narcissist, appears to have completely over-estimated his ability to […]