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Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Tamim al-Hasan at the al-Mada newspaper in Baghdad reports that at a time when an imminent announcement is expected of the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Iraqi paramilitary groups have declared their solidarity with Lebanon’s Hezbollah in the struggle with Israel. Moreover, they are putting their drones where their […]

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Hezbollah Targets Israeli Airbase as Lebanon-Israel Attacks Escalate; Americans told to Flee

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Al Jazeera reports that Hezbollah escalated its rocket attacks on northern Israel and Syria’s Golan Heights occupied by Israel. Some of these rockets targeted the Ramat David Air Base near Haifa. The Israeli military said that most of the Hezbollah rockets were intercepted. The barrages went on Saturday and began […]

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The American Dream isn’t Dead; but it’s on Life Support

Thom Hartmann

Portland, Or. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – In the run-up to the 2024 Presidential election, the concept of the American Dream has become more central than ever to our national discourse. Many Americans simply ask, “What happened to it?” In my new book, The Hidden History of the American Dream: The Demise of the […]

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Does Israel’s Weaponizing of Hezbollah Pagers signal the Start of a Regional War?

Farhang Jahanpour

Israel’s massive cyber-attack on Lebanon on 17 and 18 September, with the near-simultaneous explosion of 3,000-4,000 pagers and walkie-talkies, has killed a few dozen Hezbollah members and many civilians, including some children and health workers, has blinded and maimed hundreds of people and wounded many thousands. Hezbollah’s leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in a long speech […]

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Water, War and Women in Gaza

H. Patricia Hynes

Greenfield, Mass. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – In late 2020, a report titled Saving Gaza Begins with its Water stated: The water crisis in Gaza is a problem of daunting proportions, with grave implications for the more than 2 million inhabitants of the Palestinian enclave. The Coastal Aquifer from which Gaza pumps water is diminishing; but […]

Egypt

The Sphinx and the Sultan: How Biden’s Bear Hug of Netanyahu Caused Washington’s Near East Policy to Crash and Burn

Juan Cole

I’m reprinting here my most recent Tomdispatch essay for The Nation Institute, on the possible emergence of a centrist Sunni bloc that aims to offset Israeli power in the region. Check out, as well, Tom Engelhardt’s essential introduction, here. At least one thing is now obvious in the Middle East: the Biden administration has failed […]

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25% of 95K Injuries inflicted by Israel in Gaza are “Life-Changing;” Require Medical Care that Israelis Destroyed

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Monday, Israeli bombardments killed 38 people in Gaza. Based on past experience, we can expect a majority of those killed to have been women and children — at least 21 and maybe more. Photographs and video coming out of Gaza show dead children being carried in burial shrouds. For […]

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Trump-Vance are doing to Haitians what the Israeli Right has done to Palestinians — Demonize a Whole People

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The vile and disgusting tactic of J.D. Vance and Don Trump of spreading false, racist charges against Haitians of eating the pets of suburbanites is nothing unexpected. The MAGA wing of the Republican Party thrives on finding poor, weak victims and demonizing them. First they manufacture an imaginary threat, then […]

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International Pressure on Israel averted Widespread Gaza Famine this Summer, but the Danger is Back: RI

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Refugees International has issued a new report about hunger in Gaza. The authors say, “Contrary to the official Israeli pushback, research and analysis by Refugees International has corroborated evidence of a severe hunger crisis in Gaza and found consistent indications that famine-like conditions occurred in northern areas during the first […]