History

On Anniversary of Republican Party’s overthrow of the Iranian Gov’t; Let’s remember that on Jan. 6 it used the Same Techniques against our elected President

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – As the indictments by grand juries at the federal and state level show, there is good reason to believe that on January 6, 2021, Donald John Trump attempted to make a coup and remain in power despite losing the election to Joe Biden. August 19 is the anniversary of the […]

Archaeology

In another Blow to European White Nationalism, Ancient Iceman Ötzi was a Brown-Skinned Anatolian

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Some 5,000 years ago, a Tyrolean farmer was walking along minding his own business when an enemy put an arrow into his back, so that he fell into a glacier. He stayed there until 1991, when global heating revealed his frozen mummy to some hikers. What could be more echt […]

Colonialism

The Netherlands Waged a Bloody 4-Year War to keep Indonesia Colonized after 1945; Finally it is Apologizing

Anne-Ruth Wertheim

( Jacobin NL) On Monday 29 May 2023 I stood with my granddaughter and my son-in-law in front of the Proclamation Monument in Jakarta, with the two more than life-size bronze statues of the Indonesians Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta, who on 17 August 1945 proclaimed the independence of the Republic of Indonesia. In between them […]

History

How Lebanon was shaped by its Great Famine in WW I

Marc Martorell Junyent

Brand, Tylor. Famine Worlds: Life at the Edge of Suffering in Lebanon’s Great War. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2023. Review of Tylor Brand, Famine Worlds: Life at the Edge of Suffering in Lebanon’s Great War (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2023). Munich (Special to Informed Comment) – Suez, Gallipoli, Kut al-Amara, and Jerusalem saw […]

Colonialism

The Tapestry of Palestinian History: The Palestine Museum in Bir Zeit

Middle East Monitor

Naima Morelli naimamorelli ( Middle East Monitor ) – Duty and care are the words that would best describe the approach of Dr Adila Laidi-Hanieh towards the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit. She is stepping down as director of the museum at the end of this month, and we took the opportunity for her to […]

Archaeology

Dismantling the Myth that Ancient Slavery “Wasn’t that Bad”

The Conversation

By Chance Bonar, Tufts University | – As someone who researches slavery in the ancient Mediterranean world, especially in the Bible, I often hear remarks like, “Slavery was totally different back then, right?” “Well, it couldn’t have been that bad.” “Couldn’t slaves buy their freedom?” Most people in the United States or Europe in the […]

Bill of Rights

Trump’s Indictment for Jan. 6: Revisiting “Psychopathocracy”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A Grand Jury empaneled by Special Prosecutor Jack Smith has issued an indictment (full text here) against Donald John Trump on four counts, Smith delivered a statement, saying, “Today, an indictment was unsealed charging Donald J. Trump with conspiring to defraud the United States, conspiring to disenfranchise voters, and conspiring […]

History

Thom Hartmann’s “The Hidden History of American Democracy: Rediscovering Humanity’s Ancient Way of Living”

contributors

Thom Hartman interviewed on The Mark Thompson Show: “The Hidden History of American Democracy: Rediscovering Humanity’s Ancient Way of Living” Thom Hartmann is the host of the Thom Hartmann Show on Youtube. His new book: Thom Hartmann, The Hidden History of American Democracy: Rediscovering Humanity’s Ancient Way of Living. Click here. “About The Hidden History […]

Africa

Dear Ron DeSantis: Consider all the Valuable Skills the Enslaved Taught Cracker Slave-Holders (For Which they were never Paid)

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The new Florida history curriculum on slavery says that some enslaved persons learned skills while enslaved that later benefited them, provoking shock and outrage across the nation. One of the things that is wrong with this way of looking at the issue is the white nationalist assumption that white slavers […]