Human Rights

“Nationalism and terrorism are constructed things to divide us”: Macedonian elections and a Balkan “War on Terror”

By Frances Trix | (Informed Comment) | – Now it appears, thanks to EU mediation, there will be new national elections in Macedonia next April 2016. In one sense it is quite early—there were national elections in April 2014 in which Nikola Gruevski, president since 2006, was once again elected. But in another sense, these […]

Government surveillance

Wins and Losses for Liberty and Privacy in USA Freedom Act

contributors

By Cindy Cohn and Mark Jaycox | (Electronic Frontier Foundation) | – The Senate passed the USA Freedom Act today by 67-32, marking the first time in over thirty years that both houses of Congress have approved a bill placing real restrictions and oversight on the National Security Agency’s surveillance powers. The weakening amendments to […]

Apartheid

Lawyer: Palestinian children facing torture in Israeli jails

contributors

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Palestinian children are being beaten and tortured in a “heinous” way by Israeli soldiers during interrogation, a Palestinian Authority lawyer has said. Hiba Masalha, a lawyer for the PA committee of prisoners’ affairs, said in a statement on Sunday that teenage detainees are being “terrified, threatened and blackmailed” in contravention of international […]

Israel

SlutWalk: Israeli Women March For Equal Rights In Jerusalem

contributors

AJ+ | (Video) | – “It’s a city where women have been forced to sit at the back of buses. Now Israel’s women are demanding equal rights in Jerusalem with a “SlutWalk”.” AJ+: “SlutWalk: Israeli Women March For Equal Rights In Jerusalem”

Apartheid

As new Gaza Aid Effort sets Sail, Activists mark 5 years since Israeli attack

contributors

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Activists in Gaza City on Sunday marked five years since Israel’s deadly attack on the first Freedom Flotilla in 2010, a day after the ship leading Freedom Flotilla III arrived in the port of Bueu in Spain en route to Gaza. Israeli naval forces killed nine activists On May 31, 2010 […]

Apartheid

Israel: Top Outrageous Things Officials of the New Far Right Gov’t have Said

contributors

Ami Kaufman | +972 Magazine | (Video) — “The ministers comprising Israel’s 34th government are the most right wing ever, almost all oppose the two-state solution and have a rich history of legislative attacks on human rights organizations and democratic institutions. Ami Kaufman has a wake-up call for you.” +972 Magazine: ” Wake-up Call: Meet […]

Displaced and Refugees

85,000 Refugees from Ramadi Restricted from Entering Baghdad, despite 110°F Heat

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – (Beirut) – Iraqi authorities are preventing thousands of families fleeing the fighting in Ramadi from reaching safer parts of the country. The government of Iraq has primary responsibility for protecting internally displaced people and should allow those fleeing danger in Ramadi or elsewhere to enter safer areas. Since April 2015, […]

Apartheid

Palestinians drop motion on Expelling Israel from In’tl Soccer for Apartheid

contributors

Update: Having made their point, Palestine dropped this motion at FIFA on Friday, likely because of behind the scenes assurances the harassment will stop. (note: title has changed.). By Camila Benson | (IMEMC) | – Palestinian Football Association chief, Jibril Rajoub, says of the vote to expel Israel from FIFA that “the situation has not […]

Colonialism

Kaplan: An Impish Desire for Imperial Déjà Vu

Juan Cole

Daniel Martin Varisco | (MENA Tidningen) | – A recent online commentary by Robert Kaplan for Foreign Policy displays the provocative title: “It’s time to bring imperialism back to the Middle East”. The punch line surfaces in the final paragraph: “Imperialism bestowed order, however retrograde it may have been”. Retrograde? How about brutal? Let’s see: […]