Human Rights

By Juan Cole | — That the release in Washington of a dense 450 page report on CIA torture conducted a decade ago would provoke massive demonstrations in the Middle East all along struck me as unlikely. It could perhaps provoke small terrorist groups affiliated with al-Qaeda, but those groups are already plotting out attacks […]

Displaced and Refugees

West Only has Money for Bombs? 60,000 Child Laborers in Jordan as Syrian Refugees struggle to Survive

contributors

AMMAN | (IRIN) | – Jordan is straining under the weight of its over 600,000 Syrian refugees, with government officials and aid agencies warning of dwindling resources and capacity to respond to the ever-growing needs. Yet Syrians fleeing the current conflict only make up one small portion of the country’s refugee population. For decades, the tiny […]

Bill of Rights

Psychologists, who Took $81 mn. to Advise, Practice Torture, betrayed the Profession

contributors

By Laurence Alison, University of Liverpool During the War on Terror, the CIA’s operations subjected hundreds of suspected terrorists to harsh interrogation techniques, which were often criticised as constituting torture. Now, the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on the operation has made it clearer than ever that the CIA used many forms of “enhanced interrogation” to […]

National Security State

McCain on Torture: A Stain on our National Honor, Produces Misleading Info

contributors

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) | — Candidate for the best American speech of this decade: “As the Senate Intelligence Committee’s CIA torture report roiled Capitol Hill Tuesday, Sen. John McCain framed the argument as one of moral clarity, all the while bumping up against his party leaders. “I rise in support of the release, the […]

Featured

Why the Founding Fathers thought banning Torture Foundational to the US Constitution

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | — I have argued on many occasions that the language of patriotism and appeal to the Founding Fathers and the constitution must not be allowed to be appropriated by the political right wing in contemporary America, since for the most part right wing principles (privileging religion, exaltation of ‘whiteness’ over universal […]

Featured

GOP Squirms at Release of CIA Torture Report, warns of “Violence” (So why did they Torture?)

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | — Outgoing House Intelligence Committee head Mike Rogers (R-MI) was on Candy Crowley’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, speaking against releasing any details concerning CIA use of torture in the period after the September 11 attacks. The Senate report is due out this week and is already the object of […]

Apartheid

Israeli Forces arrest 8-year-old Palestinian in East Jerusalem (They arrest 2 Children a day on Average)

contributors

JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli special forces last Wednesday detained an eight-year-old Palestinian in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem, a local information center said. Majdi Abbasi of the Wadi Hilweh Information Center said in a statement that Obeida Ayesh, eight, was arrested in the Ein al-Lawza area of the neighborhood. Obeida’s mother was allowed to […]

Apartheid

Nowhere to Run: Broken Homes and Broken Lives in Gaza

contributors

By Jen Marlowe | (Tomdispatch.com) Rubble. That’s been the one constant for the Awajah family for as long as I’ve known them. Four months ago, their home was demolished by the Israeli military — and it wasn’t the first time that Kamal, Wafaa, and their children had been through this. For the last six years, […]

Apartheid

Israeli Squatters chop down 50 Olive Trees in Palestinian Village (800,000 since 1967)

contributors

NABLUS (Ma’an) — Settlers cut down over 50 olive trees in the Nablus village of Aqraba on Friday, Palestinian official Ghassan Daghlas said. Settlers from Elon Moreh, located east of Nablus, attacked Aqraba and cut down 50 olive trees from the Juhr al-Dik area of the village. The trees belonged to Said Bani Jame. Several […]