Human Rights

By Peter Van Buren Here’s a bit of history from another America: the Bill of Rights was designed to protect the people from their government. If the First Amendment’s right to speak out publicly was the people’s wall of security, then the Fourth Amendment’s right to privacy was its buttress. It was once thought that the government […]

Arab Spring

July 1: Juan’s new Book, “The New Arabs” hits the Shelves

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole For those of you who like “long reads,” my new book will be out next Tuesday. For those of you intending to buy it, let me suggest that you all purchase it on its publication date, July 1. The way the publishing metrics work, if you can get the book to a […]

Barack Obama

Obama’s Drone Memo Revealed: US Gov’t can over-rule 4th Amendment

contributors

By Sarah Lazare The U.S. government on Monday partially released the formerly-classified Department of Justice "drone memo," dated 2010, in which Obama administration lawyers argue they have the right to extra-judicially kill U.S. citizen Anwar al-Aulaqi in Yemen. Anwar Al Aulaqi, who had been placed on a "kill list," died by U.S. drone strikes in […]

African-Americans

Blue Planet et al. Appeal to UN over Detroit Water cut-off to Thousands

contributors

By Sarah Lazare 'By denying water service to thousands, Detroit is violating the human right to water.' As thousands of people in Detroit go without water, and the city moves to cut off services to tens of thousands more, concerned organizations have taken the unusual step of appealing to the United Nations to intervene and […]

Apartheid

Israel Threatens Witnesses to its Killings of Palestinians, and it Must Stop

contributors

Via Human Rights Watch Israeli Army targets Man Whose Cameras Recorded Deaths Israel should be investigating these deaths, but instead its forces seem intent on intimidating witnesses and ensuring future abuses won’t be caught on camera. The Israeli response to the killing of two boys looks more like an attempt to cover up than a […]

Displaced and Refugees

Palestinians 66 Yrs Later: An Unsustainable Refugee Crisis

contributors

By Pierre Krähenbühl via EurActiv Commissioner General of the United United Nations Relief and Works Agency Pierre Krähenbühl writes on the unsustainability of the Palestine refugee crisis on World Refugee Day (20 June). 120 children were recently allowed out of Yarmouk, the Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, to sit public exams. The 14-year-olds emerged from […]

Apartheid

Israeli Occupation Army harasses Palestinians on Pretext of Missing Settler Youth

contributors

Palestinian families bear brunt as Israel hunts teens (via AFP) It was the sound of the front door being kicked in that woke the Izrayqat family early Wednesday as Israeli troops barged into their home in Taffuh village near Hebron. Even the four children were sleeping because school had ended and the summer holidays… […]

Constitution

Torture: What’s Race Got to do with It?

contributors

By Rebecca Gordon June is Torture Awareness Month, so this seems like a good time to consider some difficult aspects of torture people in the United States might need to be aware of. Sadly, this country has a long history of involvement with torture, both in its military adventures abroad and within its borders. A […]

Featured

As US Pressures Maliki to Resign, will Iraqi Gov’t Collapse?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole A consensus is forming in Washington that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki must resign, as part of accountability for his failures with his Sunni Arab citizens. Because Washington is so good about demanding accountability. While this analysis is correct, and I have said myself that Iraq would be better off with a different […]