Human Rights

Human Rights Watch | – – (Beirut) – Saudi authorities carried out the largest mass execution in the country since 1980, putting 47 men to death on January 2, 2016. According to the Saudi state news agency, all of the men were convicted on terrorism charges, and most were members of Al Qaeda. The mass […]

Christianity

Would Syrian Refugee Baby Jesus be allowed to immigrate to the US?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – In this political season in which Syrian refugees have become a political football, it is worthwhile remembering that baby Jesus is depicted by the Bible as being a Syrian political refugee not once but twice. In ancient times, “Syria” referred not to the area of the […]

Displaced and Refugees

Syrian Refugees from Civil War spiraling down into Extreme Poverty

contributors

By Thalif Deen | (Inter Press Service) | – – UNITED NATIONS, Dec 16 2015 (IPS) – When German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended her immigration policies early this week — and announced plans to absorb about one million refugees, mostly from Syria — she was apparently greeted with a nine-minute standing ovation by members of […]

Human Rights

If the Dead could Speak: The Real People Syrian Regime Tortured to Death

Juan Cole

By Human Rights Watch | – – "If the Dead Could Speak" reveals some of the human stories behind the more than 28,000 photos of deaths in government custody that were smuggled out of Syria and first came to public attention in January 2014. “Just about every detainee in these photographs was someone’s beloved child, […]

censorship

Turkish Dr. faces Prison for Comparing Pres Erdogan to Gollum of Lord of the Rings

contributors

AJ+ | (Video news report) | – – “Turkish doctor Bilgin Ciftci posted a meme with side-by-side pictures comparing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey to “Lord of the Rings” character Gollum. Ciftci faces a two-year sentence for “insulting the head of the state” – and trilogy director Peter Jackson lends his expert opinion. ” […]

Displaced and Refugees

Syrian Refugees in Jordan’s Camps Reply to Dr. Ben Carson

contributors

AJ+ | (Video report) | – – “After a recent visit to the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson described it as “really quite nice.” We went to the camp to ask refugees there what they thought of his comment.” AJ+: “We Asked Syrian Refugees To Respond To Ben Carson’s Comments […]

censorship

The End of Press Freedom in Turkey?

contributors

By Joris Leverink | (Inter Press Service) | – – ANKARA, Turkey (IPS) – Days after the 1 November general elections in Turkey, Beyza Kural, a reporter with the independent press agency Bianet, rushed to Istanbul University to cover a stand-off between protesting students and the police. At the scene, Kural was harassed and manhandled […]

censorship

Turkey’s Coup against Press, own Generals over Arms Supplies to Syrian Militants

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Turkey has jailed two very prominent journalists for publishing video last May of a January, 2014, Turkish intelligence convoy of weapons to Syrian militants. When I say prominent, I mean prominent. They are Can Dundar, editor-in-chief of the Cumhuriyet newspaper, and Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul. […]

Displaced and Refugees

Big Rise in Terrorism outside West linked to Refugee Crisis

contributors

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage | (Inter Press Service) | – – UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – In 2014, the number of lives lost to terrorism around the world increased by 80 percent, the highest level ever. The majority of such terrorist activity occurred in the largest refugee-producing nations, a Global Terrorism Index (GTI) showed. The GTI, developed […]