War Crimes

By IMEMC | – – Israeli occupation authorities deported to France, late on Monday, former Tunisian president Moncef al-Marzouqi, who took part in Freedom Flotilla III. After intercepting and towing the Gaza bound ship, the Israeli occupation detained, investigated, released and deported participants, including Israeli Arab MK Basel Ghattas and former Tunisian President Moncef al-Marzouqi. […]

Apartheid

Palestinian Member of Israeli Parliament will join Gaza Aid Flotilla, Risks loss of Immunity

contributors

Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Arab MK [Member of Knesset or Parliament] Basel Ghattas said this week that threats by fellow Israeli lawmakers to remove his parliamentary immunity will not affect his decision to take part in the Freedom Flotilla III. The Israeli Knesset Committee reportedly voted in favor Tuesday of […]

Children

Yemen: Caught between Saudis & Houthis, Children Pay Price of War

contributors

By Belkis Wille | (Foreign Policy in Focus) | – – The deliberate targeting of schools has become a flashpoint in the war between Yemen’s rebels and a Saudi-led coalition. Hisham Yahya, 13, is an eager student. As we sat in the large, empty yard of his school in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, with weapons debris […]

Druze

Al-Qaeda in Syria rubs out 23 members of Druze Religious Minority, Persecutes Others

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The al-Qaeda-linked Support Front has murdered 23 men from a single Druze clan in Qalb Lawzah, Idlib Province, Syria. Druze villagers fled in large numbers to surrounding Sunni hamlets seeking refuge from al-Qaeda. There are some 18 Druze villages in the north of Idlib Province. The […]

Apartheid

Expelled for Life: A Palestinian Family’s Struggle to Stay on Their Land

contributors

By Jen Marlowe | (Tomdispatch.com) Nasser Nawaj’ah held Laith’s hand as, beside me, they walked down the dirt and pebble path of Old Susya. Nasser is 33 years old, his son six. Nasser’s jaw was set and every few moments he glanced over his shoulder to see if anyone was approaching. Until Laith piped up […]

Human Rights

A Year after the Fall of Mosul, Yazidi Kurdish Survivors of ISIL Massacres Struggle On

contributors

VICE News | (Video Report) | – – “A year after the Islamic State’s lightning conquest of Iraq’s second-largest city of Mosul, the poorly-trained and equipped Kurdish peshmerga forces are the international coalition’s only reliable boots on the ground in northern Iraq. The Pentagon’s hopes of recapturing the city by spring 2015 have been dashed […]

Apartheid

Israeli forces suppress protest over fraudulent purchase of West Bank church

contributors

HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli forces on Saturday suppressed a march protesting the recent purchase by Israeli setters of a church compound in the southern West Bank. The 38 dunam compound, known as Beit al-Baraka, is located to the north of al-Arrub refugee camp between Bethlehem and Hebron. It has been in the spotlight since an […]

Iraq

Weapons of the Wet: ISIL/ Daesh Cuts water to Iraqi Towns south of Ramadi

contributors

Ben Wedeman | (CNN Video) | – – “Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) ISIS has closed off a dam to the north of the Iraqi city of Ramadi — seized by its forces last month — cutting water supplies to pro-government towns downstream and making it easier for its fighters to attack forces loyal to Baghdad, local […]

Featured

Iraq needs another National Party: Tariq Aziz’s Baath Party Ruined the Country

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | — Tariq Aziz, the former deputy prime minister and former foreign minister of Iraq, is dead at 79. He died in prison in the custody of the Shiie-dominated government he tried to forestall. Aziz was born Mikhael Yuhanna (Michael John) into a Chaldean Catholic family. He gravitated to […]