Democracy

By Farhad Malekafzali August 19 is the anniversary of the 1953 CIA-MI6 coup in Iran. The coup overthrew a government with a remarkable commitment to the norms of liberal democracy. The fate of Premier Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh has rightfully received a good deal of scholarly and journalistic attention. He was tried for treason, imprisoned for […]

Democracy

Largest Israeli anti-War Rally since Gaza Campaign Began: 10,000 Protest in Tel Aviv

contributors

Reuters: “Anti-war demonstrators protest against the war in Gaza at a rally in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square. Rough Cut” – Largest anti-war rally since attack on Gaza began in July. Reuters: “Anti-war demonstrators protest in Tel Aviv” For an idea what is driving the protesters, from Meretz and Jewish Voice for Peace, see Social TV, […]

Democracy

Only Mideast Democracy? In Midst of War, Israel Clamps Down on Dissent

contributors

By Sarah Lazare As a tenuous ceasefire takes hold, the besieged Gaza strip must contend with the path of death and destruction left by Israel’s month-long military assault, including 1,939 Palestinian lives lost, 9,886 wounded, over 200,000 displaced, and more than 10,000 Palestinian housing units severely damaged or completely ruined. Israeli critics of the “Operation […]

Arab Spring

Q & A w/ Juan Cole on “The New Arabs”: If Elders in Mideast Can’t Get it Done, will the Youth?

Juan Cole

by *JOSEPH RICHARD PREVILLE and JULIE POUCHER HARBIN for ISLAMiCommentary Column » By the Book “Many Palestinians see the Israelis as aggressive colonizers of Palestinian land and resources or as jailers; many Israelis see the Palestinians as irrational, violent and a ticking demographic time bomb that endangers a Jewish-majority state between the Jordan and the […]

American Jews

Quashing Jewish Dissent on Israel

contributors

By Shalom Goldman A New Yorker cartoon of a few years back shows Moses and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. Looking at Moses, one Israelite says to the other, “Well, he’s alright, but I wish he were a little more pro-Israel.” The leadership of American Jewish community organizations never has to worry about such […]

Bill of Rights

Helpless Giant: How Imperial US Elites Tied America Down All by Themselves

Tom Engelhardt

By Tom Engelhardt via Tomdispatch For America’s national security state, this is the age of impunity. Nothing it does — torture, kidnapping, assassination, illegal surveillance, you name it — will ever be brought to court. For none of its beyond-the-boundaries acts will anyone be held accountable. The only crimes that can now be committed in […]

Afghanistan

Will Afghanistan Break up Too? Abdullah Threatens Rival Gov’t As Kerry Raises “Concern”

contributors

By Charles Recknagel As disappointed Abdullah Abdullah supporters label Afghanistan's early election results a "coup d'etat," there is every reason to take seriously their threats to form a parallel government rather than accept one led by rival candidate Ashraf Ghani. This is because Abdullah is part of a powerful network that has both the political […]

Democracy

Exiled Governor of Mosul: We Need Local Troops to Take it Back

contributors

niqash | Special Correspondent | Erbil | Prominent Sunni Muslim politician, Atheel al-Nujaifi, who is also the governor of Ninawa province in-exile, talks about why he fled the city when Sunni Muslim extremists attacked. He also explains why the solution for the current Iraqi crisis must come from within the Sunni Muslim population, and why […]

Democracy

90% of NSA Data from non-Targets, 1/2 accounts had info on US Citizens

contributors

By Jon Queally Washington Post reveals unprecedented look at how 'voyeuristic' spy agency manages private communications it collects New reporting by the Washington Post based on materials leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden reveals an unprecedented view of how the private information of millions of "ordinary people" are caught up in the spy agency's massive […]