International Politics and Economy

Jon Stewart on Iran, Israel and Directing Rosewater: “It Turns out the Middle East is Somewhat of a Hotbed”

By Alexander Bisley | (Lumiere Reader) | – – N.B. Rosewater is now streaming at Amazon Instant Video and will be available on Netflix beginning June 10 It’s slightly surreal interviewing Jon Stewart, The Daily Show interviewer. His debut film Rosewater tells the story of Maziar Bahari (played by Gael García Bernal), imprisoned in solitary […]

Arab Spring

Egypt: Year of Abuses Under al-Sisi — President Gets Western Support While Erasing Human Rights Gains

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – – (Beirut) – President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt has presided over the flagrant abuse of human rights since taking office a year ago pledging to restore stability. Violence by armed groups and the government has escalated. The United States and European governments should stop overlooking Egyptian government abuses, including […]

Democracy

Turkey: How Pres. Erdogan damaged the AKP Brand

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Justice and Development Party (AKP) decisively lost its majority on Sunday, falling to only about 40 percent of the vote. The other sixty percent were for the most party divided between the old secular Kemalist party, the Republican People’s Party; a Turkish nationalist-chauvinist party; and […]

Iraq

US view of Iraqi Army, before & after 2003 (Political Cartoon)

contributors

By Khalid Bendib | (Otherwords.org) | (Political Cartoon) Via Otherwords.org

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 […]

Democracy

A Turkish Syriza? A radical democratic party and the new politics of the Mideast

contributors

By Omer Tekdemir | ( Your Middle East) Dr Omer Tekdemir analyzes a radical force in Turkish politics, which strives to protect democracy and represent all identities in society. Turkey’s forthcoming election (07 June 2015) carries huge expectations for the HDP (People’s Democracy Party) and its new radical politics that targets a wider, more colorful […]

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 […]

Democracy

Surprise! Corporate Media declining to report on Big Money in Politics

contributors

By Deirdre Fulton, staff writer | (Commondreams.org) | – – “Now more than ever before Americans deserve to know about the need for campaign finance reform,’ advocacy groups declare” As the U.S. heads into the 2016 election cycle, where spending by candidates and outside groups is poised to approach $10 billion, groups dedicated to campaign […]

Democracy

Will the fight against ISIL Bankrupt the Iraqi Gov’t? Is it hemorrhaging hundreds of billions?

contributors

By Ibrahim Saleh | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) It’s hard to get an accurate figure on how much Iraq’s fight against the Islamic State group has cost. Local experts believe it’s in the hundreds of billions and that the country may never recover without foreign aid. The security crisis caused by the extremist group known as […]