Peace

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Actress Natalie Portman has kicked off a controversy with remarks about how to remember the Nazi Holocaust against the Jews, in which the National Socialists murdered 6 million. Her critics have run off on tangents and presented a lot of red herrings. Portman did not question […]

Nuclear Energy

70 Top nuclear Experts: Iran Deal a ‘Net-Plus’ for Non-Proliferation Worldwide

contributors

By S. Chandra | (Inter Press Service) – – WASHINGTON (IPS) – As the U.S. Congress prepares to vote next month on the landmark Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was agreed on July 14 between the world’s leading powers and Iran, and has been approved by the U.N. Security Council, eminent nuclear non-proliferation […]

Acidification of Oceans

Defying Saudis, Iran: Muslim thinkers call for Action on Climate Change at Istanbul Conference

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Attendees at the International Islamic Climate Change Symposium in Istanbul from 20 countries produced, and 60 of them signed, a declaration this week warning of the dangers of climate change and urging urgent action to curb carbon dioxide emissions. But, I fear the press reporting on […]

Featured

Top Iran General Endorses Nuclear Deal with US, UNSC

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Iranian Chief of Staff Major-Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi said Saturday that despite some reservations, he saw 16 major advantages to the Iran deal. He didn’t mention any specific disadvantages. Firouzabadi said, “The armed forces have the largest number of concerns about the effect of the accord on […]

Israel

Pic of the Day: Palestinians shield Israeli policewoman from stone-throwers

contributors

Striking photo of Palestinians shielding Israeli policewoman from stones thrown by settlers. https://t.co/gburzyw8jP pic.twitter.com/8N6hDqgaFl — Gregg Carlstrom (@glcarlstrom) August 2, 2015 N.B. A reader wrote in to say that they were protecting her from Palestinian stone-throwers, not settlers.

Education

Teaching tolerance: Five Israeli schools unite Jews and Palestinians

contributors

By: Anna Kokko | (Ma’an News Agency) | – – JAFFA (Ma’an) — Paper lanterns crafted for Ramadan are hanging over the heads of children as they run between a snack table and a cartoon playing on the television. On first glance, this could be any other kindergarten in the city of Jaffa, where over […]

nuclear weapons

Why won’t US, Israel Ratify Nuclear Test Ban Treaty but seek Iran Sanctions?

contributors

By Kanya D’Almeida UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – With the four-week-long review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) underway at the United Nations, hopes and frustrations are running equally high, as a binding political agreement on the biggest threat to humanity hangs in the balance. Gamma spectroscopy can detect traces of radioactivity from nuclear tests […]

Iran

Overwhelming US Public Approval of Iran Talks gives Momentum to Peace Deal

contributors

By Carlyn Meyer | (Informed Comment) — For years, AIPAC and the Netanyahu government in Israel have tried to mark the Iran nuclear talks as a “Jewish” or ‘Israeli’ concern distinct from a world interest in nuclear non-proliferation. In this way, they were able (with plenty of help from the media) to control the framework […]

Islam

What the Tsarnaevs didn’t Know: The Untold Story of Chechen Non-Violence

contributors

By Rebecca Gould | (Informed Comment) While the Boston bombing trial continues to dominate the media, its perpetrators, the Tsarnaev brothers, are associated with a geography scarcely known by Americans: Chechnya. If there is any examination of Chechnya’s history, rarely does it go beyond this: the bombers hailed from a Republic whose leader, Dudaev, had […]