Arab World

Brendan Browne | (The Conversation) | – – As the clock moves towards 12.45pm I begin to anxiously await the flurry of emails that I’ve come to expect in advance of my 2pm class. The class is on law and human rights. Students email to say that a deterioration in the security situation means they […]

al-Qaeda

ISIL, al-Qaeda in Syria call for Holy War against Russia

contributors

By Joanna Paraszczuk | ( RFE/ RL Both the [so-called] Islamic State (IS) group and Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, the Al-Nusra Front, this week called for attacks against Russia, as Russian air strikes in Syria continue — though not against IS targets. IS broke two weeks of silence on the Russian air strikes in Syria on […]

Russia

Can Russia afford Its Syria Campaign?

contributors

By Charles Recknagel | ( RFE/ RL ) Rough estimates suggest that Moscow has spent at least $87 million for air and cruise-missile strikes in the first two weeks of its bombing campaign in Syria that began September 30. With that relatively modest investment, the Kremlin has made itself a player that cannot be ignored […]

Israel/ Palestine

Palestinians want West Bank & Gaza to be put under UN protection

contributors

By Samer B. Jaber | (Ma’an News Agency) | – – We, a group of professional and trade union figures, intellectuals, and political activists, appeal to the Palestinian leadership within the Palestine Liberation Organization and outside of it, to call on the United Nation and the permanent members of the Security Council to put the […]

Featured

Syria: Will US arming of Kurdish-led Northeast Rebels Provoke Turkey?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The intrepid Anne Barnard and Karim Shoumali at the NYT have a piece on how Saudi-supplied TOW anti-tank weapons to rebels in Hama and Idlib are creating a US-Russian proxy struggle in northwest Syria (the CIA is actually the source of the weapons, with Saudi intelligence […]

Balkans

3 Memes: Twitter debates as Russian support for Syria intervention Doubles

contributors

By Anna Shamanska | ( RFE/RL) | – – Support among Russians for military intervention in Syria has more than doubled, to 31 percent in early October from 14 percent in September, according to independent pollster Levada Center. The increase comes with coverage of air strikes filling Russian state airwaves, press, and the Internet, and […]

Iraq

The Mideast’s New Cold War: Why Russia won’t Defeat Iraq’s Extremists

contributors

By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | – – Since the announcement of a new military alliance including Russia, locals have been trading arguments. Could Iraq become the stage for a new “Cold War”? And how effective can this coalition really be? For many Iraqis, the news that came last week of an alliance […]

Israel/ Palestine

Elderly Palestinian man confronts Israeli soldiers over shooting at Youth, before collapsing

contributors

Lauren Hampshire | (ODN Video News Report/ ITN) | – – An elderly Palestinian man confronted a group Israeli troops after they clashed with Palestinian youths in Hebron, before he collapsed on the street. Report by Lauren Hampshire. ODN: “Elderly Palestinian man confronts armed Israeli soldiers before collapsing”

Israel

Israeli settlers carry out attacks in East Jerusalem, West Bank

contributors

Ma’an News Agency | – – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli settlers on Saturday carried out a number of attacks on Palestinians across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, witnesses told Ma’an. In western Hebron, locals said that settlers attacked Palestinian homes near the illegal Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arbaa. Settlers reportedly attacked the homes […]