Arab World

JERUSALEM | January 2015 | (IRIN) | – Of all the hurdles to peace negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, perhaps the largest is the 150 or so Israeli settlements in the West Bank. These communities, considered illegal by the UN, are fracturing Israel’s relationship even with its allies: The pro-Israeli head of the UK […]

Featured

Whatever Happened to besieged Kurdish City of Kobane, Syria?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | — Kurdish forces (including both the local YPG and Peshmerga units from Iraqi Kurdistan), and supported by Free Syrian Army troops and coalition air strikes, have largely recovered Kobane from rule by Daesh (called in the West ISIL or ISIS). Kurdish forces have recovered control of the downtown where the government […]

Iraq

Saudi General, Border Guards Killed by Daesh/ISIL for not being Fanatical Enough

contributors

France24 | — “At 4,30 am 4 men coming from Iraqi territory attacked a border post on the northern frontier of Saudi Arabia. Two of the attackers were killed during the attack, one by gun shot and the second activated his explosive belt killing general Awda al-Balwi, commander of the northern frontier zone, with one […]

Apartheid

Stealing Bethlehem: How the Israelis are economically Strangling the Palestinian Town of Jesus’ Birth

contributors

By James Zogby (Ma’an News Agency) For those who do not know the place, Bethlehem possesses a timeless quality, derived from these artistic creations. It is a place of mystery and contradictions. It is the peaceful little town that played an out-sized role in history; the birthplace of Jesus, the child born in a cave, […]

History

Can History Resolve the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict?

contributors

Joel Beinin, Stanford University (History News Network /American Historical Association) — “Joel Beinin is a professor of history at Stanford University. On January 3, 2015 he spoke at a roundtable convened by the Mid-Atlantic Radical Historians’ Organization (MARHO) on the subject: ”What is the Responsibility of Historians Regarding the Israel/Palestine Conflict?” ” HNNeditor: “Joel Beinin: […]

Iraq

Iraq has Worst Year since Bush Invaded, is a Ghost of Former Self

contributors

By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) — The past year in Iraq is not easy to review. The assorted crises, both in security and politics, are well known around the world and for many Iraqis it’s been one long nightmare. NIQASH went to gather ordinary Iraqis’ opinions on the year gone by and ended […]

Apartheid

Why the US should welcome Palestine Pres. Abbas joining Int’l Criminal Court

contributors

by Aaron Magid | (Ma’an News Agency) Criticism against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority is mounting after his United Nations Security Council Resolution and bid to join the International Criminal Court. Aside from Netanyahu and the usual hawkish Israeli right, even officials generally sympathetic to the Palestinian plight are attacking Abbas. Former […]

Economy

Why Egypt’s Threat to Arrest Amal Clooney will hurt its Economy

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — Patrick Kingsley of The Guardian reported on Friday that Amal Clooney was threatened with jail by Egyptian authorities last February if she released a report in Cairo on flaws in the Egyptian judiciary that had been commissioned by the International Bar Association. The report is available on the […]

Apartheid

When will it Explode? Jerusalem’s Silwan district is a Global Powder Keg

contributors

Vice News | — “Throughout the past several months, Jerusalem has been a scene of clashes and violent attacks. Silwan, a Palestinian neighborhood just steps away from Jerusalem’s Old City, has been at the heart of the unrest, and is becoming one of the most contentious neighborhoods in the most contested city in the world. […]