Arab World

By Juan Cole: Daesh (the Arabic acronym for ISIS or ISIL) has mounted a major offensive in a bid to take Ramadi, the capital of al-Anbar Province in western Iraq. Ramadi is due west of Baghdad past Fallujah. Iraqi eyewitnesses told the al-Arabiya satellite news channel that Daesh had taken over some of the neighborhoods […]

Colonialism

Israeli Occupation forces wound dozens of Palestinian Protesters across West Bank

contributors

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces opened fire and injured dozens of Palestinians across the West Bank on Friday, as hundreds marched in a number of cities and villages in protest against the Israeli occupation and recent Israeli violence in occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli soldiers opened fire on rallies in Nabi Saleh, central Hebron, at Qalandia […]

Dissent

An Israeli-Arab Spring? 1.6 mn Palestinian-Israelis are Marginalized, Angry and Defiant

contributors

By Emile Nakhleh | — WASHINGTON, Nov 20 2014 (IPS) – The recent killing of an Arab youth by the police in the Israeli Arab village of Kafr Kanna, outside Nazareth, the ongoing bloody violence in Jerusalem, and the growing tensions between the Israeli security services and the Arab community in Israel could be a […]

Apartheid

Another Domino Falls: Spanish Parliament votes to Recognize Palestine

contributors

Euronews: “Spanish MPs have urged their government to recognise the Palestinian state. The a non-binding resolution presented by the socialists won the backing of all the political groups of the lower house, and would only ask for recognition when the Palestinians and Israel negotiate a solution to their long-running conflict. “The Spanish Parliament unanimously believe […]

Egypt

The Historical Drivers of Modern Day Developments in Iraq (Cole Interview)

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole, interviewed by Bassam Haddad | — Bassam Haddad, a prominent Syria specialist at George Mason University, interviewed me this fall for the new web radio program Status Hour , on the Middle East. Do check out the range of important interviews already up at the site. My own audio interview is here. […]

Israel

Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas Denounces Synagogue Killings

contributors

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday condemned an attack on a synagogue in Jerusalem that killed four Israelis earlier in the day. Abbas’ office said in a statement that the presidency always denounced the killing of civilians by any party. “Consequently, today the presidency denounces the killing of worshipers at a place of […]

Featured

3rd Possibility: Coming Civil War in West Bank/ Jerusalem?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | — Observers of the evolution of the relationship between Israel and the Palestinians have long argued that there are only two likely outcomes of the alternating violence and diplomacy between the two sides that has gone on nearly 70 years now. One is a “two-state solution” wherein Israel accepts a rump […]

Iraq

Secular Palestinians in Iraq made Refugees again by Daesh/ ISIL Threats

contributors

Fearing IS, Palestinian families leave Mosul for Iraqi Kurdistan | — RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — About 120 Palestinian families have emigrated from Mosul in northern Iraq to Iraqi Kurdistan fearing IS threats, according to the consulate of Palestine in Erbil. In a statement, released Saturday, the consul of Palestine in Erbil Nathmi Hazouri said Palestinian families […]

Egypt

Egypt’s Battle for Worker’s Rights in Upcoming Legislation

contributors

By Nehal Amer Over the past year Egypt has undergone harsh reforms in a narrowing sociopolitical environment. New legislation is rapidly being produced in the absence of an elected parliament—from the repressive protest law to the draft NGO law, and now to the draft labor law. This past August, the Ministry of Manpower and Migration […]