By Juan Cole al-Zaman [The Times of Baghdad] reports that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has proposed to visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi an anti-ISIL axis including Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq that would be led by Iran, as an alternative to the US-led coalition proposed by President Barack Obama. In essence, this is the same […]
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Arab World
Israeli Squatters Sabotage Palestinian Wells in Jordan Valley
JERICHO (Ma’an) — Dozens of Israeli settlers damaged wells belonging to Palestinians in the Khirbet Samra area of the Jordan Valley, a local official said Wednesday. Aref Daraghma, the head of a local village council, told Ma’an that dozens of Israeli settlers who gathered to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot damaged more than seven […]
Iraqi Sunnis to ISIL, US Coalition: A Pox on Both your Houses
Sunni Muslim Militias Decide They Won’t Fight With IS – or The US Alliance By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | via Niqash.org It is clear to both the current Iraqi government, to the US government and to international and local analysts and observers that it is going to take more than aerial bombardment to weed […]
If Baghdad & the Kurds are allied against ISIL, why is Baghdad Starving Kurdistan of Money?
From a blogger in the region: Following international media reporting, it is easy to think about war only in terms of uniforms, boots and steel. But the war against the Islamic state has a different face in Iraq. Contrary to the popular game where scissor beats paper, paper will be the biggest threat to the […]
Defying Turkey, US airdrops arms to Kobane Kurds
By Juan Cole In a step that over-ruled America’s Turkish NATO ally, US jets dropped food, first aid and weaponry into the besieged Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane on Monday morning. Turkey’s president Tayyip Erdogan, in remarks made on Sunday, rejected the idea of arming the Syrian Kurdish fighters, equating them with terrorists. Al-Khaleej [The […]
The Kobane Crisis: Where are Turkey, the PKK and the Kurds Going?
By Mustafa Gurbuz For many Kurds, Ankara’s spectator role in Kobane is a systematic policy to weaken PKK to get more leverage in the peace talks. The radical ISIL group is besieging the Kurdish town of Kobane in Syria, and so far the Turkish government has done little about it. It is the leftist, separatist […]
Give Democracy a Chance in the Middle East, include the Muslim Religious Parties
London (Informed Comment) – When many Westerners think of the Middle East today they tend to see a region gripped by religious and sectarian violence. What all the many conflicts have in common is the participation of inflexible and fanatical groups of fighters dogmatically opposed to the further modernization and Westernization of their home countries. […]
Kobane Kurds fight off ISIL Assault, as Shells land in Turkey
By Juan Cole Kurdish forces at Kobane (Ayn al-Arab) on Saturday fought off an assault by ISIL that sought to cut the city off from Turkey and completely surround it, according to an Aljazeera reporter on the scene (At the moment, there is a corridor between Kobane and the Turkish border). ISIL also subjected Kobane […]
Armed Israeli Squatters attack Jerusalem Home of Returning Pilgrim
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Armed Jewish settlers on Thursday attacked a Palestinian home in the al-Suwanna neighborhood on the Mount of Olives east of the Old City of Jerusalem, removing banners celebrating the return of a family member from the Hajj pilgrimage. Witnesses said settlers from the nearby Beit Orot settlement carrying automatic weapons approached the […]