Arab World

By Juan Cole | — The Guardian reports that “A controversial bill that officially defines Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people has been approved by cabinet despite warnings that the move risks undermining the country’s democratic character. Opponents, including some cabinet ministers, said the new legislation defined reserved “national rights” for Jews only […]

Islam

Jerusalem: where religion divides but lives are entwined

Juan Cole

By Wendy Pullan, University of Cambridge (The Conversation) The latest violent episode between Palestinians and Israelis has prompted Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to assert that Israel is in the midst of a “battle for Jerusalem”. This is a city divided along many lines, and while the latest attack has caused outrage and hostility, it […]

Featured

Iraq: Daesh/ISIL executes 26 Sunni Tribesmen in Campaign to Take Ramadi

Juan Cole

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 […]