Arab World

By Juan Cole There are such things as small terrorist groups that do a lot of harm and lack any significant social or political support. It may well be that such groups can be defeated by counter-terrorism operations. Other so-called terrorist groups are more organic, growing out of the profound suffering and grievances of a […]

Iraq

Kurdish Diva Backs Independence Defies “Islamic State” Fundamentalists

contributors

Via RFE/RL Kurdish pop singer Helly Luv has racked up more than 2.5 million hits since she released her "Risk It All" video in February urging independence for Iraqi Kurds. The video, one of the few ever to appear in English on the subject, makes no bones about its message. "Let me out, let me […]

Apartheid

Gaza: Families destroyed by Israel’s bombs

contributors

By: Orouba Othman His whole life passed before his eyes like a film uncut by memory. He dived into the rubble of his home, hoping to find something to defeat the idea of his family’s death. But death is always stronger and here, the smell of blood fills the air. Gaza – He calls them […]

Economy

What the West means by “stability” in the Middle East

contributors

By Victor Argo “For them, a stable country is a country with a strong government favorable to the United States”: When Western governments pompously talk about “stability in the Middle East”, the interest and the security of the people of the region are seldom on their minds, writes Victor Argo. Stability, stability, stability. Comments on […]

Israel/ Palestine

Gaza War: Tunnels, Targets and Rockets: Hamas/ IJ Strategy & Tactics

contributors

Editor’s Note: Even Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas asked Hamas sarcastically what they expected to achieve with rocket attacks on Israel. As Human Rights Watch notes, Hamas’s indiscriminate firing of unguided rockets inevitably endangers innocent non-combatants and is therefore a war crime. The below article seemed interesting to me in explaining some of the tactical innovations […]

History

Palestine 1896

Juan Cole

First film footage taken of Ottoman Palestine (Lumiere Bros.), in 1896. Palestine 1896 h/t William Dalrymple Kemal Karpat wrote that according to the Ottoman Census of 1893, the population of most of what is now Palestine (excluding northern areas then attached to Beirut) was as follows: 371,959 Muslims 42,689 Christians 9,000 Jews This does not […]

Featured

Top 7 Really Disturbing News from Iraq

Juan Cole

1. Last Wednesday Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki angrily lashed out at the Kurds, accusing them of harboring the terrorists of the so-called ‘Islamic State.’ Since the Kurds have in fact fought the IS radicals, al-Maliki’s charge is hard to take seriously. Rather, it appears to be a sign of how angry he is that Kurdistan […]

Dissent

Escaping Mosul and ISIS Assassination Campaigns

contributors

niqash | Special Correspondent | Mosul | Refugees from the Ninawa province, of whihc Mosul is the capital, queue to get into Iraqi Kurdistan. One local journalist explains why streets in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul are so quiet, what’s worrying his family and friends there the most and how he himself managed to […]

Apartheid

Israel’s Groundhog Day: Reverse Snowballs and the Horror of Lawn-Mowing

Juan Cole

by Juan Cole A horrible video is circulating on social media, of a Palestinian father in Gaza who is bringing a toy to his four year old son, only to find once he enters his home that his son’s head has been crushed by Israeli shrapnel. That is the face of Israel’s current military operation […]