Arab World

By Bill Van Esveld | – ( Human Rights Watch) – On August 26, the Saudi Human Rights Commission announced the judiciary would review three death sentences in accordance with a recent decree to halt capital punishment for child offenders. Ali al-Nimr, Dawoud al-Marhoun, and Abdullah al-Zaher were sentenced to death for allegedly committing crimes […]

Arab World

Coronavirus in the Middle East: a testing time for relations between regimes and their citizens

Brian Whitaker

( Al-Bab.com ) – THE CORONAVIRUS pandemic is not only testing the ability of governments to manage an unusual kind of crisis – it is also testing their relationship with the people they govern. Success in confronting the virus depends on governments and citizens working together, but among the authoritarian regimes of the Middle East […]

Israel/ Palestine

Why the Israel-UAE Deal Isn’t About Peace at All

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Phyllis Bennis | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus) – In some ways, the U.S.-brokered plan for mutual recognition between Israel and the United Arab Emirates is big news. For more than a quarter of a century, only two Middle Eastern countries — Egypt and Jordan — had officially recognized Israel. None of the […]

Donald Trump

Iraqi Shiite Militias 1, Trump 0: US Forced to Reduce its Presence by 1/3

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iraqis aren’t sure what to make of the report on Friday in the Wall Street Journal that the US military will reduce its troop presence by a third by November. The numbers will fall from 5200 to 3500 this fall. Athir Shar’ in Kitabat suspects that even the withdrawal aims […]

India

Pakistan’s ‘Brotherly’ Ties With Saudi Arabia Hit ‘Rock Bottom’

Frud Bezhan

By Frud Bezhan | – ( RFE/RL) – But the long-standing economic, political, and military ties between the South Asian state and the oil-rich Middle East kingdom have been based less on common values and more on transactions, experts say. Riyadh has provided huge financial support in the form of cheap oil and loans to […]

Authoritarianism

Who is Murdering Iraq’s anti-corruption Youth Protesters?

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch (Beirut) – Unidentified gunmen have since August 14, 2020, assassinated two protesters and wounded another four, all linked to a youth protest group with political aspirations in Basra, in southern Iraq, Human Rights Watch said today. They are the most recent victims of killings of hundreds of protesters in Baghdad and southern […]

Donald Trump

Trump admits War Crime in Syria as Damascus Slams US ‘Oil Theft’

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Last Monday, CNN reports US troops on patrol in eastern Syria were allowed to move through Syrian territory by the Syrian Arab Army, but then abruptly a small unit of Syrian troops fired on them. The US soldiers fired back, and took no casualties, but killed a Syrian soldier. There […]

Arms Sales

Was F-35 Stealth Jet Sale to Arab UAE at heart of deal with Israel and Trump? Did Netanyahu Lie?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Only a week after the breathless announcement of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) recognition of Israel, the two newlyweds are already having their first spat. On Wednesday, Matthew Lee of AP reports, Trump broached the sale of Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Stealth fighter jets to the UAE. Trump said, […]

Arab World

Is this the end of Arab Jerusalem? From Libya to Yemen, Regional Powers have their own Reasons for Recognizing Israel

Middle East Monitor

By Muhammad Hussein | – While the US’ Deal of the Century ran out of traction earlier this year before it even took off, Israel’s own version took effect last week when it reached a historic peace deal with the United Arab Emirates. In return for delaying its annexation plans in the West Bank, which […]