Israel/ Palestine

(By Abdalhadi Alijla) Reading about the murder of Hassan Hassan, the Palestinian actor and comedian, in Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria was like a bombshell. Hassan and his wife were arrested by Syrian regime forces three months ago; his wife and son were released two days later. He was believed to be detained when recently […]

Israel/ Palestine

Messianic Israeli Minister obsessed with Palestinian Land accuses Kerry of Messianic Obsession

contributors

(By AFP) US slams Israeli defense minister attack on Kerry (via AFP) A senior US official on Tuesday urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly disavow a complaint by Israel’s defense minister that John Kerry has a messianic “obsession” with Middle East peace. The official made the highly unusual demand… ——- Juan Cole […]

Featured

Top Ten Ways Ariel Sharon Ruined Israel and the Middle East

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Arik Scheinerman, who became Ariel Sharon, was from a Russian family that emigrated to Palestine at a time when Palestinians had been deprived of the right to set immigration policy into their own country. He would go on powerfully to shape the lives of most people in Israel and the Middle East, […]

Human Rights

Ariel Sharon should have been Tried for War Crimes: Human Rights Watch

contributors

(By Human Rights Watch) (Jerusalem) – Ariel Sharon died without facing justice for his role in the massacres of hundreds and perhaps thousands of civilians by Lebanese militias in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in Lebanon in 1982. The killings constituted war crimes and crimes against humanity. Sharon also escaped accountability for other alleged […]

Featured

Did Ariel Sharon get a pass on War Crimes because he was White?

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) It is shameful that Vice President Joe Biden should be attending the funeral of Ariel Sharon today, given that the former Israeli prime minister was clearly guilty of a host of war crimes. Much Mideast instability must be laid at his feet. Since a pattern of war crimes comes to equate to […]

Featured

Recognizing Israel as a Jewish State is like saying the US is a White State

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is adding a fifth demand to his negotiations with US Secretary of State John Kerry and Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas: That the Palestinians recognize Israel as a “Jewish state.” For Netanyahu’s demand to make any sense, he first has to define “Jewish.” “Jewish” has a number of […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israel Rejects Kerry Proposal to Relinquish Control of Palestine-Jordan Border, Endangering Talks

contributors

(By AFP) Israel rejects US proposals on Jordan Valley (via AFP) Israel rejects any US-proposed security concessions for the Jordan Valley, a cabinet member close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, as US Secretary John Kerry visited the Middle East. “Security must remain in our hands. Anyone who proposes… Related video: Reuters reports […]

Human Rights

Gaza: the challenges faced by the young women (Video of the Day)

Juan Cole

France24 does what no US news channel will, reporting on the challenges facing young women in occupied Gaza Related article: Gaza power plant back online as fuel supply resumes (via AFP) The Gaza Strip’s only power plant returned to life after Israel resumed fuel deliveries on Sunday, a Palestinian official said, two days after a […]

Israel/ Palestine

Is a Third Palestinian Uprising on its Way?

contributors

(By Ruthie Blum) On December 25, Ali Jarbawi published his blockbuster Op-Ed “The Coming Intifada” with The New York Times. ”We Palestinians are living through the worst situation in years,” he wrote. Meanwhile, Kerry & Co. attempt to strike an historic peace agreement. So what will it be? Has the Arab Spring, now in its […]