Israel/ Palestine

Hamas was unpopular in Gaza before it attacked Israel – Surveys showed Gazans cared more about fighting Poverty than armed Resistance

By Nathan French, Miami University | – (The Conversation) – Amid the escalation of the Israel-Hamas war, observers in the region and internationally continue to make assumptions about Gazan public support for Hamas. Mistaken assumptions such as those by U.S. presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, claiming that all Gazans are “antisemitic,” or those that blame Gazans […]

Featured

Juan Cole – 3 Possible Futures for Palestinians: One-State Solution, Continued Apartheid or Ethnic Cleansing (Again)

Juan Cole

Interview by Nedžla Kurtćehajić of Juan Cole for FACE TV (Sarajevo, Bosnia) | While in Sarajevo last week I did a television interview on issues in Islamophobia, Islamic History, and the Israel-Hamas conflict. Here it is: Article continues after bonus IC video FACE TV (Sarajevo): Juan Cole on War and Islamophobia

Israel/ Palestine

Hamas: A 2023 Counterfactual

Jeffrey Rudolph

Detailed Political Quizzes Because facts matter ( Detailed Political Quizzes) – Hamas’s horrific October 7 terrorism should not be justified by any serious person. I have nothing to add to the intelligent writings of Professor Juan Cole on this matter. (For an illustrative example, please refer to Prof. Cole’s article dated October 16, 2023, […]

Afghanistan

A Reflexive Act of Military Revenge Burdened the US – and May do the Same for Israel

The Conversation

By Peter Mansoor, The Ohio State University | – In the wake of the shocking invasion of southern Israel by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to destroy Hamas. “We are fighting a cruel enemy, worse than ISIS,” Netanyahu proclaimed four days after the invasion, comparing Hamas with the […]

Featured

Biden’s Historically Illiterate and Hypocritical Speech on Ukraine and Gaza

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Biden administration’s foreign policy is a mess and lacks any real consistency. This messiness was on full display in the president’s brief address on Thursday evening, a plea for Congressional funding of both the US struggle to get Russia back out of Ukraine and of support for the extremist […]

Climate Crisis

How our Petty Wars are Distracting us from the Existential Challenge of Climate Change

Tom Engelhardt

( Tomdispatch.com) – Let’s admit it: We are indeed mad creatures. This should truly have been the time of our discontent. The northern hemisphere just experienced the hottest summer in recorded history, including month by month the warmest June, July, August, and (by a country mile) September ever. Staggering heat records were set in place […]

Featured

“I expect you to Die” – Israel’s biggest Crime isn’t threatening Hospitals, it is Starving 2.2 Million Civilians of Potable Water

Juan Cole

Netanyahu as a Bond Villain

Israel/ Palestine

Saudi moves to reduce Mideast Tensions Thwarted by Gaza Violence – Can it buy Time by Pausing Normalization with Israel?

The Conversation

By Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Rice University | – (The Conversation) – Saudi Arabia and Israel had seemingly been edging closer to a landmark deal to normalize their diplomatic relations – and then the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, happened. Since then, thousands have died in Gaza and in Israel. And fears of the conflict […]

Featured

Why do US Politicians target Gaza Civilians with Bloodthirsty Rhetoric, Greenlighting Ethnic Cleansing?

Dan Dinello

Chicago (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) -In retaliation for Hamas’ vicious and brutal attack of October 7, Israel enforced a total siege on Gaza, denying its 2.3 million inhabitants access to electricity, food, water and fuel while bombarding its population with a massive aerial assault whose targets include mosques, schools, and hospitals. No humanitarian supplies, […]