Middle East

By Norman Solomon | – [Today’s piece is adapted from the introduction to Norman Solomon’s book War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine (The New Press, 2023).] ( Tomdispatch.com) – The day after the U.S. government began routinely bombing faraway places, the lead editorial in the New York Times […]

Featured

Former Head of Israeli Mossad: Israel is an Apartheid State with the ‘KKK’ in Government and “Antisemitic” Policies toward Palestinians

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Tia Goldenberg at AP got the scoop. She landed an interview with the former head of Israeli intelligence, the Mossad, in which he unloaded on the Israeli system of Apartheid. She quotes him as saying, “There is an apartheid state here. In a territory where two people are judged under […]

Feminism

Iran crackdown on Unveiled Women: Mahsa Amini’s Uncle Arrested Ahead Of Anniversary Of Her Death

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By RFE/RL’s Radio Farda | – ( RFE/ RL ) – Relatives of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman whose death nearly a year ago sparked mass protests in Iran, have confirmed reports that one of her uncles has been arrested ahead of the anniversary of her death. A brother of Amini’s, Ashkan Amini, told […]

China

China’s Coup: Saudi and Iranian Ambassadors arrive at Reopened Embassies, Stress Bilateral Relations, Regional Development

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Aljazeera reports that on Tuesday, the Saudi ambassador to Iran and the Iranian ambassador to Saudi Arabia both took up their duties at the two countries’ embassies. The restoration of full diplomatic relations, which had been disrupted in 2016, was brokered earlier this year by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Saudi […]

Authoritarianism

Saudi Reforms are softening Wahhabi Islam’s Role, but Critics warn the Kingdom will Still Quash Dissent

The Conversation

By Nathan French, Miami University | – (The Conversation) – The crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, or “MBS,” is bringing a new vision of a “moderate, balanced” Saudi Islam by minimizing the role of Saudi religious institutions once seen as critical to the monarchy. For decades, Saudi kings provided support to religious […]

Israel

The US tried to Negotiate Libya-Israel Ties with Elites, but then the Libyan People said ‘No!’

Middle East Monitor

by Muhammad Hussein alhussein1001 ( Middle East Monitor) – As protests erupted throughout the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and other cities in the country in response to the Foreign Minister’s secret meeting with her Israeli counterpart last week, it served as a stark reminder of the rampant disconnect between the country’s political leaderships and the general […]

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Belgian Minister says what Biden won’t: Israel is wiping Entire Palestinian Villages off the Map

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – I heard Noam Chomsky speak in my youth about the press coverage of the Middle East in the United States, and as I remember it he at one point remarked that it was sometimes the regional newspapers, such as the San Francisco Chronicle that had the most honest headlines. In […]

art and photography

From Gaza: Does creativity only come from misery?

Global Voices

Written byWe Are Not Numbers This story was first published by We Are Not Numbers. It was written by Dana Besaiso. An edited version is republished here, under a content-sharing agreement. All photos have been shared from Instagram with the permission of the photographer Mohammad Zaanoun. ( Globlvoices.org) – They say misery breeds great […]

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“Friends of Israel:” Trying to outlaw Solidarity with Palestine

Marc Martorell Junyent

Review of Hil Aked, Friends of Israel: The Backlash against Palestine Solidarity (London: Verso, 2023). Munich (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Amid Israel’s assault on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank in early July, the House of the Commons passed a bill with significant implications for the United Kingdom’s relations with Israel/Palestine. […]