Middle East

Singing, trauma and the resilience of the Yazidis of northern Iraq: The power of cultural identity on psychological well-being

By Mylène Ratelle, University of Waterloo | – (The Conversation) – Behind each door and gate in Sinuni, Iraq, there is a different story of trauma and resilience. The Yazidi community is still coping with the trauma and mental health burden following the ISIS genocide of 2014, where thousands of men, women and children were […]

Featured

Yes, Mr. DeSantis, there is a Palestinian People that has exercised Power in Historical Palestine

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – What does it mean to say that there “has never been a Palestinian state” in the Holy Land? This is one of the allegations Florida Governor Ron DeSantis made on his trip to Israel, where he fell all over himself taking far right wing colonialist stances. DeSantis actually did a […]

BDS Occupied Territories

Oslo, the Capital of Norway, Announces boycott of Goods Produced in the Israeli-Occupied Territories

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The city council of Oslo, Norway, the Scandinavian country’s capital, has passed a decree boycotting the importation of goods from the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories seized in 1967. The city will also boycott Israeli companies involved in exploiting the resources in the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza. The Oslo city council […]

Government surveillance

Former US Nat’l Security Agency Chief took $700K Contract from Saudi Arabia, After Khashoggi Assassination

Middle East Monitor

The former head of the United States’ National Security Agency (SNA) is revealed to have received at least $700,000 from consultancy contracts with Saudi Arabia, taking place even after the killing of journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. According to the Washington Post, which cited newly-released documents that it obtained as part of a Freedom of Information Act […]

Islam

In centennial year, Turkish Voters will choose between Erdoğan’s Conservative path and the Founder’s Modernist Vision

The Conversation

By Ahmet T. Kuru, San Diego State University | – Turkey has two historic events on the horizon. On May 14, 2023, voters will go to the polls for presidential and parliamentary elections, and in October, the country will celebrate the centennial of the Republic. In 1923, military leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk led the foundation […]

Israel/ Palestine

Crossing a Line: Laws, Violence, and Roadblocks to Palestinian Political Expression (Review)

Marc Martorell Junyent

Review of Amahl A. Bishara, Crossing A Line: Laws, Violence, and Roadblocks to Palestinian Political Expression (Stanford: University of Stanford Press, 2022). Barcelona (Special to Informed Comment) – In 2003, Amahl A. Bishara, currently an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Tufts University, arrived in Palestine as a PhD student to conduct fieldwork. After […]

China

Peace may finally be returning to Yemen, but can a fractured Nation be put back Together?

The Conversation

By Leena Adel, Curtin University and Ben Rich, Curtin University | – Last month, China brokered a rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, a landmark deal that restored full diplomatic ties between the two bitter rivals. There was hope the detente could also bring an end to one of the world’s longest-running – and virtually […]

Archaeology

Egypt in uproar over Netflix’s “Black” Cleopatra, but Race is the Wrong Lens Anyway

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor ( Mustafa Amin at the Akhbar al-Yawm [News Today] reviews the controversy in Egypt over Jada Pinkett Smith’s African Queens series of documentaries on Netflix. The first installment focused on Njinga, ruler of an early modern West African kingdom in what is now northern Angola. The second treats Cleopatra, and the trailer insists […]

Israel/ Palestine

Cementing Gaza’s History by Sketching its Ancient Sites

Middle East Monitor

Mohammed Asad ( Middle East Monitor) – Gaza is a region we hear about often but how much do we know about its past and history? This is something architect Wala’a Shublaq is looking to change as she sketches ancient sites and helps Palestinians in Gaza reconnect with their past. The 27-year-old urban […]