Middle East

by Dr Mohammad Makram Balawi ( Middle East Monitor ) – A report by the Hebrew Channel 12 a few days ago highlighted the repercussions of the rise of religious Zionism in Israel, its efforts to turn it into an extremist Jewish religious state, and the increasing pace of preparations for the construction of the […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israel’s Extremist Government Eyes Annexing the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza for Intensive Colonization

Middle East Monitor

by Fathi Ahmed Bezalel Smotrich’s settlement plan is to annex the West Bank, increase settlements and bring an end to the Palestinian Authority. He works silently, away from the cameras and the Knesset podium. He is a professional politician who knows how to swim against the tide. Smotrich, who heads the Religious Zionist Party, […]

Brazil

Why did China attend MBS’s Ukraine Peace Conference in Saudi Arabia? Breaking with Moscow or Keeping Options Open?

Neil Thompson

London (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – China has come out in favour of a third round of talks to design a peace framework for the conflict in Ukraine following its attendance at an international forum in the Saudi city of Jeddah earlier this month. China’s attendance and active participation in the summit was seen […]

China

Palestinians welcome China’s new Middle East Role, but they want more than Mediation

Ramzy Baroud

by Ramzy Baroud RamzyBaroud ( Middle East Monitor ) – It is feasible for China to continue playing an important role in mediating Middle East conflicts. In fact, it already has. In the case of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, however, mediation is hardly the issue. Even before Beijing successfully managed to achieve reconciliation between […]

Featured

Trouble for Abraham Accords: Saudis Try to establish E. Jerusalem Consulate for Palestinians, but Extremist Israeli Gov’t says, “No!”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Quds Press reports that Saudi Arabia has given its ambassador to Jordan, Nayef al-Sudairi, an extra portfolio of consul in East Jerusalem. He presented his credentials to Majid al-Khalidi, an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The Saudis did not coordinate this appointment with the Israelis, and it is the […]

History

How Lebanon was shaped by its Great Famine in WW I

Marc Martorell Junyent

Brand, Tylor. Famine Worlds: Life at the Edge of Suffering in Lebanon’s Great War. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2023. Review of Tylor Brand, Famine Worlds: Life at the Edge of Suffering in Lebanon’s Great War (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2023). Munich (Special to Informed Comment) – Suez, Gallipoli, Kut al-Amara, and Jerusalem saw […]

Climate Crisis

After Maui: Why Sultan al-Jaber both is and isn’t the Right chief for the COP28 Climate Summit

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Sultan al-Jaber, the controversial chairman of the COP28 climate conference, is a United Arab Emirates businessman extraordinaire. His role and that of COP28 appear all the more important in the wake of the terrifying wildfires that swept the tropical island (!) of Maui this week and destroyed the ancient capital […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israel has Killed 167 Palestinians since Start of Year: UN

Middle East Monitor

( Middle East Monitor ) – With the Israeli occupation killing 13 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank between 25 July and 10 August, including three children, the number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank and Israel by Israeli occupation forces has so far this year reached 167, the United Nations Office for the […]

Australia

Australia’s Decision to again use the Term ‘Occupied Palestinian Territories’ brings it into Line with international Law

The Conversation

By Amy Maguire, University of Newcastle | – (The Conversation) – Australia’s minister for foreign affairs, Penny Wong, has announced Australia will return to use of the term “occupied Palestinian territories”. The Australian government will use this phrase to describe the territories in the West Bank and Gaza that Israel occupied in 1967. Australian officials […]