Middle East

Review of Eugene Rogan, “The Damascus Events: The 1860 Massacre and the Making of the Modern Middle East” (New York: Basic Books, 2024). Munich, Germany (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) –– How did Ottoman Damascus descend into violence and looting in July 1860? Why did the Damascene masses fall upon the Christians, leaving around 5,000 […]

Israel/ Palestine

Protesting Israel’s targeted destruction of all Schools and Universities in Gaza

Committee on Academic Freedom

Middle East Studies Association Board | Committee on Academic Freedom | – Dear President Biden, Vice-President Harris, Secretary of State Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Austin, We write to you on behalf of the Committee on Academic Freedom (CAF) and the Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) to […]

Featured

Woman, Life, Freedom: Rachel, Shireen, Mahsa and Ayşenur

Fariba Amini

Newark, Del. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – A few days before the invasion of Iraq by American forces under G.W. Bush, on March 16, 2003, a young woman from Seattle, Washington, who had gone to Rafah, in Gaza to help Palestinians halt the demolition of homes died under the bulldozer of the Israeli army. […]

Sudan

Sudan is Burning and Foreign Powers are Benefiting – what’s in it for the United Arab Emirates?

The Conversation

By May Darwich, University of Birmingham | – (The Conversation) – The United Nations has accused foreign players of prolonging the war in Sudan, making it harder for the country to find peace. The fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces started in April 2023. It was sparked by two generals […]

Israel/ Palestine

The Life and Legacy of Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi: A Beacon of Hope for Palestine

Middle East Monitor

By Elif Selin Calik | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – The world of activism was shaken by the tragic news of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi’s death at the hands of Israeli forces in the West Bank. Her demise has sparked a renewed conversation about the Occupation of Palestine, the struggles of the Palestinian people, […]

Afghanistan

The Morass of U.S. Middle East Policy was visible in the Harris-Trump Debate

Juan Cole

ABC provided a transcript of the debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. I have some thoughts on the Middle East dimension: On Gaza, Harris said, “Well, let’s understand how we got here. On Oct. 7, Hamas, a terrorist organization, slaughtered 1,200 Israelis. Many of them young people who were simply attending a concert. Women […]

International Criminal Court

ICC judges to decide on Arrest Warrants for Israeli and Hamas Leaders: a legal Breakdown

The Conversation

By Avidan Kent, University of East Anglia | — (The Conversation) – The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, has been a prominent figure in the news in recent years. In 2023, he requested – and was granted – a warrant for the arrest of Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. He then dived […]

Featured

“Entire Families Vanished:” Israeli Air Force Burns up 20 Refugee Tents, kills 40, in Strikes on Humanitarian Zone

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Al Jazeera Arabic reports that the Israeli occupation army committed yet another massacre on Monday evening, targeting a tent encampment of internally displaced refugees in the al-Mawasi area of the district of Khan Yunus in the south of the Gaza Strip. Civil defense said that 40 persons were killed, and […]

Iran

Is it time to retire the Phrase ‘Arab-Israeli Conflict?’ Hostilities now extend beyond those Boundaries

The Conversation

By Nader Habibi, Brandeis University | – (The Conversation) – The current phase of fighting in the Middle East began almost a year ago, with the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas and the subsequent pummeling of Gaza by Israel. But to many academics, foreign policy experts and international observers, what is taking place is […]