Middle East

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli state by now has a long and sanguinary history of murdering writers and journalists in cold blood. In 1972, Israeli commandos murdered novelist, painter and short story writer Ghassan Kanafani in Beirut with a car bomb — the weapon of choice for terrorists ever since — killing his […]

Climate Crisis

As Summer Temperatures Soar, Iran’s Water Crisis Worsens

Global Voices

As dams dry and rivers vanish, Iran’s capital faces its fiercest thirst in modern memory. Written byReza Talebi ( Globalvoices.org ) – Soaring summer temperatures in Iran and widespread blackouts have pushed the government to shut down public offices in at least 12 provinces and warn of a possible nationwide week-long closure to conserve energy, […]

Israel/ Palestine

Why the Gaza War won’t End: Israel’s Strategic Goal has been Ethnic Cleansing

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Seth Cantey | ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Israel’s global standing has deteriorated throughout the war in Gaza, but in recent weeks the decline has been precipitous. The prohibition on foreign journalists entering the strip hasn’t prevented images of starvation from flooding social media. Doctors’ reports of civilians being used as target […]

Featured

Protesting Gaza War, Massive Crowds Shut down Tel Aviv, Storm TV Station, Call for General Strike

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Rubaie Sawaid, writing for the Israeli newspaper Arab 48, reports that on Saturday enormous crowds demonstrated in Israel against the government’s plan to take over all of Gaza, demanding that the release of the remaining over two dozen Israeli hostages in the Strip be prioritized. He writes that the families […]

Espionage

Israel Secretly Recruited Iranian Dissidents to Attack Their Country From Within

ProPublica

By Yossi Melman and Dan Raviv for ProPublica | – ( ProPublica ) – In the early morning hours of June 13, a commando team led by a young Iranian, S.T., settled into position on the outskirts of Tehran. The target was an anti-aircraft battery, part of the umbrella of radars and missiles set up […]

Israel/ Palestine

How Israel’s Self-Image changed from Self-Reliance to Aggressive Militarism

The Conversation

By Yaron Peleg, University of Cambridge (The Conversation) – When the Zionist movement began to gather pace a century ago, many Jewish supporters wanted not just to create a political state for themselves, but to initiate a cultural revolution that would forge a new kind of Jewishness. Proud, self-reliant and resilient, the “new Jew” was […]

Featured

Why is Israel Playing Spoiler in the New Syria?

Mohammed Samaana

Belfast (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Last week, Israel launched the latest of some 300 raids into Syria in the past few months. Some such incursions, as with a major set of airstrikes on Syria in July shows its determination to be a destabilizing factor in the region. Israel claimed that it carried out […]

Israel/ Palestine

As Netanyahu moves toward full Takeover of Gaza, Israel faces a Crisis of international Credibility

The Conversation

By Amin Saikal, The University of Western Australia For all its claims of being a democracy that adheres to international law and the rules of war, Israel’s global reputation is in tatters. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest plan for a full military takeover of Gaza, along with the expanding starvation crisis in the strip and […]

censorship

On Occidental College’s Disciplining of Students Protesting Gaza

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association of North Africa | – Letter to the administration of Occidental College about disciplinary proceedings against students accused of participating in protest activity Tom Stritikus President, Occidental College president@oxy.edu . . . Dear President Stritikus, Deans Leonard and Santiago, Ms. Kahn and Trustees: We write on […]