Middle East

Women’s Revolt in Iran reaches Household of Leader Khamenei, as his Sister denounces “Despotic Caliphate”

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Badri Hosseini Khamenei, the sister of Iran’s clerical Leader Ali Khamenei, just issued a public broadside against him on her son’s web site, denouncing him as a dictator who is entangled in a web of high-level corruption and disgraceful thuggery. Thus, the women’s revolt in Iran, which has been led […]

Arab World

Xi lands in Saudi Arabia: What does China want from the Arabs?

Ramzy Baroud

( Middle East Monitor ) – The problem with most Western media’s political analyses is that they generally tend to be short-sighted and focused mostly on variables that are of direct interest to Western governments. These types of analyses are now being applied to understanding official Arab attitudes towards Russia, China, global politics and conflicts. […]

Russia

The Forgotten War: what Russia could win from the reignited Conflict in Syria

The Conversation

Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham | – (The Conversation) – Largely overshadowed by the war in Ukraine, Syria remains a deeply divided and violent country, where military conflict has recently reignited. This new period of conflict in Syria, with Russia, Turkey and Israel all launching attacks, also reflects some of the battle lines of the […]

Featured

U.S. State Department Slams Al Jazeera for taking Israeli Assassination of Abu Akleh to Int’l Criminal Court, though US asked Court to Investigate Russia

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Qatar-based satellite news channel Al Jazeera has referred the case of one of its slain reporters, Shireen Abu Akleh –an American citizen — to the International Criminal Court in the Hague. Ms. Abu Akleh, who had reported from Israel and Palestine for over twenty years for Al Jazeera, was […]

Authoritarianism

Iranian-Baluch Prisoner Khodanoor Lajaei: Icon for a Revolution

Global Voices

By Hamid Yazdan Panah | – ( Globalvoices.org) – Unprecedented protests have been taking place in Iran over the last two months, with thousands taking to the streets to protest the Islamic Republic. The uprising that began in response to the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini has been called a revolution by many, and has […]

Authoritarianism

In Escalation, Iranians in 23 Provinces join in National Strike, as Truckers, Shopkeepers Walk Out

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Protesters in Iran, including political prisoners had called for three days of national strikes beginning Sunday, and if reports and videos posted to social media can be believed, there was substantial buy-in to the strike, as shopkeepers closed their establishments and workers in key industries stayed home. So report Patrick […]

film

Jordan’s official Oscar entry Farha grants the Palestinian Diaspora Permission to Narrate

Middle East Monitor

By Suja Sawafta | – ( Middle East Monitor) – On 1 December, Netflix began streaming Farha (2021) worldwide, despite immense pressure directed at the platform to prevent its debut. The film is director Darin J. Sallam’s first full-length feature and chronicles the coming-of-age story of its heroine, Farha, a 14-year-old Palestinian teenager who possesses […]

Authoritarianism

Iran: State-Backed Hacking of Activists, Journalists, Politicians (HRW)

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Hackers backed by the Iranian government have targeted two Human Rights Watch staff members and at least 18 other high-profile activists, journalists, researchers, academics, diplomats, and politicians working on Middle East issues in an ongoing social engineering and credential phishing campaign, Human Rights Watch said today. An investigation by […]

Ethiopia

Half a million Ethiopian Migrants have been Deported from Saudi Arabia in 5 years – what they go through

The Conversation

By Girmachew Adugna, Addis Ababa University | – (The Conversation) – Tens of thousands of migrant Ethiopian workers have been forcibly repatriated from Saudi Arabia each year since the early 2010s. Although this is carried out as part of a crackdown on illegal migrant workers, legally documented workers have frequently been caught in the dragnet. […]