Middle East

The Veil in Iran has been an enduring Symbol of Patriarchal Norms – but its Use has Changed depending on Who is in Power

By Amy Motlagh, University of California, Davis | – In images of the uprising that followed the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16, 2022, perhaps the most iconic ones, aside from that of Amini herself, are those of unveiled Iranian women photographed from behind, facing police barricades or raising a fist at the […]

Israel/ Palestine

Palestinians and Native Americans are both the Oppressed Indigenous Peoples of their Lands

Ramzy Baroud

( Middle East Monitor ) – At a recent conference in Istanbul that brought many Palestinian scholars and activists together to discuss the search for a common narrative, a member of the audience declared at the end of a brief, but fiery intervention, “We are not Red Indians”. The reference was a relatively old one. […]

Campaign Finance

Emirates has Spent $154 mn on Lobbying US since 2016, and has Illegally Influenced US Politics: Intel Report

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The UAE has spent more than $154 million on lobbyists since 2016, according to Justice Department records. It has spent hundreds of millions of dollars more on donations to American universities and think tanks, many that produce policy papers with findings favorable to UAE interests. The intrepid John Hudson at […]

Houthi

Yemen: ‘What Have we Left Behind’ by Bushra Al-Maqtari – “Only victims are real in this war”

Marc Martorell Junyent

Barcelona (Special to Informed Comment) – Review of Bushra Al-Maqtari, What Have You Left Behind? (London: Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2022.) “Only victims are real in this war, victims crushed by violence.”[1] The writer behind this sentence is Bushra Al-Maqtari, a human rights activist, journalist, and novelist. The war she refers to is the ongoing conflict in […]

Israel/ Palestine

The Biden Administration Says it will Push Back against Israeli Annexation of Palestine; but Will It?

Ramzy Baroud

( Middle East Monitor) – The US will push back against annexation, according to US Ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, as the Abraham Accords are set to feature as a continuation of an internationally approved US policy. “Our position is quite clear: We do not support annexation. We will fight any attempt to do so,” […]

Authoritarianism

Protesting Rapper’s Video Foretelling Iranian Regime’s Future Leads To Arrest As Fans Fear For His Life

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

( RFE?RL ) – Toomaj Salehi’s lyrical support for protesters in Iran has landed him behind bars before, but this time the popular rapper’s fortune-telling has fans and family members fearing for his life. Just days before his September 30 arrest, the 32-year-old Salehi released his latest music video, in which he makes foreboding predictions […]

Arab Spring

Egypt has 60,000 prisoners like jailed dying Arab Spring Dissident Alaa Abdelfattah

Middle East Monitor

By Osama Gaweesh | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – Egyptian activist and blogger Alaa Abdelfattah wrote a book with the title You have not been defeated yet. He is being held in prison by the Egyptian regime for sharing a post on Facebook documenting the death of another political detainee in Egypt. As […]

Climate Crisis

Egypt’s Systemic Greenwashing is sabotaging COP27 before it Begins

Global Voices

By Sydney Allen | – ( Globalvoices.org ) – The largest international environmental conference, COP27, is set to kick off on November 6 in Sharm El Shiekh, Egypt. Thousands of environmentalists, politicians, scientists, and stakeholders from all over the world will converge on Egypt to attend the summit, though, notably, few Egyptians will be in […]

Israel

Israel: The Right-Wing Netanyahu is Back but can he Govern with Far, Far Right “Allies”?

The Conversation

By Guy Ziv, American University School of International Service | – Israel’s political magician has done it again. Having been turned out of office in 2021 as the first sitting Israeli prime minister to be indicted – and with his corruption trial still underway – Benjamin Netanyahu has made another stunning comeback. After four inconclusive […]