Middle East

By Nasim Ahmed | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – The details of Israel’s secret use of biological weapons and poison against Palestinians during the 1947/48 ethnic cleansing campaign has been revealed in a recent article by historians Benny Morris and Benjamin Kedar. The 84-year-old Kedar is professor emeritus at the Hebrew University of […]

Authoritarianism

Headcovers have always been Political in Iran – for Women on all Sides

The Conversation

By Eliz Sanasarian, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences | – A friend and I were strolling through Tehran’s streets one afternoon when she was approached by a member of the “morality police,” an agency tasked with enforcing modesty laws in public. First, the policewoman warned her to cover her hair by pulling […]

Authoritarianism

Iran: In Widening of Social Base of Protests, Oil Workers go on Strike in Support of Youth Demonstrators

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The student protests continued in Iran on Monday, as youth rallied at the University of Shiraz and at several campuses in the capital of Shiraz. They pledged to multiply their movement every time another youth was killed. Nearly 200 people have died because of the repression of the protests according […]

Authoritarianism

Iran: the hijab protests are now Massive, but a Revolution will need the Military to change Sides

The Conversation

By Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, SOAS, University of London | – More than three weeks after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Ahmini for disobeying Iran’s strict laws, which make it compulsory for women to wear the hijab – or Islamic headscarf – protests continue to rage on the streets of all major cities. On Saturday, protesters even […]

Israel/ Palestine

The Case for Palestinian Nationality

Al-Shabaka

By Nadim Bawalsa | – Exiled Palestinians’ right to Palestinian nationality is protected under international law, irrespective of racist Israeli apartheid policies. How can Palestinians and their leadership in the diaspora activate this right through different legal and political channels? Al-Shabaka’s Commissioning Editor Nadim Bawalsa offers recommendations for how to secure exiled Palestinians their rights […]

Authoritarianism

Iran: Women Students Brand Regime Paramilitary “ISIL” as Protests Continue, with at least 185 Dead

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Dubai’s Al-Arabiya reports that on Sunday evening angry nighttime demonstrations broke out in numerous Iranian cities, as the wave of protests entered its fourth week. Videos posted to social media showed nighttime protests in the capital, Tehran, the Kudish cities of Sandandaj and Mahabad, and Zanjan. Several of the videos […]

Israel/ Palestine

Russia’s Annexation of Part of Ukraine Drew Western Sanctions, but UK’s Liz Truss is rewarding Israel’s Annexation by moving British Embassy to Jerusalem

Mohammed Samaana

Belfast (Special to Informed Comment) – Russia’s invasion and annexation of four regions of Ukraine exposed western double standards elsewhere in the world once again. Western countries reacted to Russia by imposing sanctions and by providing military and financial aid to Ukraine which seems to give Ukraine the upper hand on the ground so far. […]

Authoritarianism

Laws on Veiling in Iran over the Decades: the continuing Battle for Reform

The Conversation

By Sahar Maranlou, University of Essex | – Protests have quickly spread across Iran calling for a change in the law after the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of the morality police. The young woman was accused of violating rules on wearing hijab in public. The term hijab is an […]

Authoritarianism

Iran: ‘Hijab’ protests challenge legitimacy of Islamic Republic

The Conversation

By Scott Lucas, University College Dublin | – (The Conversation) – Three weeks after the violent death of 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iran’s morality police for the crime of wearing her hijab improperly, protests continue to rage across the country. These demonstrations defy both repression by security forces in […]