Middle East

By Lama Fakih, Director, Middle East and North Africa Division | – Human Rights Watch – Lebanon’s caretaker Minister of the Displaced Issam Charafeddine announced a government plan this week to begin returning 15,000 Syrian refugees to Syria a month, saying: “The war was over and the country has become safe.” The alarming news, which […]

Featured

On Cusp of Biden visit to Saudi Arabia, GAO questions US Accounting for Civilian Harm caused in Yemen by its Weapons

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Biden is on the cusp of going off to Saudi Arabia as one part of his upcoming Middle East trip. One of the failures of Mr. Biden has been completely disengaging the US from the Saudi-led war on Yemen, which he had pledged to do. Although there has been […]

censorship

Iran’s latest surge in executions heavily targets Baloch minority

Global Voices

By Hamid Yazdan Panah | – Iran is in a midst of yet another surge in executions, reaching a rate of killings in 2021 that is the highest in five years. According to a June 8 report from Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO), at least 168 people have been executed by Iranian authorities in the first […]

Israel/ Palestine

Occupying Habits. Everyday Media as Warfare in Israel-Palestine

Ramona Wadi

Reviw of Daniel Mann, Occupying Habits. Everyday Media as Warfare in Israel-Palestine. London: I.B. Tauris ( Middle East Monitor) – “Sovereignty is made out of a patchwork, weaved together from institutions, private companies, and most significantly technology itself, which dictates certain behaviour and habits.” Israel’s security narrative has become heavily reliant on media technology, as […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israel’s impunity is boosted by the US whitewash of Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing

Ramona Wadi

( Middle East Monitor) – The Palestinian Authority’s refusal to hand over the bullet which killed Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was short lived. So was any hypothetical expectation of justice from an Israeli investigation supervised by the US. According to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), Israeli soldiers did not fire deliberately at Abu Akleh […]

Featured

In Sea Change, US Presbyterian Committee brands Israel’s Occupation of Palestinians Apartheid, calls for end to Collective Punishment in Gaza

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Last week, the International Engagement Committee of the 1.2-million-strong Presbyterian Church passed a resolution entitled, “On Recognition That Israel’s Laws, Policies, and Practices Constitute Apartheid Against the Palestinian People.” There are roughly 75 million Presbyterians around the world, and it has a strong presence in Africa, with 3.4 million members […]

Israel/ Palestine

72% of Palestinians view 2-State Option as non-Viable given Israeli land-grabs, and 23% want a Joint State

Ramona Wadi

( Middle East Monitor ) – A recent poll by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research showed that there is significant disillusion with Palestinian politics. Arguably most notable is the opposition to Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas’s decision-making, a further deterioration in his popularity as leader and, more importantly, a decrease in support […]

censorship

Iran: Rights Defenders Sentenced for Questioning Covid Policies: Arbitrary Arrest and Unfair Prosecution

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Iranian authorities sentenced five prominent human rights defenders to prison on June 19, 2022, for attempting to file a legal complaint against government agencies and officials for mismanagement of the Covid-19 crisis, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should quash the convictions of the human rights defenders, which […]

Archaeology

Does Megadrought of the 500s in Yemen help Explain the Rise of Islam?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A new article in the journal Science gives evidence for a prolonged dry spell in the kingdom of Himyar (which now would comprise Yemen, southern Saudi Arabia and Oman) in the 500s. Since the Prophet Muhammad is traditionally said to have been born in 567 or 570, any new information […]