Middle East

( Electronic Frontier Foundation) – Portland, Oregon—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a lawsuit today on behalf of prominent Saudi human rights activist Loujain AlHathloul against spying software maker DarkMatter Group and three of its former executives for illegally hacking her iPhone to secretly track her communications and whereabouts. AlHathloul is among the victims of […]

Libya

Libya 10 Years after Gaddafi: Anger, Protests over Delay to Much-Awaited Presidential Vote and Political Gridlock

Global Voices

By Dahlia Kholaif | – (Globalvoices.org) – Protesters in the eastern city of Tobruk demand that elections be held no later than January 24, and that those who delayed the vote be held accountable. A screenshot from video on Twitter of the protests on December 24. Hundreds of Libyans have taken to the streets and […]

Afghanistan

From Palestine to Afghanistan, Top 6 Ways our World Changed in 2021

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – It is time to look back at 2021 and consider the most consequential developments, as covered here at Informed Comment. 1. The most important change was that the Republican Party has abandoned democracy, as witnessed by its reaction to the attempted Trump coup of January 6, 2021. The GOP has […]

Israel/ Palestine

How Tutu, de Klerk, and Mandela would end Israeli Apartheid

Jeff Warner

( Mondoweiss) – What does the end of South African apartheid tell us about how Israeli apartheid can end? That sanctions on Israel are required, and that a civil society mass movement is the only way to get there. By Jeff Warner | – With the December 26, 2021, death of Bishop Desmond Tutu, six […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israeli Army loses control of Squatter-Settlers who are attacking Palestinians ever more Brutally

Middle East Monitor

Adnan Abu Amer | – ( The Middle East Monitor) – The attacks carried out by the Israeli settlers against the Palestinians in the West Bank alongside violations of the occupation soldiers have continued to the extent that they have prompted Israeli alerts and fear that these attacks will ignite the security situation in the […]

Afghanistan

Iran, China and Russia face Dilemma of Taliban Control of Afghanistan

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By Ron Synovitz | – ( RFE/RL ) – The chaotic withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from Afghanistan and the lightning collapse of the internationally recognized government in Kabul in August spelled the end of the West’s nearly 20-year foothold in the war-torn country. Now, with the Taliban back in control of Afghanistan, other […]

Israel/ Palestine

Protesting latest Israeli attacks on Palestinian universities and civil society organizations (MESA)

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association | December 23, 2021 Committee on Academic Freedom Interventions Israel Birzeit University Naftali Bennet Palestinian civil society Terrorist Prime Minister Naftali Bennet Fax: +972-2-5664838 Minister of Education Yifat Shasha-Biton Fax: +972-2-5602390 Minister of Justice Gideon Sa’ar Fax: +972-2-6285438 Brigadier General Ghasan Alyan Head of Civil Administration […]

Featured

Desmond Tutu, the Nonviolent Foe of Two Apartheids – South Africa and Israel-Palestine

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Ofeiba Quist-Arcton reports at NPR that Desmond Tutu has died in Cape Town, South Africa. He was 90. Tutu was an amazingly courageous voice against the white nationalist Apartheid system in South Africa, which segregated Blacks and deprived them of a good education and economic opportunities, and which attempted to […]

Israel/ Palestine

Finding What is in Common: The “Hamsa Aleichem” dialogue group for Israeli and Palestinian students

Abigail Leibowitz

( Traveling Twins) – At Hebrew University, I am participating in a “Hamsa Aleichem” dialogue group for Israeli and Palestinian students. Organized by the campus Hillel and Sadarah/Kidma program (a head-start program designed for East Jerusalem high school graduates seeking higher education), this dialogue initiative has already given me some new insights. The Palestianin students, […]