Middle East

Belgrade (Special to Informed Comment) – Russia is making an effort to prevent wide-scale hostilities in Syria’s southern province of Deraa. The Kremlin reportedly aims to increase its influence in the war-torn country, but recent clashes in Deraa al-Balad – a southern district of Deraa city – between the Moscow-backed Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and […]

Featured

Trump’s Tehran Poison Pill: US Trade Embargo provokes Iranian Attacks in Gulf, Making Return to Nuclear Deal Harder

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The BBC reports that a bitumen tanker, the MV Asphalt Princess, was boarded by nine men on Tuesday and hijacked. It cites unnamed “analysts,” presumably MI6, to the effect that the hijacking was the work of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps. The MV Asphalt Princess, owned by the United Arab […]

Corruption

Lebanon: one year after Beirut explosion, failing state struggles amid poverty and sectarianism

The Conversation

By John Nagle | – ( The Conversation) – Twelve months on from the disastrous port explosion which killed more than 200 people, injured thousands and left an estimated 300,000 people without homes, Lebanon’s dramatic descent into economic and political crisis deepens. So grave has been Lebanon’s economic collapse that the World Bank ranks it […]

Featured

Living in the Dark: Palestinians in Gaza, besieged by Israel and deprived of Electricity, Can’t even Refrigerate their Food

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The International Committee of the Red Cross has released a detailed study of life for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip that is just as depressing as you would imagine. The electricity situation there has been touch and go for years, in large part because of the illegal Israeli civilian blockade […]

Climate Crisis

Climate Emergency hits Mideast as Massive Wildfires In Turkey destroy livelihoods

Global Voices

By Doga Celik and Arzu Geybullayeva | – ( GlobalVoices.org) – Since July 28, a total of 125 forest fires have raged through 21 provinces of Turkey with 8 still raging as of August 2. The first fire was reported on July 28. So far, the death toll has reached 8 people, including two firefighters. […]

Featured

Palestinian Christians welcome U.S. United Church of Christ affirmation of right to Boycott Israel for Occupation of Palestinian Territories

Juan Cole

Palestinians UCC BDS Occupation Israel

Israel/ Palestine

Israel’s Violations of Palestinian Workers’ Rights: COVID-19 and Systemic Abuse

Al-Shabaka

By Ihab Maharmeh | – ( Al-Shabakah) – The Israeli regime has been systematically violating the rights of Palestinian workers in Israel and its illegal settlements since 1967. How have these violations been exacerbated since the COVID-19 pandemic? Al-Shabaka’s guest contributor, Ihab Maharmeh, examines Israel’s ongoing abuses of Palestinian workers’ labor and human rights. He […]

Iran

Discussions of Iran’s Nuclear Enrichment ignore Israel’s Atom Bomb Arsenal: What if Iran’s Program is a Deterrent to War?

John Hickman

Mt. Berry, Ga. (Special to Informed Comment) – According to the latest news coverage, Iran-U.S. negotiations to revive the 2015 JCPOA are in trouble. The main sticking points involve a guarantee demanded by Tehran that Washington will not abandon the deal at some future date as it did in 2018 under the previous administration and […]

Authoritarianism

Tunisia’s presidential power-grab is a test for its democracy

Open Democracy

By Larbi Sadiki and Layla Saleh | – ( OpenDemocracy.net ) – In a shocking move, Tunisia’s President Kais Saied invoked Article 80 of the country’s constitution on 25 July, the nation’s annual Republic Day. Citing “exceptional” circumstances, he sacked Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, froze the Parliament and lifted the immunity of its members, granted […]