Middle East

Eau Claire, Wi. (Special to Informed Comment) – The nature and the parameters of power relations in the state-society relations in Iran since the 1978-79 revolution have radically changed. The revolution ended the twenty-five-hundred-year-old monarchical rule in Iran and gave rise to a Shi’a ‘ulema-dominated rule. The demise of the old Pahlavi regime saw the […]

Israel

How the Russia-Ukraine Conflict is Lose-Lose for Israel

Middle East Monitor

By Adnan Abu Amer | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – It is almost 3,000 kilometres from Tel Aviv to Kyiv, and yet the crisis between Ukraine and Russia is having a huge impact on Israel. Why does it seem to be a party to the crisis when it shares no border with either […]

Iran

Iran nuclear deal: to reset relations with Tehran, Biden must overcome a long legacy of mistrust at home

The Conversation

By Andrew Payne and Louise Fawcett | – As officials from Washington and Tehran return to Vienna for talks that aim to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran hawks in the US Congress are determined to prevent that happening. In a letter sent to the US president Joe Biden on February 7, Republican US senator […]

Donald Trump

Jared Kushner’s Sham “Abraham Accords” unleashed more ME Conflict, and don’t Deserve a Nobel

H. Scott Prosterman

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment) – Jared Kushner’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, for authoring the Abraham Accords (along with his deputy Avi Berkowitz), is a sham. The Abraham Accords are not a comprehensive peace plan, but a self-serving scheme that sows the seeds of war for future generations. It is a series […]

Israel Lobbies

Criticizing Israeli Policies is not Antisemitism, and Arizona Teachers Shouldn’t be deprived of 1st Amendment Rights

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom, Middle East Studies Association: Letter Protesting proposed adoption of flawed IHRA definition of antisemitism for Arizona institutions of higher education by the Arizona assembly. Dear Representatives Udall, Parker and Grantham: We write to you on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic […]

Featured

What Israel is doing to Palestine just as Bad as what Russia is doing to Ukraine, but US doesn’t Care

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The US government has been accused of hyping the crisis between the Russian Federation and the Ukraine, where some 120,000 Russian troops have been massed on Ukraine’s borders. US intelligence says Russia has plans to invade imminently, while Ukrainian leaders say they do not see any such signs. Joe Biden […]

Climate Crisis

Egypt announces Plan to Get 42% of Electricity from Renewables, become Solar Energy Hub for Europe via Greece

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Ghada El-Gendy, the Executive Director of the Arab Renewable Energy Company, said Friday that Egypt has plans to increase the share of renewables in its electricity production to 42 percent by 2035. At the moment, most of Egypt’s power plants run on methane gas or petroleum, and only 12.5 percent […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

What responsibility do Western troops fighting ISIL have for the Children that Terrorists use as Human Shields?

The Conversation

By Beth Morrison and Shannon Zimmerman | – Islamic State recently staged their most sophisticated attack since 2019 – a prison break to release former IS fighters in an effort to refill their ranks once again. According to Save the Children, hundreds of boys and teenagers were allegedly used as human shields during the fighting. […]

Apartheid

US Gov’t depends on Amnesty Int’l for Human Rights Reports, but Rejects Finding of Israeli Apartheid

Phyllis Bennis

( Otherwords.org ) – One day last spring, Palestinians in Israel and the occupied West Bank declared a general strike to protest years of repression they faced under Israeli rule. The nonviolent strike came as Israel attempted to evict seven Palestinian families from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem, part of a longstanding effort to […]