Middle East

Iranian Hackers deface Jerusalem Post with missile threat on Anniversary of Trump-Netanyahu Assassination of Gen. Soleimani

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Monday morning, according to Iran International, Iranian hackers defaced the front page of the Israeli newspaper the Jerusalem Post and the Twitter feed of the Hebrew-language daily Maariv [Evening]. They posted an image, which stayed up a couple of hours, of a missile aimed at the Shimon Peres Negev […]

Banking

Is the Turkish Finance Minister wrecking Economy ‘with a twinkle in his eye’?

Global Voices

By Arzu Geybullayeva ( Globalvoices.org) – Turkish Twitter-sphere was full of memes and jokes after the country’s new Minister of Treasure and Finance, Nureddin Nebati, exclaimed in a TV interview that the economy was about the “twinkle” in his eyes. The twinkle was the minister’s response to a question on economic indicators as the country […]

Afghanistan

Biden’s 4 Biggest Mideast Challenges in 2022

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Biden faces severe challenges in the coming year, but in my view the for-profit news often either focuses on the wrong ones or misinterprets the nature of the obstacles. Here are some of the major challenges: 1. Iran While many foreign policy hawks and inside-the-beltway pundits see the Iranian […]

Israel/ Palestine

New Leftist President of Chile is an ardent supporter of Palestinian Rights

Middle East Monitor

( Middle East Monitor ) – In Chile, where the largest population of Palestinians in Latin America resides, the Leftist candidate Gabriel Boric has won Chile’s presidential election after he defeated his far-right rival José Antonio Kast by 10 points. 35-year-old Boric’s victory represents a major revival for Chile’s progressive left. The President-elect, Gabriel Boric, […]

China

Is China challenging the U.S. in the Gulf? Beijing aids Saudi Arabia’s Ballistic Missil Program

Middle East Monitor

By Necmettin Acar | ( Middle East Monitor) – Last week, US intelligence agencies shared information revealing that Saudi Arabia is developing a ballistic missile with the support of China. Shortly afterwards, the fact that Iran launched an exercise called “The Great Prophet 17”, in which it also used ballistic missiles, put the Gulf back […]

Israel/ Palestine

Top Three Ways Israeli Policies Caused the Oslo Peace Accords to Collapse – According to former Shin Bet director Ami Ayalon

Jeffrey Rudolph

By Jeffrey Rudolph | – ( Detailed Political Quizzes) – Ami Ayalon, a former director of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency, explains why Oslo failed in his 2020 memoir (co-authored with the academic Anthony David), Friendly Fire: How Israel Became Its Own Worst Enemy and the Hope for Its Future. Essentially, Ayalon argues that while […]

Corporate Surveillance

Saudi feminist Loujain Alhathloul Sues UAE Hackers DarkMatter, Run by US Expats, For Spying on Her

Electronic Frontier Foundation

( 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 […]