Middle East

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed never to dismantle Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. Speaking yesterday at an event in the settlement of Revava – which forms part of the Ariel settlement bloc located off Route 60, south of Nablus – Netanyahu vowed that there would be no uprooting of Israel’s […]

Iran

Iran’s leader is losing his grasp on power. Does this mean diplomacy is doomed?

Shahram Akbarzadeh

( The Conversation) – Iran’s announcement last Sunday that it would break the limit on uranium enrichment agreed to in the nuclear deal with world powers was not a surprise. It came hot on the heels of another breach only a few days earlier on the 300-kilogram limit agreed to in the deal on stockpiles […]

Dance

Dunked On’em: Nicki Minaj Pulls out of Saudi Concert over Women’s, LGBTQ, Free Speech Rights

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trinidadian-American rap superstar Onika Tanya Maraj, known as “Nicki Minaj” has pulled out of Jidda World Fest scheduled in Saudi Arabia for July 15. She issued a statement: “While I want nothing more than to bring my show to fans in Saudi Arabia, after better educating myself on the issues, […]

Syria

Syria: US Coalition needs to Reimburse Civilians for Thousands of Innocents Killed and Massive Property Destruction in fight against ISIL

Human Rights Watch

First Public ‘Condolence’ Payment Provides Way Forward

China

China Backs Iran: Trump ‘Started the Fire,’ ‘unilateral bullying’ ‘a tumor’

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – China is openly blaming the Trump administration for the breakdown of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), according to the official Xinhua News Agency Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a daily press briefing, “The ‘maximum pressure’ against Iran imposed by […]

Turkey

Can Turkish Politics be Depolarized?

Global Voices

By Sevgi Yagmur Bulut | – The ruling party is no longer in charge of the largest municipality In the end it was easy. Ekrem Imamoglu, the opposition candidate in Istanbul’s municipal election, swept to victory on June 23 with 54% of the votes, after a rerun ordered by the country’s main electoral authority. The […]

Israel/ Palestine

When Will Palestinians Wake up to Complete US embrace of Messianic Extremist Israeli Project

Ramzy Baroud

Those who are still hoping that the new American agenda on Palestine and Israel is temporary, or reversible, should abandon this false hope. Washington’s complete adoption of Israel’s messianic, extremist policies regarding Occupied Palestine has been a long time in the making. And it is here to stay. Despite the unmistakable clarity in the American […]

Israel/ Palestine

Nelson Mandela’s Grandson: We have a Moral Duty to Boycott Israel over its Apartheid against Palestinians

Middle East Monitor

South African MP and the grandson of Nelson Mandela, Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, addressed a sold out crowd at the Palestine Expo in London yesterday, saying “We have a moral duty to support the BDS and to support the Palestinian struggle”. Organised by the British NGO Friends of Al-Aqsa (FOA), Palestine Expo has been dubbed the […]

Donald Trump

Trump’s Economic War on Iran: 88% reduction in Oil Exports, 6% Shrinkage of Economy

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The United States is already at war with Iran, squeezing its economy down to nothingness. If another country tried to do this to the US just on a whim and with no UN or international-law basis, the US would certainly launch a war over it. Iran’s choices are much more […]