Middle East

By Wendy Pearlman | – Amid headlines about the Islamic State group and photographs of rubble, it can be easy to forget that the Syrian war began as a nonviolent uprising. March 15, the uprising’s eighth anniversary, serves as a reminder that any enduring end to the Syrian conflict must address the grievances and aspirations […]

Bernie Sanders

In Historic Rebuke to Trump, Senate invokes War Powers to Halt US aid to Saudi War on Yemen

Juan Cole

The US Senate voted 54 to 46 to invoke the 1973 War Powers Act and to end US support for the Saudi-led war on Yemen. The Yemen War has involved extensive war crimes, in which the US is complicit. Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the Saudis launched the war in spring […]

Egypt

What do Lonely Hearts Columns tell us about Social Crises in the Arab World?

contributors

By Andrea Rugh | – Recently an article by N. A. Hussein, “No Money; No Marriage” highlighted the costliness of marriage in Egypt. A problem long in the making, social issues like this rarely reach public attention until they are full blown crises. In this case, young men are calling for a boycott of marriage […]

Israel/ Palestine

The Year of the People: The Untold Story of Gaza’s ‘March of Return’

Ramzy Baroud

(Middle East Monitor) – What is the ‘Great March of Return’ but a people attempting to reclaim their role, and be recognised and heard in the struggle for the liberation of Palestine? Much has been said about what the popular mobilisation in Gaza, which began on March 30, 2018, represents. Sympathetic views rightly understood the […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israeli Squatters Uproot Dozens of Olive Trees in Palestinian Nablus

Maan News Agency

NABLUS (Ma’an) — A group of Israeli settlers uprooted dozens of Palestinian-owned olive trees, on Tuesday, in an agricultural area near the Burin village, south of the northern occupied West Bank. Ghassan Daghlas, an official who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma’an that Israeli settlers from the illegal Yitzhar settlement stormed […]

Yemen

Saudi-Led Bombardment of Yemen kills 22, including Children, wounds 30

AFP

Sanaa (AFP) – Twelve children and 10 women have been killed by strikes in Yemen’s northern province of Hajjah in the past 48 hours, the United Nations said on Monday. Up to 30 people were reported wounded, including 14 children, several of whom “require possible evacuation to survive,” the UN’s humanitarian coordination office OCHA said […]

Featured

Even Wonder Woman’s Gal Gadot Slams Netanyahu’s Racism: ‘It is not a matter of … Arabs or Jews”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Can Wonder Woman take down Israel’s combative, far right wing prime minister over his disturbing racism? Actress Gal Gadot, who played the Amazonian superhero in the blockbuster DC Entertainment film, has weighed in. As her character, Diana, said in the film, “I am the man who can.” Embed from Getty […]

Algeria

Algeria: Street Crowds, Youth, Overthrow sixth Arab President in 8 Years

AFP

Algiers (AFP) – Algeria’s ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced Monday he is dropping his bid for a fifth term in office, scrapping the upcoming elections altogether after weeks of protests against his candidacy. “Peacefully, we have overthrown the puppet!” people sang in Algiers following the president’s decision. Celebratory honking of car horns rang out in […]

Iran

Iran’s Rouhani outflanks Trump in Baghdad, Slams US for “Bombs dropped on People”

Ali Choukeir

By Ali Choukeir | – Baghdad (AFP) – Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani hit back Monday against pressure from the “aggressor” United States on Iraq to limit ties with its neighbour, during his first official visit to Baghdad. Shiite-majority Iraq is walking a fine line to maintain good relations with its key partners Iran and the […]