Middle East

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The response of Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) to the proposed the Senate bill permitting state and local sanctions on persons and companies that boycott Israel was “They forgot which country they are representing.” They forgot what country they represent. This is the U.S. where boycotting is a right & part […]

Donald Trump

No, Trump is not like Obama on Middle East policy

The Conversation

By James L. Gelvin | – (The Conversation) – On Jan. 6, National Security Advisor John Bolton walked back President Donald Trump’s announcement that the U.S. would quickly withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, saying that such a withdrawal might actually take months or years. Trump’s announcement came more than two weeks earlier. Soon after, Trump […]

Saudi Arabia

UN Takes Charge of Saudi Girl in Thailand seeking Asylum, Fearing Family Violence

Middle East Monitor

Thai police said that they had allowed the Saudi girl, Rahaf Mohammed Al-Qunun, to leave Bangkok airport under the care of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Al-Qunun tweeted a photo of UN staff with Thai security after she left her room as well as a copy of her passport that she had […]

Featured

President Bolton overrules Feckless Trump Tweet on Syria Withdrawal

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Last Two Neoconservatives in the Trump administration, National Security Adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have swung into action to repeal Trump’s troop withdrawal from Syria. Bolton visited Israel to reassure prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu that the US will look after the interests of allies as […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israeli Squatter attacks against Palestinian Natives Tripled in 2018

Middle East Monitor

Settler attacks against the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank tripled in 2018, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Sunday. Israeli settlers carried out at least 482 attacks against Palestinians last year, up from only 140 in 2017, the daily said. The settler attacks ranged from “beating up and throwing stones at Palestinians, painting nationalist and […]

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Men can no Longer Divorce Wives without Telling Them

TeleSur

Saudi courts now have to inform wives by text message that their husbands want a divorce in a bid to end surprise separations on the part of their husbands. Starting Sunday, courts in Saudi Arabia are required to notify wives by text on any rulings confirming their divorces. However, women still remain subject to male […]

Iran

What is Behind Iran’s Anti-Corruption Protest Drive?

Mina Yousefi

By Mina Yousefi | – (International Center for Non-Violent Conflict ) – For a little over a year, Iran has witnessed a new wave of civil resistance, which had been brewing in various towns and cities around the country since the 2009 Green Revolution. Corruption and economic hardship—-although not entirely new problems—-are the two main […]

Kurds

How will Trump’s Withdrawal from Syria Affect the Turkish-Kurdish Conflict?

The Conversation

By Dilan Okcuoglu | – Donald Trump’s unilateral decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria is likely to help ISIS adopt a new strategy and expand its territorial control while at the same time continuing its execution of unarmed civilians. The move also means Trump has stabbed in the back his most successful military partner, […]

Featured

Trump’s Remark that Iranians ‘Can do what they want’ in Syria Mocked in Mideast

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Christian-owned Lebanese daily al-Nahar (The Day) mocked Trump’s remark this week that Iran can do whatever it wants in Syria after the US military withdrawal (“they can do what they want there, frankly”). A columnist for the newspaper, Monalisa Fariha, entitled her piece, “Iran will get out of Syria […]