Middle East

By Shabnam Holliday, University of Plymouth | – (The Conversation) – Recent revelations that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the US have held secret talks as a way of resolving months of attacks by Tehran-backed Houthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea have raised eyebrows. Surely the two countries have been implacable foes […]

Featured

Israel’s Lavender Murderbot is Programmed to Kill up to a Third of all Palestinian Civilians in Gaza

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The incredibly brave and resourceful Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham revealed Wednesday in a hard-hitting piece of investigative journalism that the Israeli military has used two artificial intelligence programs, “Lavender” and “Where’s Daddy,” to target some 37,000 alleged members of the military wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The programs used […]

Israel/ Palestine

The Gaza War at Six Months: Top 5 Recommendations for Ending the Fighting and Ensuring Human Security

Center for International Policy

The Gaza War at Six Months: Five Recommendations for Ending the Fighting and Ensuring Human Security in Israel-Palestine ( The Center for International Policy ) – This week marks six months since the horrific Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack and atrocities against civilians in southern Israel, followed by the devastating and often indiscriminate Israeli assault […]

Inequality

Erdoğan’s streak came to a screeching Halt as Turkey’s economy pays the price for Years of Policy Mistakes

The Conversation

By Gulcin Ozkan, King’s College London | – (The Conversation) – For many years, it wasn’t the economy that determined voting behaviour in Turkey. The country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, won almost every election he contested despite a deteriorating economic outlook. This is commonly explained by the importance of identity politics in a country that […]

Featured

Was Israel’s Strike on Iranian Embassy in Damascus an attempt to draw the US into the War?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Israel’s airstrikes Monday on the Iranian embassy in Damascus, which killed a senior general of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and six other Iranian military advisers, as well as Syrians, is a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Israel itself has squawked when its embassies and embassy personnel […]

Anti-intellectualism

Texas’ Gov. Abbott: Stop Weaponizing “Antisemitism” to Harass Campus Critics of Israeli Policy

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association | – Letter to Texas Governor Greg Abbott regarding Executive Order GA-44 2 April 2024 Governor Greg Abbott Office of the Texas Governor Office of the Governor P.O. Box 12428 Austin, Texas 78711-2428 Dear Governor Abbott: We write on behalf of the […]

Featured

Chef José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen Accuses Israel of “Targeted Attack” on 7 of its Aid Workers

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Israeli fighter-jets routinely bomb dense urban areas, sometimes with massive bombs, in ways that President Joe Biden characterized as “indiscriminate.” Indiscriminate bombing of civilians is a war crime. On Monday, an Israeli airstrike hit an aid convoy mounted by Chef José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen, killing at least 7 persons […]

Democracy

Secular Opposition Crushes pro-Islam AKP in Turkey’s Local Elections

Arzu Geybullayeva

( Globalvoices.org ) – Turkey’s local elections which took place on March 31, will go down in history as one of its most surprising. Turkey’s demoralized opposition, namely the [secular] Republican People’s Party (CHP), dominated in what many pundits described as the ruling [center-right] Justice and Development Party’s worst defeat of its 22-year existence. For […]

Anti-intellectualism

Protest of Columbia University’s Treatment of Dr. Kayum Ahmed over Teaching Palestine

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association | – Linda P. Fried Dean, Mailman School of Public Health Columbia University lpfried@columbia.edu et al. We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom to express our concern about the decision to remove Dr. […]