Middle East

Riyadh (AFP) – Saudi Arabia is preparing to outlaw sexual harassment, officials said Tuesday, less than a month before the conservative kingdom lifts its decades-long ban on women driving. The kingdom’s Shura Council, which advises the cabinet, approved a draft law on Monday which would introduce a prison term of up to five years and […]

Featured

India stands with Iran against Trump Sanctions

Juan Cole

India’s External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, on Monday did not mince words in delivering a sharp rebuke to US plans for sanctions on trade with Iran, including National Security Adviser John Bolton’s threats against third parties like India. She said, according to The Hindu, “Our foreign policy is not made under pressure from other countries […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israel begins construction of sea barrier off Gaza coast

Maan News Agency

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Israeli government began construction of marine barrier off the coast of the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, which it says will be used to prevent the movement of the Hamas military wing out of the besieged coastal enclave and into Israeli territory. Israeli news website Ynet reported that the naval barrier, […]

Dissent

In Bid to Erase Arab Spring from History, Egyptian Junta Arrests Legendary Blogger Wael Abbas

Committee to Protect Journalists

New York (CPJ) – Egyptian authorities should release immediately Wael Abbas, a blogger who has documented Egyptian police abuse, and end their senseless campaign against the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police at dawn today detained Abbas at his Cairo home and took him to an undisclosed location, according to news reports, […]

Turkey

Cliffhanger: Could Turkey’s Authoritarian President Erdogan Actually Lose June Snap Elections?

Edgar Şar

Istanbul (OpenDemocracy) – The rise of authoritarianism in Turkey has gone hand in hand with a de-institutionalization, in favour of what many call the “one man regime”. How long can that last? On Sunday, May 20, 2018, Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in the Bosnian capital to address supporters living in Europe, ahead of […]

Israel/ Palestine

Palestinians in Gaza Plan to Try to Breach Israeli Sea Blockade

AFP

Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Palestinians in the Gaza Strip will try to breach Israel’s blockade by boat this week in a fresh challenge to Israeli forces following weeks of deadly protests and clashes, organisers said Sunday. Few details were given on the plans, but organisers said the boat would depart on Tuesday at […]

Featured

Legal? Despite Withdrawal Pledge, Trump’s Massive Mission Creep in Syria

Juan Cole

The US is warning Syria against attempting to recover lands lost to rebels south of Damascus. Some of those rebels are ISIL or affiliated in some way to al-Qaeda. That is, the US is now doing the opposite of what it said it was going in to Syria to do. It is often alleged that […]

Israel/ Palestine

Palestinian Journalists Condemn Israeli Bill Criminalizing Photography of Soldiers

Maan News Agency

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Journalist Syndicate (PCJ) released a statement on Saturday condemning the proposal of a new bill in the Israeli Knesset that would criminalize the photographing or recording of Israeli soldiers while on duty. The bill was proposed on Thursday with the support of right-wing Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, and if […]

Iraq

With Some Sunnis Voting for Shiites, is Iraq After ISIL Becoming Less Sectarian?

Karl Kaltenthaler

Cleveland, Oh. (The Conversation) – The results of May 2018 the Iraqi parliament election shocked many. The surprising results could mean a different phase in Iraq’s political trajectory has begun. Most observers were expecting an easy win for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi‘s slate of candidates from all 19 of the country’s provinces. As an analyst […]