Middle East

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — At least 55 Palestinians have been killed and more than 2,700 others injured alongside the eastern borders of the Gaza Strip on Monday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. The latest death toll was reported by the ministry at 9:30 p.m. The ministry added that 2,771 people were […]

Featured

The Half-Millennium When Rome excluded Jews from Jerusalem and how Iran and Muslims Saved Them

Juan Cole

The move of the Trump administration of the US embassy to Jerusalem is intended, according to the president, to signal a recognition of the reality that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. This move is controversial because Israel’s sovereignty over Jerusalem is not recognized in international law. The 1947 partition plan suggested in the UN […]

Iran

Iran Foreign Minister in Moscow as Russia moves to save nuclear deal

AFP

Moscow (AFP) – Iran’s foreign minister was in Moscow on Monday as Russia tries to keep the Iran nuclear deal alive in the wake of Washington’s pull-out, pushing it into rare cooperation with Europe. Iranian state television Irib broadcasted images of Mohammad Javad Zarif in Moscow, saying he had arrived in Russia at 4am (01:00 […]

Donald Trump

Gearing Up for the Third Gulf War: a Future Cataclysm between US, Israel, Saudi and Iran?

Michael T. Klare

( Tomdispatch) With Donald Trump’s decision to shred the Iran nuclear agreement, announced last Tuesday, it’s time for the rest of us to start thinking about what a Third Gulf War would mean. The answer, based on the last 16 years of American experience in the Greater Middle East, is that it won’t be pretty. […]

European Union

Germany will try to shield firms from US Sanctions after Trump Violation of Iran Treaty

Middle East Monitor

Germany wants to help its companies continue doing business in Iran after the US decision to reimpose sanctions against Tehran, but it could be difficult to shield them from any fallout, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Sunday. US President Donald Trump’s decision on Tuesday to renege on the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran and […]

Feminism

Israel wins Eurovision with #MeToo inspired song

Daniel Silva

Lisbon (AFP) – Israel won the Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon early Sunday after singer Netta Barzilai beat 25 other contestants with her uptempo song “Toy” whose lyrics were inspired by the #MeToo movement. The winning track, which contained refrains such as “I am not your toy, you stupid boy”, summed up the concerns of […]

Yemen

UN: Saudi-led Coalition inflicts 60% of Yemen Deaths, Injuries

Middle East Monitor

Some 236 civilians were killed in Yemen in April making it the deadliest month for the war-torn state this year, a United Nations briefing note revealed today. “The month of April was the deadliest month for civilians in Yemen so far this year, with a sharp increase in casualties. At least 236 civilians were killed […]

Saudi Arabia

Saudi-financed Belgian mosques teach hatred of Jews, gays: report

AFP

Brussels (AFP) – Teaching manuals in Gulf Arab-financed mosques in Belgium promote anti-semitic stereotypes of Jews and call for the persecution of homosexuals, according to a leaked Belgian intelligence report. The texts used in mosques including the Brussels Grand Mosque call for gays to be stoned to death or thrown off buildings and describe Jews […]

Iran

Why there isn’t likely to be a conventional War between Israel and Iran

Juan Cole

It is understandable that observers are alarmed about an Iran-Israel conflict in the aftermath of the violation by Trump of the 2015 Iranian nuclear enrichment treaty. Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu worked hard to undermine the treaty in the US, using cut-outs such as allegedly corrupt casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who bought the Republican Party […]