Middle East

By Jonah Mandel | – – Jerusalem (AFP) – Israel has built a high-tech economy, forged the region’s strongest military and fended off enemies surrounding it in the 70 years since its creation, but many think it faces a new threat: itself. The 70th anniversary of the establishment of the state of Israel on May […]

Featured

No, Iran and Hizbullah haven’t taken over Lebanon: it is a multiparty Election

Juan Cole

Lebanon held the first parliamentary elections since 2009 (they are supposed to be every 4 years but the Syrian civil war and political gridlock made it difficult to meet that schedule until now).* Given all the talk of Trump pulling out of the Iran deal in part because of Tehran’s supposed regional dominance, the results […]

Israel/ Palestine

As Israel turns 70, many young American Jews turn away, a la Natalie Portman

Dov Waxman

Natalie Portman, the Oscar-winning actress, recently kicked off a massive storm of controversy when she pulled out of a prestigious award ceremony in Israel because, she said, she “did not want to appear as endorsing Benjamin Netanyahu.” The response to Portman’s refusal to appear alongside Israel’s prime minister was intense. She was denounced by right-wing […]

Israel

Lost in the debate on Iran: Israel’s Nukes and the Vanunu Case

John Buell

Recently there was an extraordinary moment on corporate TV. Late last month CNN’s Chris Cuomo asked Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “Does Israel have nuclear capabilities and nuclear weapons, yes or no?” Netanyahu responded evasively, claiming: “we’ve always been the first to say we wouldn’t introduce it so we haven’t introduced it.” After Cuomo continued […]

Iraq

Now Iraq is regularly bombing Syria . . . to Blast ISIL Remnants

AFP

Baghdad (AFP) – Iraqi warplanes carried out a raid Sunday targeting Islamic State group commanders in eastern Syria, in the second such strike on the jihadists since mid-April, the premier’s office said. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered the “painful strike” which targeted “a meeting of IS commanders south of Al-Dushashiya in Syrian territory”, a statement […]

Featured

Syria: Did E. Ghouta Gas Reports cause Rebels to surrender en masse in Homs, Hama?

Juan Cole

The Syrian regime and its Russian backers have managed to expel opposition guerrilla groups from the areas just north of the central cities of Homs and Hama. The groups agreed to hand over their heavy and medium weapons and to board buses for either Idlib province or Jarabulus in Aleppo province in the north. The […]

Syria

Syria: Why tales of a western ‘regime change plot’ don’t make sense

Brian Whitaker

There’s a claim circulated endlessly on the internet that the conflict in Syria is a “regime change war” orchestrated by western powers. As far as many of the Assad regime’s defenders are concerned, this is established fact. To quote one of them – Piers Robinson, writing for the Open Democracy website – the existence of […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israeli Forces injure 40 Palestinians on 6th Friday of Gaza protests

Maan News Agency

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — At least 40 Palestinians were injured on Friday during ongoing massive demonstrations along the “buffer zone” between Israel and the besieged Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. Friday marked the sixth week of the “Great March of Return” protests in Gaza, as thousands of Palestinians have […]

Yemen

Saudi-led War on Yemen risks causing Millions of New Cholera Cases

AFP

By Mariëtte Le Roux | – – Paris (AFP) – War-torn Yemen, caught in what the UN terms the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, risks a resurgence of cholera that could infect millions as the rainy season advances, researchers warned Friday. Health authorities should “immediately” boost measures to mitigate risk, an international team urged in The […]