Middle East

by Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Some 2,000 rebel fighters, most of them Muslim fundamentalists, others remnants of the Free Syrian Army, are trying to break the Syrian regime’s blockade of East Aleppo. But they may soon face cruise missiles launched at them from Russian submarines in the Mediterranean, along with other […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israeli Minister: Era of Palestinian State is over, w/ Trump Victory

contributors

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli and Palestinian authorities reacted on Sunday to the victory of Donald Trump in the American presidential elections, with one Israeli minister expressing his hopes that Trump’s nomination would spell the end of efforts to establish a two-state solution. As of Wednesday evening, Republican candidate Trump won 289 of 538 electoral votes, […]

Middle East

Trump may reset Russian ties but will the Mideast Stymie him?

contributors

By Mohammed Nuruzzaman | (Informed Comment) | – – Mr. Donald Trump’s electoral victory has created shockwaves worldwide. It was as unexpected as it was unwelcome to many peoples, particularly in the Middle East. Most people in the region appear to be at a loss. Political commentators and pundits are projecting a series of hard […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israeli parliament moves to ban Boycott, Divestment Backers from entering Israel

contributors

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A bill preventing supporters of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement from entering Israel was authorized on Monday for its first reading in the Israeli parliament, according to Israeli media. According to the Jerusalem Post, the interior committee of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, approved the bill, which was initiated by Knesset […]

censorship

European journalists brand Turkey ‘biggest prison in the world’

contributors

By Herbert Vytiska | EurActiv.de | Translated By Samuel Morgan | EurActiv | – – Curbs on press freedom have been dramatically increased since the failed coup attempt against President Erdoğan. The Association of European Journalists (AEJ) has called on the European institutions to exert more pressure on Turkey, in face of further restrictions on […]

Israel/ Palestine

W. Bank Palestinian farmers: Israeli squatters stole harvest of 400 olive trees

contributors

NABLUS (Ma’an) — Palestinian farmers in the northern occupied West Bank district of Nablus reported on Monday that Israeli settlers stole the harvest of 400 olive trees planted on their private lands. Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official who monitors settlement activities in the northern West Bank told Ma’an that more than 30 Palestinian families from […]

Iraq

Iraq’s Mosul Campaign: ISIL using civilians as Human Shields

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – – All Forces Should Take Necessary Precautions to Protect Civilians (Erbil) – In areas around Mosul, the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, is forcibly evacuating civilians under their control with its fighters, apparently to use them as human shields. There are also grave concerns that ISIS is rounding up […]

Iraq

Mosul Is My Hometown, Here Is Why ISIL Was Able To Stay There

contributors

Special Correspondent | Baghdad | Niqash.org | – – NIQASH’s Mosul correspondent explains why people in the city did not resist the [so-called] Islamic State group at first, why his family and others decided to stay and how extremists kept control of a city of around 2 million. Mohammed* is NIQASH’s Mosul correspondent. He grew […]

Authoritarianism

Turkey: the road towards dictatorship and the west’s responsibility

contributors

By Mehmet Ugur | ( OpenDemocracy.net) | – – Let us stop pretending otherwise: Turkey is now under a dictatorial regime established step by step under the gaze of, and with tacit support from western governments and institutions. Kurdish and democratic forces within the country are paying a heavy price, not only because of the […]