Middle East

Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces have notified residents of the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar that they are at risk of imminent forcible transfer from their lands, weeks after Israeli Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman reportedly announced that plans were underway to expel Khan al-Ahmar’s residents within a few […]

Donald Trump

Trump blasts Iran for backing Syria, ignores Russia, Praises Saudis

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Trump more or less threatened to wipe out the 25 million people of North Korea in his speech at the UN. Then he turned to the Middle East, where he again pledged to undermine the Iranian nuclear deal. In other words, he put forward a plan […]

Featured

Iraq Supreme Court strikes down Kurdistan referendum, Clashes in Kirkuk

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Iraqi Supreme Court has ordered that the referendum on independence planned for September 25 be halted. The problem is that the Iraqi supreme Court’s decision will not be recognized or honored by the elites in the Kurdistan Regional Government, the Kurdish super-province. The Kurds say […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israeli Right Wing Faction Announces a Plan for Ethnic Cleansing

contributors

By Ian Berman. | (Informed Comment) | – – – Essentially an offer that says ‘Get Out or We Will Make Your Life a Living Hell, or Worse.’ The Platform Provides 3 Choices for Palestinians: Accept Ethnic Cleansing, Bend the Knee to Apartheid or Expect Even More Violence After initiating and winning what is commonly […]

Feminism

Tunisia: A Gender Equality Manifesto

contributors

Manifesto of the Under-Signed | Tunisia | – – During the 61st anniversary commemorating the enactment of the Personal Status Code, the Tunisian Head of State Beji Caïd Essebsi made two announcements of historic proportions. If implemented, they would constitute a major step forward in the field of women’s rights. The first proposal concerns equal […]

China

China to buy $300 mn. in Lab-Grown Meat from Israel

Juan Cole

TeleSur | – – China currently imports approximately £10 billion worth of meat annually to help feed its 1.4 billion people. China has signed a multimillion-dollar deal to purchase lab-grown meat from Israel. The $300-million agreement has elicited positive feedback from environmental and animal rights groups because the meat — though grown using some animal […]

Israel/ Palestine

Hamas pledges to dissolve Gaza administration, hold elections

Juan Cole

Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Hamas, the de facto ruling party of the Gaza Strip, has pledged to dissolve its administrative committee that runs the besieged coastal enclave and expressed readiness to hold general elections, in a bid for reconciliation with the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA). A statement from Hamas movement […]

Feminism

Given Fundamentalist impact on Syria, Women’s Freedoms in Doubt

contributors

By Manal Ismael | ( Global Voices Online ) | – – In early September 2017, a piece of paper with a potent message targeted against women, held by a group of Hezbollah fighters in Juroud Arsal, Eastern Lebanon, went viral. The message, which celebrates “every woman who is not using her own photo as […]

Buddhism

Can Turkey’s Erdogan ride Rohingya Crisis to global Muslim Leadership?

Juan Cole

By Simon P. Watmough | The Conversation | – – The emerging humanitarian crisis that has been rocking Myanmar – where an estimated 370,000 Rohingya have been forced out of the country – has prompted broad international condemnation. But so far it has translated into little concrete action. United Nations (UN) human rights chief Zeid […]