Middle East

Newark, Delaware (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long wanted war with Iran and has all along been trying to get the U.S. involved, under different U.S. administrations. On Friday morning, Israel launched missile strikes on military bases near the Iranian city of Isfahan. A desperate Netanyahu, seeing Western […]

Anti-intellectualism

Expressing Outrage at USC over its Decision to cancel Asna Tabassum’s Valedictory Address at Commencement

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association | – Carol Folt President, University of Southern California president@usc.edu Andrew Guzman Provost, University of Southern California atguzman@usc.edu Errol G. Southers USC Associate Senior Vice-President of Safety and Risk Assurance southers@usc.edu Dear President Folt, Provost Guzman and Associate Senior Vice-President Southers: We write on behalf of […]

Bill of Rights

In Fit of anti-Palestinian Hatred, Congress tries to Outlaw “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Wednesday the House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the chanting of the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Since Congress, which appears to have a disproportionate number of genocidal maniacs in its ranks, is all right with the Palestinians being subjected to mass […]

Corruption

SecState Blinken is Squelching Recommendations to Sanction Israeli Units for Killings or Rapes

ProPublica

By Brett Murphy | – ( ProPublica ) – A special State Department panel recommended months ago that Secretary of State Antony Blinken disqualify multiple Israeli military and police units from receiving U.S. aid after reviewing allegations that they committed serious human rights abuses. But Blinken has failed to act on the proposal in the […]

Colonialism

Palestinian History: Understanding the Past, Engaging with the Present

Juan Cole

My 20-minute presentation on Israel Palestine is the first segment in the below below. In recognition of Arab American Heritage Month and in light of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, UM-Flint, in partnership with the Arab American Heritage Council, invited historians Juan Cole, University of Michigan Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History, and […]

Artificial Intelligence

A Brief History of Kill Lists, From Langley to Lavender

Medea Benjamin and Nicholas J.S. Davies

( Code Pink ) – The Israeli online magazine +972 has published a detailed report on Israel’s use of an artificial intelligence (AI) system called “Lavender” to target thousands of Palestinian men in its bombing campaign in Gaza. When Israel attacked Gaza after October 7, the Lavender system had a database of 37,000 Palestinian men […]

censorship

The NYT’s Palestinian-Israeli Lexicon: Special Edition of the Ghoul’s Glossary

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – American humorist and, oddly, horror author, Ambrose Bierce (d. 1913), produced a serial, staccato newspaper column consisting of humorous and sardonic definitions of words, which he later published as a book, The Devil’s Dictionary. (He initially had to entitle it “The Cynic’s Wordbook,” which doesn’t have the same ring, because […]

Iran

Shadow War no more: With Direct Warfare between Israel and Iran, is there any going Back?

The Conversation

By Javed Ali, University of Michigan | – For decades, Iran and Israel have been engaged in a “shadow war.” Falling short of direct military confrontation, this conflict has been characterized by war through other means – through proxies, cyber attacks, economic sanctions and fiery rhetoric. Events over the last few weeks in the Middle […]

Anti-intellectualism

Protesting Columbia University’s Arbitrary Suspension and Eviction of Students

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association | – Minouche Shafik President, Columbia University officeofthepresident@columbia.edu Dennis Mitchell Provost, Columbia University dml48@cumc.columbia.edu . . . Dear President Shafik and colleagues: We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom to express […]