Middle East

Apparently, no ‘P’ means no state.

Russia and Iran are allied in Syria – but are they as close as they seem?

Marzieh Kouhi-Esfahani | ( The Conversation | – – After years of isolation, Iran is slowly coming back in from the cold after the deal to curb its nuclear programme. And as it starts to reassert itself more openly in the world order, it’s rekindling a stormy affair with an old flame: Russia. The two […]

Russia

Russia Warns of ‘World War’ as Saudi Plans Syria Intervention

contributors

TeleSur | – – Saudi Arabia’s decision to send troops to Syria is “final” and “irreversible,” Saudi military spokesman Ahmed Al-Assiri told reporters Thursday evening as he confirmed earlier comments about sending troops to the country. But Russia has warned the move could mark the beginning of a new “world war.” Assiri added that Riyadh […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israel razes Over 40 Palestinian homes, buildings in Jordan Valley

contributors

Ma’an News Agency | – – TUBAS (Ma’an) — Israeli forces on Thursday destroyed over 40 Palestinian homes and structures in the Tubas district of the occupied West Bank as ongoing Israeli policies in the Jordan Valley continue to drive Palestinians out of their homes. A Palestinian official from the governor’s office in Tubas, Mutaz […]

Featured

Israel: Friedman of the NY Times surrenders to One-State Solution, sees ME Apocalypse

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Tom Friedman of the New York Times has completely given up on a two-state solution, forthrightly abandoning the polite fiction that there will ever be a Palestinian state alongside Israel, and ridiculing American presidential candidates for speaking as though it were still a possibility. In fact, […]

Displaced and Refugees

Turkey must not strand new Wave of Syrian Refugees, & nor should Europe

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – – (Istanbul) – Turkey should allow Syrians at its border fleeing the fighting in and around Aleppo to seek protection in Turkey, Human Rights Watch said today. Forcing people to remain in a war zone, where they risk death and injury, is no solution to the challenge of protecting Syrians […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israeli Parliament Targets Human Rights NGOs

contributors

Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Israeli Knesset on Monday approved the first reading of the “NGO transparency bill,” denounced by critics as a move to delegitimize and weaken human rights organizations in Israel. The first reading of the bill, which passed 50 to 43, sparked uproar among some lawmakers, two […]

Arab World

VICE Special Report: Fighting Isis (Ben Anderson Debrief)

Nicholas Kolenda

Ben Anderson of VICE gives a chilling report on Da’esh: the events that led to their rise and the situation as of today.

Displaced and Refugees

Failed Syria Talks raise specter of new Refugee wave, Misery in Mideast, Europe

contributors

By Alpaslan Ozerdem | (The Conversation | – – The Syrian civil war and the refugee crisis it has caused is the greatest humanitarian disaster facing the world right now. But while Europe is often portrayed – in Europe – as the epicentre of the refugee crisis, the reality is completely different. The forced migration […]