Middle East

AJ+ | (Video report) | – – “While U.S. governors say no to refugees in response to the Paris attacks, France says it will take in 30,000 Syrians.” AJ+: “France Still Welcoming Syrian Refugees, Unlike Many U.S. Governors”

Featured

Did Daesh/ ISIL’s Paris attacks bolster al-Assad? Spain calls him ‘lesser of evils’

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Spanish foreign minister José Manuel García Margallo said Wednesday in the course of a television interview: “At the end of the day, the thesis has begun to clarify that it is the lesser evil to make an agreement with Bashar al-Assad and to thereby achieve a […]

Israel/ Palestine

Arrest Warrants for Israeli PM Netanyahu for War Crimes in Spain, South Africa

contributors

IMEMC | – – South Africa issued, on Tuesday, an arrest warrant against four Israeli officials over their role in deadly attacks on pro-Palestinian international activists. Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Against the Israeli occupation in Africa said, in a statement: “South Africa’s Directorate of the Priority Crimes Investigation Unit has issued warrants of arrest against […]

Iraq War

2003: Iraqi Governors who did not want Americans in their Country

Juan Cole

“Could we have a prudent pause?”

Israel/ Palestine

Swedish FM worries about Muslim & Palestinian Youth Despair, draws Israeli Rebuke

contributors

By IMEMC | – – Following the Paris attacks on Friday, Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom made a connection between Islamic State extremism and the Israeli occupation, causing a feud between the two governments, that the Israeli Foreign Ministry summoned its Swedish envoy on Monday. In an interview with a Swedish TV channel, following the […]

France

Paris attacks: how effective has the military response been?

contributors

By Scott Lucas | (The Conversation) | – – Even as Parisians were trying to assess the scale of the attacks by Islamic State (IS) which killed 132 people on November 13, politicians were promising a decisive and effective military response. French President Francois Hollande assured, “We will be merciless toward the barbarians of Islamic […]

Featured

Is Daesh/ ISIL a modern Raiding Pirate state?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Some analysts trying to understand Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) had suggested that it differs from al-Qaeda in its emphasis on taking and holding territory, thus becoming a state– something that al-Qaeda was largely uninterested in. They expected the self-proclaimed “caliph” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to concentrate his resources […]

France

From Beirut, this is Paris: in a world that doesn’t care about Arab lives

contributors

Elie Fares | (Open Democracy) | – – There is a stark contrast in the reaction of the world to the horrific terrorist attacks in Lebanon and France. But in the world that doesn’t care about Arab lives, Arabs lead the way. When a friend told me past midnight to check the news about Paris, […]

France

Palestinian leadership in solidarity with France after deadly attacks

contributors

Ma’an News Agency | – – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on Friday expressed his solidarity and sympathy with France in a statement after a series of attacks left over 120 dead in Paris. Abbas said he stood by the French government and citizens in the face of “terrorism,” adding that the international […]