Middle East

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Writing in al-Hayat [Life] this week, columnist Walid Choucair outlined the successes he sees Russia to have had in its Syria campaign, and the goals for which it is reaching. Choucair is the Lebanese affairs bureau chief of this pan-Arab, Saudi-owned London daily, which has a […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

More of Iraq’s Kurdish Women Training to Fight Extremists

contributors

Shalaw Mohammed | Erbil | ( Niqash.org ) | – – Increasing numbers of Iraqi Kurdish women are training to become soldiers; they want to join their men in the fight against the extremist Islamic State group. Silaf Muslih doesn’t believe there should be any difference between males and females on the battlefields of Iraq. […]

Featured

Iran’s Attendance at Syria talks in Vienna marks its Emergence as Regional Power

contributors

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – On Friday, Iran and Saudi Arabia will both attend an international summit on Syria and speak diplomatically about its future for the first time. It won’t be easy, since Iran has 1500 troops on the ground supporting the government of Bashar al-Assad, while Saudi Arabia is […]

Israel/ Palestine

Amnesty: Israeli forces have ‘ripped up the rulebook’

contributors

Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Amnesty International on Tuesday demanded that Israel stop unlawful killings in occupied Palestinian territory, stating that Israeli forces appeared to have “ripped up the rulebook.” “There is mounting evidence that, as tensions have risen dramatically, in some cases Israeli forces appear to have ripped up the […]

Middle East

From Canada as Hawk to Canada as Peacemaker in Mideast

contributors

By Richard Foltz | (Informed Comment) | – _ As midnight approached on October 19th Canadians staying up to watch the results of the federal election let out a huge collective sigh of relief as the Liberal party under 43- year-old pretty boy Justin Trudeau surged to an unexpected majority victory, putting an end to […]

Health

Yemen: Coalition Airstrikes Hit Hospital

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – – (Sanaa) – The airstrikes by a Saudi-led coalition on a hospital in northern Yemen supported by Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontiers, MSF) on October 26, 2015, was in apparent violation of the laws of war. The attack with a half-dozen bombs destroyed Haydan Hospital, the only medical facility […]

Israel/ Palestine

Jerusalem: A City Governed by Fear

contributors

By: Emily Mulder | ( Ma’an News Agency ) | – – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Mohammad, a 20-year-old Palestinian and resident of Jerusalem, was attacked by a group of Israelis on Oct. 14. His uncle, Aziz Abu Sarah, told Ma’an he had met the teen for lunch earlier in the day and given him the […]

Featured

Iran helping build “New Syrian Army;” ISIL fighters Fleeing to Iraq from Russian Airstrikes

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Alarabiya television is reporting 16 new casualties in Syria since October 9 among Iranian fighters there. There are thought to be some 1,500 Iranian military personnel in Syria, though some of these are actually Afghans. Several of those Iranian personnel killed during the past 2 years […]

Israel

Tel Aviv: Israelis Rally against Netanyahu’s Policies toward Palestinians

contributors

By IMEMC | – – Thousands of Israeli protesters have taken to the streets in Tel Aviv to denounce Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies, which they blame for the recent wave of tensions in the occupied Palestinian territories, as well as in the besieged Gaza Strip. On Saturday night, the demonstrators held signs that read, […]