Middle East

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Jordanian newspaper al-Ghad (Tomorrow) is reporting that the commander of the Jerusalem Brigade of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards has been spotted near Latakia, urging on a volunteer militia of Alawite Shiites. The report comes as AP says it was told by a senior Western official […]

Education

Education under occupation: everyday disruption at a Palestinian university

contributors

Brendan Browne | (The Conversation) | – – As the clock moves towards 12.45pm I begin to anxiously await the flurry of emails that I’ve come to expect in advance of my 2pm class. The class is on law and human rights. Students email to say that a deterioration in the security situation means they […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israeli forces deployed around E. Jerusalem as Tensions over Colonization Rise

contributors

Ma’an News Agency | – – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Several Palestinians were detained and checkpoints were set up at the entrances to Palestinian neighborhoods on Wednesday as Israeli officials launched punitive measures across occupied East Jerusalem following a string of attacks. Israeli forces raided the al-Issawiya and Jabal al-Mukabbir neighborhoods early Wednesday and detained 12 […]

al-Qaeda

ISIL, al-Qaeda in Syria call for Holy War against Russia

contributors

By Joanna Paraszczuk | ( RFE/ RL Both the [so-called] Islamic State (IS) group and Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, the Al-Nusra Front, this week called for attacks against Russia, as Russian air strikes in Syria continue — though not against IS targets. IS broke two weeks of silence on the Russian air strikes in Syria on […]

Apartheid

Oct.: Israelis kill 30 Palestinians, wound 1500; 7* Israelis Killed, over 20 Wounded

contributors

By IMEMC | – – Since October 1st, 30 Palestinians have been killed, and more than 1500 others injured by Israeli troops, according to the most recent report by the Palestinian Ministry of Health The MOH said in its report that among the 30 killed Palestinians there are seven children. According to the press statement, […]

Iran

Iran Parliament ratifies Nuclear Deal as Tehran Emerges on World Stage

contributors

By Edward Wastnidge | (The Conversation) | – – Iran’s parliament has approved the much-ballyhooed deal to limit its nuclear programme. After years of suspicion and sanctions, the tense stand-off with the West has, at least for now, been defused – and not before time. Even with the world gripped by the Russian entry into […]

Dissent

Ankara bombs: Turkey is being torn apart by bad leaders and bad neighbors

contributors

By Alpaslan Ozerdem | (The Conversation) | – – It had already been a deadly summer of political instability in Turkey. And now this. Another bloody massacre – this time at the hand of twin bomb attacks on a peace rally in Ankara, which have killed at least 97 people. It is the worst terror […]

Russia

Can Russia afford Its Syria Campaign?

contributors

By Charles Recknagel | ( RFE/ RL ) Rough estimates suggest that Moscow has spent at least $87 million for air and cruise-missile strikes in the first two weeks of its bombing campaign in Syria that began September 30. With that relatively modest investment, the Kremlin has made itself a player that cannot be ignored […]

Israel/ Palestine

Palestinians want West Bank & Gaza to be put under UN protection

contributors

By Samer B. Jaber | (Ma’an News Agency) | – – We, a group of professional and trade union figures, intellectuals, and political activists, appeal to the Palestinian leadership within the Palestine Liberation Organization and outside of it, to call on the United Nation and the permanent members of the Security Council to put the […]