Middle East

By Juan Cole| (Informed Comment) | – – The Israeli press is reporting that Iran has made a firmer military alliance with the Russian Federation in Syria, and that Moscow is sending pilots to Damascus to fly missions in that country against Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) and other Muslim extremist groups. The Syrian regime of Bashar […]

Alawites

Can a Loose Federal system save Syria and Iraq?

contributors

By Jerome Joffe | (Informed Comment) | – – In recent months, prospects for applying the principles of federation and constitutional protection for minorities as a basic political solution for the conflicts in Syria and Iraq have dramatically improved. On the foundation of state restructuring, coordination of military force to degrade ISIS and the Nusra […]

Iraq

‘We Must Face Reality. Iraq Can No Longer Be Ruled In A Centralised Way’ – Former VP Salih

contributors

Zhyar Mohammed | Niqash.org | Sulaymaniyah | – – Senior Iraqi Kurdish politician Barham Salih doesn’t pull his punches: The Iraqi army is over, as is the national Iraqi project. And extremists can only, truly be defeated by political reform – after military action. Barham Salih is one of Iraq’s most senior, most experienced politicians. […]

Israel/ Palestine

Palestinian Christians Clash with Israeli Soldiers after Sunday Mass over Bethlehem Confiscations

contributors

by IMEMC News | – – Palestinian Christians clashed with Israeli forces, following mass on Sunday, when priests and demonstrators marched to protest renewed work on the apartheid wall in the Christian majority town of Beit Jala, in the occupied West Bank. The march, the most recent in a string of protests, moved through neighborhoods […]

Lebanon

“You Stink!” Movement Gives Lebanese Gov’t 72 Hours to Meet Protesters Demands

contributors

By Amira Al Hussaini | (Global Voices Online) | – – Lebanese protesters at Martyrs’ Square in Beirut earlier today. Photo credit: You Stink Movement official Facebook page Lebanese protesters today gave the government a 72 hour ultimatum to meet their demands or face further protests on Tuesday. The demands include the resignation of Environment […]

Featured

Palestine overwhelmed by Illegal American Immigrants

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – If there were a Palestinian Donald Trump, he’d be fulminating against illegal immigrants swamping the Palestinian West Bank. And he’d be complaining that fully 1 in 6 of these undocumented squatters are Americans . Since Americans have trouble understanding the basic facts of the situation, it […]

Iraq

Missing, Believed Murdered: ISIL in Mosul Releases 1st ‘Death List’ of 2,070 Victims

contributors

Khales Joumah | Mosul | (Niqash.org) The Islamic State group in Mosul has released lists of locals whose families thought they were missing, but who have been executed. The extremists are also carefully monitoring who wants the information. Streets of Mosul, a city where thousands are missing, most likely murdered by extremists. His heart began […]

Kurds

Are Turkish Pres. Erdogan’s anti-PKK Campaign, Snap Elections Backfiring?

contributors

By Kubilay Yado Arin | (ISLAMiCommentary) | – – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. (photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons) Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan this week called for new elections on November 1, after his government failed to form a coalition following the June poll in which his party —the AKP — failed to win a majority of […]

Human Rights

What if it were your kids’ School the Israelis were demolishing?

contributors

By: Fadwa Baroud | (Ma’an News Analysis) | – – On July 12, 2015, Israel announced that it would seek to carry out demolition orders of structures in the Palestinian village of Susiya in what is known as Area C, an area that covers 60 percent of the West Bank, under Israeli control, including the […]