Middle East

By James M. Dorsey | ( Your Middle East ) – “Everything is underground, nothing is public.” The current Saudi-led intervention in Yemen designed to prevent Iranian-backed forces from gaining power symbolises the Gulf’s new assertiveness. This is unfolding as the various Gulf states seek to hedge their bets with different strategies that complement rather […]

Christianity

Palestinian Christian leaders criticize Israeli restrictions on Easter celebration

contributors

By Celine Hagbard | (IMEMC News) – The archbishop of the Sebastian Greek Orthodox Church, Atallah Hanna, addressed crowds in the town of al-Ezzariya (Lazarus) on Saturday, condemning the Israeli restrictions on Easter celebrations, and calling on Christians around the world to pray and to voice their support for their Christian brethren in Palestine. The […]

Featured

What if US & UN Sanctioned Israel over its Nukes as they did Iran over Enrichment?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – There is a lot of talk about nuclear proliferation in the Middle East and the ways in which an Iranian bomb would provoke Saudi Arabia and others to acquire nuclear warheads of their own. But for decades, the primary impetus to a nuclear arms race in the region […]

Iran

How are Iranians reacting to Nuclear Deal?

contributors

By Golnaz Esfandiari and Farangis Najibullah | (RFE/RL) – Iranian supporters of the framework nuclear deal announced on April 2 describe it as a historic achievement that will offer a better future for the people of Iran and improved ties with the world. Hard-liners, however, say the deal is a disaster that achieves “nothing” for […]

Apartheid

Missing Israeli Soldier Staged His own “Kidnapping,” Palestinians Rousted

contributors

By IMEMC | — Israeli sources have reported that the 22-year-old soldier, who was believed to be missing, or “kidnapped,” staged his own disappearance, after the soldiers initiated a search campaign and found him, on Friday at dawn, sleeping in Kiryat Arba Jewish settlement in Hebron. Israeli Ynet News has reported that the army searched […]

Iraq

Eyewitness: How the Bush invasion of Iraq created the ISIL Threat

contributors

Lindsey Hilsum | (Channel 4 News) – “Learn how the 2003 invasion of Iraq, by the US and its allies, led to sectarian violence, terror and sowed the seeds of the Islamic State. Our International Editor, Lindsey Hilsum, recounts her experiences of Iraq during the first months of conflict and explains how ISIS has grown […]

Featured

The von Moltke Fallacy and avoiding another World War, with Iran

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Iran has just de facto announced that it does not want a nuclear weapon, at least in this generation, and probably ever. That American and Western hawks can’t see this is a measure of their own blinkered view of reality or their own corruption. Some hawkishness is a […]

Iran

Netanyahu on Iran Deal: threatens ‘survival of Israel’, ‘horrific war’

contributors

RT | —- A nuclear deal with Iran based on current framework will “threaten the survival of Israel”, said PM Benjamin Netanyahu, warning it would increase the risk of a “horrific war.” In a phone conversation with the US President, the Israeli Prime Minister expressed his opposition to a framework agreement reached with [Iran] on […]

GCC

Saudi Arabia’s intervention in Yemen is Morphing into Major War

contributors

By Paul Rogers Since it was first announced, the Saudi Arabia-led war in Yemen has developed very rapidly. Air strikes have already hit numerous targets, resulting in many civilian deaths. Clearly, the Saudis are not prepared to watch Yemen’s long-running domestic turmoil become a full-blown collapse. Ever since a rebellion led by the Shia Houthi […]