Middle East

RT | – The Islamic State has posted a video online showing a group of militants destroying ancient statues and other artifacts, saying they are symbols of idolatry. Some of the objects date from the seventh century BC. Specialists say the damage is incalculable. The video, which appeared online on Thursday, shows monuments and relics […]

Featured

Why Netanyahu’s Congress Speech will Fail: Iran Can’t be Stopped, only Monitored

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – The conspiracy hatched by Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to undermine President Obama’s negotiations with Iran over its civilian nuclear weapons program has a false premise that dooms it. Many Republicans, and Netanyahu, believe that Obama is negotiating a bad deal […]

Islam

Jewish Jihad on Palestinians: Israeli Squatters burn mosque near Bethlehem

contributors

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Extremist Jewish settlers set fire overnight Tuesday to a mosque in the southern West Bank town of al-Jaba west of Bethlehem, locals told Ma’an. As worshipers arrived around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday to prepare for the dawn prayer at al-Huda mosque, they saw smoke and flames rising from inside the building. Worshipers alerted […]

Israel

Fallout in Gaza: After a War, 120,000 Still Living in Rubble:

contributors

VICE News | – “During the devastating 50-day war in Israel and Gaza this past summer, around 18,000 homes in Gaza were destroyed or severely damaged, leaving around 120,000 residents homeless. Now, with trouble in neighboring Sinai and infighting between Palestinian factions, reconstruction efforts in the beleaguered Gaza Strip are moving slowly. With the UN […]

Assyrians

Syria: Daesh/ ISIL takes 150 Christians Captive as 3,000 flee to Hasaka

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Al-Nahar (“The Day,” Beirut) reported that dozens of Assyrian Christians have been abducted by Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) in Hasakah Province, northeast Syria. Reuters later put the number at 150. The abduction occurred after heavy fighting by Kurdish YPG commandos that included allied Christian fighters versus Daesh attackers in […]

Iran

Leak: Netanyahu’s 2012 Iran Bomb Warning refuted by Israeli Intel

contributors

Cenk Uygur | (The Young Turks) – “Benjamin Netanyahu’s dramatic declaration to world leaders in 2012 that Iran was about a year away from making a nuclear bomb was contradicted by his own secret service, according to a top-secret Mossad document. It is part of a cache of hundreds of dossiers, files and cables from […]

Egypt

In Egypt, the Law itself is an Enemy of Women’s Rights

contributors

By Rana Allam | – CAIRO, Feb 23 2015 (IPS) – In November 2013, a Thomson Reuters Foundation survey ranked Egypt as the worst of 22 Arab states with regards to women’s rights. Several people argued that any country strictly following Islamic laws should rank lower, because Egypt and many other Arab and Muslim countries […]

Health

Israel denies Gaza govt floodwater allegations

contributors

NB AFP has withdrawn the original story. BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israel on Monday rejected allegations by the government in the Gaza Strip that authorities had released storm water into the coastal enclave. Children clear water after flooding in Gaza. (MaanImages) In a statement, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories said Israel did not […]

Featured

Yemen: Saudi backs Sunni revolution against Shiite Houthi Rebels linked to Iran

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Yemen Voice reports that Wahhabi Saudi Arabia has launched an all out political offensive against the Shiite Houthi rebels who have taken over the north of the country. The Houthis took the capital last September but kept the government in place until recently, when they made a full […]