Middle East

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — When American commentators like Carl Bernstein complain that Muslim authorities have not sufficiently denounced the terrorist attack on the Charlie Hebdo staff in Paris, they show a profound ignorance of the current situation in the Middle East. The fact is that both governments of Muslim-majority countries and the […]

Apartheid

Paris attack becomes Political Football in Israel and Palestine

contributors

By Nasser Lahham | Ma’an News Agency | — The shooting at a satirical magazine in Paris on Wednesday, which left 12 people dead, came at a very sensitive and dangerous time for both Palestinians and the Israelis. France has recently supported the Palestinian people and their cause at the UN Security Council, causing panic […]

Corruption

“Anyone but Bibi’: Israeli PM popularity slumps as 90% of his Campaign Money Comes from US

contributors

RT | — “Israel’s Prime Minister has kicked off his re-election campaign, with a well-funded operation, much of which is coming from abroad. More than 230,000 dollars has come in from various donors in the United States. It makes up almost 90% of Benjamin Netanyahu’s re-election funds, most of it coming just from three American […]

al-Qaeda

Paris Terrorist was Radicalized by Bush’s Iraq War, Abu Ghraib Torture

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — Sharif and Said Kouashi, the two brothers for whom the French police are searching, were born in Paris of Algerian parents, Mokhtar et Freiha Méguireche, according to a profile published by Le Monde. Said was born in 1980. Sharif was born in 1982. The brothers were poor and […]

Apartheid

The economics at the heart of Israeli settlements

contributors

JERUSALEM | January 2015 | (IRIN) | – Of all the hurdles to peace negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, perhaps the largest is the 150 or so Israeli settlements in the West Bank. These communities, considered illegal by the UN, are fracturing Israel’s relationship even with its allies: The pro-Israeli head of the UK […]

Featured

Whatever Happened to besieged Kurdish City of Kobane, Syria?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | — Kurdish forces (including both the local YPG and Peshmerga units from Iraqi Kurdistan), and supported by Free Syrian Army troops and coalition air strikes, have largely recovered Kobane from rule by Daesh (called in the West ISIL or ISIS). Kurdish forces have recovered control of the downtown where the government […]

Iraq

Saudi General, Border Guards Killed by Daesh/ISIL for not being Fanatical Enough

contributors

France24 | — “At 4,30 am 4 men coming from Iraqi territory attacked a border post on the northern frontier of Saudi Arabia. Two of the attackers were killed during the attack, one by gun shot and the second activated his explosive belt killing general Awda al-Balwi, commander of the northern frontier zone, with one […]

Democracy

Iran’s Rouhani & Direct Democracy: Wants Referendum to Sidestep Hardliners

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — Iran’s system of government is a hybrid. One wing of it consists of a dictatorial theocracy, centered on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The other wing is elected and comprises the parliament and the presidency. President Hassan Rouhani, a reformer, is worried about being stymied in his economic and […]

Apartheid

Stealing Bethlehem: How the Israelis are economically Strangling the Palestinian Town of Jesus’ Birth

contributors

By James Zogby (Ma’an News Agency) For those who do not know the place, Bethlehem possesses a timeless quality, derived from these artistic creations. It is a place of mystery and contradictions. It is the peaceful little town that played an out-sized role in history; the birthplace of Jesus, the child born in a cave, […]