Middle East

The Gaza Crisis has Exposed the Bankruptcy of the UN and International Humanitarian Law, Threatening a Rules-Based Order

Gaza has been enduring one of the most devastating massacres in this century. The Strip has been under blockade for two decades, and the world has recently witnessed some of the bloodiest days in the region’s history. On October 7th, following a horrific terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel that took some 1200 lives and […]

Foreign Policy

Iran and America: They weren’t Always Enemies

Fariba Amini

Review of Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, Heroes to Hostages America and Iran, 1800–1988 (Cambridge U.P., 2023) When the subject of Iran and America comes to mind, two eventful episodes are often invoked by Iranians and Americans. The first is the CIA-led coup d’état of 1953, which toppled Mohammad Mossadegh’s democratically elected government; and the second is the […]

Climate Crisis

COP28: inside the United Arab Emirates, the Oil Giant hosting 2023 Climate Change Summit

The Conversation

By Emilie Rutledge, The Open University and Aiora Zabala, The Open University | – The United Arab Emirates (UAE), the world’s seventh largest oil producer, will host the 28th UN climate change summit (COP28) in Dubai from November 30 to December 12. Presiding over the conference will be the chief executive of the UAE state-owned […]

Featured

President Biden needs to Dump his War Hawks and Turn to Peace Work if he wants to Salvage his Presidency

Omer Abid

Grand Blanc, Mi. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – It has been clear since the horrid terror attack of October 7 by Hamas that President Joe Biden has been getting dreadful advice from his top officials, whether at the State Department, the CIA or the National Security Council. The president’s refusal to draw any red […]

Climate Crisis

A Slow-Motion Gaza: Or how to Carbonize the Planet Earth

Tom Engelhardt

( Tomdispatch.com) – Imagine this: humanity in its time on Earth has already come up with two distinct ways of destroying this planet and everything on it. The first is, of course, nuclear weapons, which once again surfaced in the ongoing nightmare in the Middle East. (An Israeli minister recently threatened to nuke Gaza.) The […]

Israel/ Palestine

A Humanitarian Pause or a Surge in Human Rights Violations?

Ramona Wadi

by Ramona Wadi ( Middle East Monitor ) – After much useless public debate over Israel’s alleged right to defend itself, the international community regained its footing as the humanitarian paradigm, once more, comes within reach. A four day pause after an agreement reached by Israel and Hamas which would also see the release of […]

Christianity

Juan Cole: Infidel or Pagan? Understanding Kufr (كفر) in the Qur’an | Muhammad the Prophet of Peace

Juan Cole

Gabriel Said Reynolds of Notre Dame writes: “In this video I interview Professor Juan Cole, the Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. We discuss the historicity of Muhammad’s raids as well as the picture of the messenger that is obtained when one focuses on the Qur’an alone. The bulk […]

Islam

Never Forget: Jews and Muslims have Often imagined themselves in History as Siblings and Allies

Anouar Majid

Excerpted from Tingis. Historically, and even theologically, Jews have always been closer to Muslims than they were to Christians. It was in Muslim lands, the late eminent historian Bernard Lewis told us, that Arabic “became the language of science and philosophy, of government and commerce, even the language of Jewish theology when such a discipline […]

Israel/ Palestine

The Past, Present and Future of Israel/Palestine – Juan Cole, Sherene Seikaly and Zachary Lockman

Juan Cole

Massachusetts Peace Action: The Hamas attacks in Israel and Israel’s war on and invasion of Gaza are the latest rounds in a long-running conflict. In this webinar, three leading historians of the region will explore how we got here; what is fueling the present conflict; and what we in the United States can do. Speakers: […]