Middle East

Egypt’s judiciary accused of being arm of repression (via AFP) A wave of mass sentences in Egypt, including hundreds sentenced to death this week after a rushed mass trial, has sparked charges that military-installed authorities are using the judiciary as a blunt tool of repression. The sentences handed out Monday… —– Related video: AFP: […]

Islam

Saudi Fatwa against “THE 99” Tolerant Muslim Superhero Comics as “Evil”

Juan Cole

(By Naif Al-Mutawa) Seven years ago, THE 99 [super-hero comics] were granted approvals to Saudi Arabia. What began as a suspicious relationship, my not expecting approvals to begin with, and their suspicion of the subversive nature of the content we were at loggerheads. It turned out that the solution was simple. I had to first […]

Arab World

From Raybans to Portrait Underwear: Sisi-Mania floods Egypt with Kitsch

Juan Cole

(By Leila Zaki Chakravarti) Egypt’s current political scene is marked by ’Sisi-mania’, as the new leader’s supporters scramble to snap up the latest items of Sisi-branded consumer kitsch. A gendered reading of this ‘patriotic consumerism’ reveals its role in negotiating citizenship within Egypt’s refashioned political order. “In the end I suppose I’ll marry my cousin […]

Israel

Israel okayed nearly 14,000 squatter homes on Palestinian land during talks with Palestinians

Juan Cole

Israel approved plans for nearly 14,000 new settler homes during the nine months of peace talks with the Palestinians, an Israeli settlement watchdog said Tuesday as the negotiation period formally ended. Figures quoted by Peace Now showed that during…

Bill of Rights

The Impunity of American Torture: From Abu Ghraib to Sen. Feinstein’s Brawl with the CIA

Juan Cole

(by Karen J. Greenberg via Tomdispatch.com) It’s mind-boggling. Torture is still up for grabs in America. No one questions anymore whether the CIA waterboarded one individual 83 times or another 186 times. The basic facts are no longer in dispute either by those who champion torture or those who, like myself, despise the very idea […]

Featured

John Kerry admits Israeli Apartheid; and 5 Ways he is Understating It

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) In a closed-room meeting of the Trilateral Commission last Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry warned that Israel is on the verge of becoming an Apartheid state, according to a recording obtained by The Daily Beast. The remark will raise a firestorm of criticism from Palestine-deniers, who are if anything more blindered […]

Bashar al-Assad

A Widening War: Iraq intervenes in Syria with Helicopter Gunships

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) For the first time, Iraqi helicopter gunships have crossed the border to hit a target inside Syria. They destroyed 8 fuel tankers transporting gasoline to forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, an al-Qaeda affiliate that has begun holding territory both in northern Syria and in al-Anbar Province in Iraq. […]

Human Rights

Turkey’s PM Erdogan between Sultanate and Hobbesian Commonwealth

Juan Cole

(By Kerem Oktem) . . . [Thomas Hobbbes’] Leviathan is about more than the rights of the sovereign. For it to be considered a commonwealth, it requires a covenant between the sovereign and the ruled, with the latter voluntarily giving up their right to govern themselves in exchange for legitimate rule. [Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip] […]

censorship

Egyptian Youth Protest against Anti-Protest Law a month before Elections

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Hundreds of leftist and secular youth demonstrated on Saturday against Egypt’s Draconian law forbidding demonstrations, demanding the release of revolutionary activists jailed under it. They marched from Serai al-Qubba to the presidential palace. Activists said that they did not believe the presidential elections scheduled for late May would be on the up […]