Middle East

By Macidegül Batmaz We know that women have always been an easy target for politicians around the world. But there is no other country like Erdogan’s “New Turkey” where the political agenda is constantly shaped by discussions around the female body. Fort the last 11 years, it has been a common practice for the Prime […]

Featured

Sunni-Shiite Tensions soar in Lebanon; Hizbullah accuses Saudis in Iran Embassy Bombing

Juan Cole

Several dramatic accusations and events have heightened Sunni-Shiite tensions in Lebanon, as the Syrian Civil War continues to spill over onto Beirut’s politics. In the northern city of Tripoli, Sunni Salafis (who support the rebels in Syria) have fought in recent days with `Alawis (a sect of the Shiites, who support Syria’s Alawite-dominated Baath government), […]

Featured

Israeli Blockade of 40,000 Gaza Fishermen Briefly Broken by Youth Protesters

Juan Cole

About 200 Palestinian youth ctivists briefly broke the Israeli blockade on fishing off Gaza past an arbitrary 6-mile limit on Monday. World Bulletin writes: “”We want to show the world that there are people under occupation who are being starved in Gaza while the world is watching,” Ishraq Mahmoud, spokeswoman of the Palestinian Uprising Youth […]

Featured

Photo of the Day: Palestinian Bedouin outside Jerusalem, 1930

Juan Cole

from Elia Photo Service via Mashriq Note that when this picture was taken the British counted roughly a million Palestinians in British Mandate Palestine, scheduled to achieve statehood as Palestine when the British left. The British likely did not count the Bedouins in their statistics and probably under-counted the Palestinians in general. When the picture […]

Egypt

Egyptian Constitution: Army Strengthened, Religious Parties Banned, Freedom of Belief, Speech Enshrined

Juan Cole

Over half the articles of the proposed constitution for Egypt were approved by the “Committee of 50” on Saturday. The rest will be taken up on Sunday. The voting was on a majority vote basis, but in any case only rare articles attracted more than one or two “no” votes. This constitution replaces both the […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israel to Ethnically Cleanse 70,000 Palestinians in Massive Negev Land Grab

Juan Cole

Determined to derail the US press for peace negotiations with the Palestinians, the far-right Likud government of Israel is moving ahead with among the biggest projects of ethnic cleansing in the sad history of the Palestinian people, who have been made homeless and stateless by relentless Zionist colonization of their land. World Bulletin reports: “World […]

Lebanon

Syrian Civil War Spreads to Lebanon: Beirut Shaken by Iran Embassy Blast, kills 23, wounds 150

Juan Cole

Al-Hayat [Life] reports on the targeting by two suicide bombers of the Iranian embassy in south Beirut on Tuesday, which killed 23, including the Iranian cultural attache and embassy guards, and wounded 150. It was the first attack on the Iranian embassy in Beirut since the outbreak of the civil war in neighboring Syria. Since […]

Egypt

Egypt: Youth Remember Martyrs, Reject both Army and Muslim Brotherhood

Juan Cole

A couple of thousand demonstrators came into Tahrir Square on Monday evening to commemorate the massacre of protestors at Muhammad Mahmoud St. off Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo on November 19, 2011. The commemoration continued Tuesday morning. One of their signs said “Revolutionaries only: No entry for Muslim Brothers, the Military, or remnants of the […]

Drones

The Coming Drone Wars: Iran Unveils its own Drone, with a 1200-mile Range

Juan Cole

It was foreseeable that when the United States began deploying drones wherever it likes, its rivals would also develop that capability. In fact, you wonder if sending the drones around doesn’t create an opportunity for others to capture them and reverse-engineer them. Iran captured a US Predator drone last winter and claimed to have gotten […]