Middle East

That Time when Napoleon Bonaparte’s Army in Palestine Burned Crops, Pounded Houses with Artillery, and Cut off Water to Cities

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On 24 June 1799 General Louis-Alexandre Berthier wrote a dispatch from Ottoman Palestine back to the French Ministry of War (people were more honest back then) about the French retreat from their failed attempt to take Ottoman Palestine. Since the army ravaged the Palestinian countryside with retaliatory attacks, given their […]

Israel/ Palestine

Gaza: What Aid Agencies can hope to Achieve under the Strict Limits of the 4-Day Pause

The Conversation

By Sarah Schiffling, Hanken School of Economics; and Chris Phelan, Edge Hill University | – (The Conversation) – The four-day humanitarian pause in Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip will be vital to allow humanitarian agencies into the stricken Palestinian enclave with much-needed supplies of food, water, fuel and medicine. But four days is a […]

Israel/ Palestine

Demanding an End to Israel’s Military Assault on Gaza’s Educational Sector

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom, Middle East Studies Association. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Fax: +972-2-5664838 Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant pniot@mod.gov.il Brigadier General Hisham Ibrahim Head of Civil Administration in the West Bank, Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Fax: +972-2-6599133 Prime Minister Netanyahu, Minister Gallant, General Ibrahim, We write […]

Featured

Israelis and Palestinians: It will be Worse Next Time

Jeremy Pressman

Storrs, CT (Special to Informed Comment) – Israelis and Palestinians have already entered hell. The casualties, the wounded, the hostages, the displacement of people and emptying of communities, the widespread trauma, the fear, the complete disruption of normal life, the intense suffering. But even at this moment we should all remember something: Barring a strategic […]

Israel/ Palestine

The Humanitarian Pause in Gaza Proves Diplomacy Works: Now we need a Real Ceasefire

Foreign Policy in Focus

A quick FAQ on the agreement between Israel and Hamas to release hostages and pause the fighting. By Khury Petersen-Smith and Phyllis Bennis | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus) – The pause in the fighting in Gaza — with some humanitarian aid allowed in and exchange of some Israeli and Palestinian captives — is […]

Israel/ Palestine

In the Face of Death, Destruction and Displacement, Beauty plays a Vital Role in Gaza

The Conversation

By Stephanie Acker, Clark University | – A small group of children in Gaza sit on a lavender and white blanket around a small tray of beverages, singing “Happy Birthday” to a young girl. Like kids her age around the world, she wears a sweatshirt with prints of Elsa and Anna, characters from “Frozen”; unlike […]

Featured

50 Israeli Hostages to be exchanged for 150 Palestinian “Prisoners” — Why the Prisoners are also Hostages

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Al Jazeera reports that Qatar successfully brokered the exchange of 50 Israeli hostages held by Hamas for 150 Palestinians held in Israeli jails (who are also hostages, as I will explain). The deal, which was approved by Israel’s national unity cabinet on Tuesday evening, also provides for a four-day humanitarian […]

Displaced and Refugees

Israel’s Sustained Bombing Created Massive Gaza Disease Risk: Overcrowded Shelters, Dirty Water and breakdown of Basic Sanitation

The Conversation

By Yara M. Asi, University of Central Florida | – (The Conversation) – After more than a month of being subjected to sustained bombing, the besieged people of the Gaza Strip are now confronted with another threat to life: disease. Overcrowding at shelters, a breakdown of basic sanitation, the rising number of unburied dead and […]

Israel/ Palestine

When Palestinians “Die” and Israelis get “Killed” in the same War

Global Voices

Written bySafa Written byMariam A. Federal Building, San Francisco, October 20, 2023. Hundreds of people from many backgrounds came together outside Senator Nancy Pelosi’s office, to paint a giant street mural. The message: BIDEN, PELOSI: DON’T AID AND ABET WAR CRIMES, and calling for a CEASEFIRE! With Jewish Voice for Peace Bay Area, The Peace […]