religion

By Hakim Khatib | ( Your Middle East ) – – War in Syria The Syrian upheaval has, increasingly, been fixed in a religious framework – Sunnis against the rest, writes Hakim Khatib. “Non-religious books were substituted by religious or religiously coloured ones” When the crowds of the Iranian revolution initially rose up against Muhammad […]

Iran

Did Ayatollah Sistani just save Iraq from Iran-backed militias by pushing Gov’t Reforms?

contributors

Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org)| – – During last week’s protests, secret plans were made to use demonstrations to topple the government. But a senior Shiite spiritual leader seems to have stepped in at the last minute to save the country from chaos. At the end of July thousands of locals took to the […]

Featured

Why Partitioning Iraq is a Terrible Idea

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – I think the remarks of outgoing US Army chief Gen. Ray Odierno on the possible partition of Iraq have been reported in a sensationalist way. He just said that Sunni-Shiite relations in Iraq are at a nadir and that the country could look different in the […]

Christianity

Daesh/ ISIL takes 250 Captive, including 60 Christians in Syria

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – In more bad news for the Baath regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) fighters have taken the town of Al Qariyatain southeast of Homs and are advancing west on the nearby towns of Mheen and Sadad. These central small towns are Sunni-majority, but […]

Christianity

Leader of extremist Israeli organization calls for torching churches

contributors

Ma’an News Agency | – – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) –The leader of a Jewish extremist group in Israel allegedly called for arson attacks on churches in front of Israeli students, Israeli media reported on Thursday. Benzi Gopstein, leader of anti-Arab group Lehava, allegedly called for the burning of churches at a panel held this week for […]

Christianity

A demolished Palestinian village comes back to life

contributors

By Melanie Nakashian | (Waging Nonviolence) | – – Among the hundreds of Palestinian villages that were evacuated between 1947 and 1951, there is one whose descendants are actually getting close to fulfilling their right of return. In an unprecedented case, the demolished Christian village of Iqrit should soon be connected to Israel’s electricity grid. […]

Iran

Iran Moves To Silence criticism of Nuclear Deal by Hard Line Media

contributors

By Golnaz Esfandiari | ( RFE/RL) | – – Iran’s state media watchdog has suspended a hard-line publication and warned two other like-minded outlets for criticizing the nuclear deal reached last month between Iran and major world powers. The government’s Press Supervisory Board suspended the weekly 9 Dey, which is run by lawmaker Hamid Rasaei, […]

Foreign Policy

Support for Iran Nuclear Deal: L. A. Jews for Peace Statement

contributors

L.A. Jews for Peace | The agreement negotiated between the P5+1 (United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, Germany, and the European Union) and Iran is a good deal because it diplomatically achieves a halt to Iran’s real or imagined nuclear bomb program for ten to fifteen years . It offers assurances based on the […]

Israel

Grandson of Meir Kahane arrested for burning baby; part of extremist network

contributors

By Celine Hagbard | (IMEMC News ) As Israeli investigators release their findings that a right-wing Jewish terrorist network is gaining power throughout Israel and illegal West Bank settlements, an arrest has been made in the arson attack Thursday night that burned a baby to death and severely wounded his mother, father and 4-year old […]