US Foreign Policy

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Karim A.A. Khan, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), said Monday that he is asking the ICC to issue arrest warrants for several Hamas leaders as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Secretary of Defense Yoav Gallant. It is the first time the ICC has sought warrants […]

Displaced and Refugees

Biden’s Potemkin Village: US Aid Dock Theatrics as Gaza Drowns in Starving Refugees amid Rivers of Shit

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The story has it that Russian noble and officer Grigory Potemkin, who stole the Crimea from the Ottoman Empire in 1783, faced a dilemma. The place was a mess after the Russian conquest, but Tsarina Catherine the Great wanted to see her new possession. So Potemkin set up fake façades […]

Iran

U.S. Seeks Shift In Iranian ‘Decision-Making Calculus’ Through Saudi-Israeli Normalization

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By Kian Sharifi ( RFE/RL) – The United States wants to force a gradual shift in Iran’s “decision-making calculus” by signing a defense deal with Saudi Arabia and securing the normalization of relations between Riyadh and Israel. “We continue to work with allies and partners to enhance their capabilities to deter and counter the threats […]

Iran

Gaza War is Bolstering Iran’s Standing in the Muslim World as Anti-Americanism Surges

Shahram Akbarzadeh

The Conversation) – Iran’s leadership has been a direct beneficiary of the months-long war in Gaza. With every missile that Israel fires on Gaza, every US veto of a UN Security Council ceasefire resolution, and every arrest of an anti-war protester on American university campuses, Iran’s rejection of the US-dominated world order gains more credibility […]

Apartheid

With Pause, US Joins Other States Stopping Arms Transfers to Israel

Human Rights Watch

By Akshaya Kumar | (@AkshayaSays) | – ( Human Rights Watch ) – This week, United States President Joe Biden announced that his administration has “held up” at least one shipment of 3,500 bombs and artillery shells to Israel, saying the US wouldn’t transfer certain weapons to Israel if it proceeded with an assault on the city […]

Displaced and Refugees

How the US continues to provide Cover for Israel’s Genocide in Gaza

Middle East Monitor

( Middle East Monitor ) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains set in his plans to invade Rafah, with or without US assistance. Responding to US President Joe Biden’s warning earlier this week that arms supplies will be limited if Israel invades Rafah, Netanyahu responded, “If we must, we shall fight with our fingernails.” […]

China

Why are U.S. Sanctions against Iran’s Oil Exports Ineffective?

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By Kian Sharifi ( RFE/RL ) – Iran is one of the most sanctioned countries in the world. But restrictions imposed by the United States have largely failed to stymie Iran’s oil exports, the backbone of its flailing economy. U.S. sanctions have cut off Iran from most of its traditional customers, forcing Tehran to find […]

Featured

Tens of Thousands of Israelis Demonstrate against Netanyahu, Demand Hostage Exchange Deal, New Elections

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli newspaper Arab 48 reports that tens of thousands of Israelis rallied Saturday night against the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv and other cities, including Jerusalem, Beersheba and Haifa. The protesters were responding in part to dueling news releases about the possibility of a breakthrough […]

Donald Trump

Top Ways MAGA and Right Wing Zionism Converge, and Why Smotrich is Embracing Trump

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Going back to the late nineteenth century, Zionism has had a complex and storied history, and there have been many strains of the ideology. Some early Zionists did not insist on colonizing Palestine, while others did (and colonizing it was the word they used). All agreed that the Jewish religion […]