US politics

The Military-Industrial Complex Is the Winner (Not You) – Overspending on the Pentagon Is Stealing Our Future

( Tomdispatch.com ) – 2023 was a year marked by devastating conflicts from Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine to Hamas’s horrific terror attacks on Israel, from that country’s indiscriminate mass slaughter in Gaza to a devastating civil war in Sudan. And there’s a distinct risk of even worse to come this year. Still, there was one […]

Bill of Rights

Academic Freedom Violations at Indiana U against Professor Abdelkader Sinno and artist Samia Halaby

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association of North America | – Abdelkader Sinno Indiana University Samia Halaby Rahul Shrivastav, Provost and Executive Vice President provost@indiana.edu Rick Van Kooten, Executive Dean, College of Arts and Sciences rvankoot@indiana.edu . . . Dear Provost Shrivastav and colleagues: We write on behalf of the […]

censorship

Setting the Record Straight: Weaponizing Antisemitism to Cancel Academic Free Speech

Ted Swedenburg

( Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette) – As someone who believes deeply in human rights for all, who has spent a great deal of time in Palestine and Israel and cares a great deal about the people there, and who is very concerned and grieved about the loss of life in Israel on Oct. 7 and […]

Donald Trump

Trump and the End of the American Century

Alfred W. McCoy

( Tomdispatch.com ) – With recent polls giving Donald Trump a reasonable chance of defeating President Biden in the November elections, commentators have begun predicting what his second presidency might mean for domestic politics. In a dismally detailed Washington Post analysis, historian Robert Kagan argued that a second Trump term would feature his “deep thirst […]

Dissent

Gaza: 400K Rally in DC against “Genocide Joe;” Massive Protests in Johannesburg, London, other Capitals

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Millions of protesters came out around the world on Saturday, answering the call of Palestinian activists to rally against the ongoing Israeli attack on Gaza on a “Global Day of Action for Palestine.” Close to home, an estimated 400,000 demonstrated in Washington, D.C., and scattered what looked like bloodied dolls […]

Democratic Party

Could Israel’s Gaza Atrocity Spiral into a Red Sea War and Sink Biden’s Reelection?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Joe Biden and his administration believe that they can support the extremist Israeli government in its genocidal assault on the innocent noncombatant Palestinians of Gaza without a political cost at home. They also believe that they can manage the conflict, so that it does not spiral into a wider Middle […]

Houthi

US-UK Airstrikes Risk strengthening the Houthi Rebels in Yemen and the Region

The Conversation

By Mahad Darar, Colorado State University | – The U.S.- and U.K.-led strikes on the rebel Houthi group in Yemen represent a dramatic new turn in the Middle East conflict – one that could have implications throughout the region. The attacks of Jan. 11, 2024, hit around 60 targets at 16 sites, according to the […]

Genocide

The Int’l Court of Justice Case is a Chance to hold Israel and the US to Account for Genocide

Medea Benjamin and Nicholas J.S. Davies

( Code Pink) – On January 11th, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague is holding its first hearing in South Africa’s case against Israel under the Genocide Convention. The first provisional measure South Africa has asked of the court is to order an immediate end to this carnage, which has already killed […]

Featured

Poll: Americans have no Idea what Biden Means when he says he is a Zionist, or What Israel’s Ideology is

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Shibley Telhami and Michael Hammer have a new commentary out based on their polling at the University of Maryland’s Critical Issues Poll during the past year. One of the three issues they address is Israel/ Palestine. They found that 62% of Americans have no idea what Zionism is. Zionism is, […]