US politics

Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson is the Face of the Republican Party: Election Denialist, Forced Birth Enforcer, Homophobe and Christian Zionist

Chicago (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Disguised as a mild-mannered Clark Kent, Mike Johnson is a raging theocrat under his tailored suit, who believes his ascension to the speakership was ordained by God. The formerly invisible but now made manifest Christian Nationalist from Louisiana was elevated to power unanimously, following three weeks of vindictive, […]

Anti-intellectualism

Columbia University’s Suspension of Jewish Voices for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine is Arbitrary and Wrong

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom of the Middle East Studies Association. Minouche Shafik President, Columbia University officeofthepresident@columbia.edu Provost Dennis Mitchell dml48@cumc.columbia.edu . . . Dear President Shafik and colleagues: We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom to express our concern […]

Arab World

The Gaza Conflict Opens up New Opportunities for China in the Middle East, Global South

The Conversation

Shaun Narine, St. Thomas University (Canada) | – (The Conversation) – The western world’s support for Israel as it attacks Gaza has provoked fury across the Arab world and much of the Global South. This situation undermines the West’s international standing and offers opportunities for China to enhance its regional and global diplomatic influence. Whether […]

Africa

Pentagon Admits Failure in ‘War on Terror’ in Africa, as Attacks increase 75,000%

Nick Turse

( Tomdispatch.com ) – America’s Global War on Terror has seen its share of stalemates, disasters, and outright defeats. During 20-plus years of armed interventions, the United States has watched its efforts implode in spectacular fashion, from Iraq in 2014 to Afghanistan in 2021. The greatest failure of its “Forever Wars,” however, may not be […]

Israel/ Palestine

Americans Want a Ceasefire. It’s Our Politicians Who Are Out of Touch

OtherWords

By Farrah Hassen ( Otherwords ) – Two years ago, filmmaker Mohannad Abu Rizk asked children in Gaza about their dreams. One young girl responded, “My dream is for us to stay alive and to live in peace. We have a right to stay alive.” She’s one of the 2.2 million Palestinians living in the […]

censorship

The University of Pennsylvania must Defend its Faculty’s Right to Condemn War Crimes

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom of the Middle East Studies Association University of Pennsylvania Liz Magill President, the University of Pennsylvania president@upenn.edu John Jackson Provost, the University of Pennsylvania provost@upenn.edu . . . Dear President Magill and colleagues: We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its […]

Arms Sales

Bad Times in Gaza and Ukraine: Good Times for the Military-Industrial Complex

William D. Hartung

( Tomdispatch.com ) – The New York Times headline said it all: “Middle East War Adds to Surge in International Arms Sales.” The conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, and beyond may be causing immense and unconscionable human suffering, but they are also boosting the bottom lines of the world’s arms manufacturers. There was a time when such weapons […]

Immigration

Biden’s Border: Record Contracts for Private Industry on the World’s Deadliest Frontier

Tomdispatch

By Todd Miller ( Tomdispatch.com ) – On September 23rd, at about 2:30 a.m., a Border Patrol surveillance camera captured two people crossing the international boundary between Mexico and the United States on the outskirts of Nogales, Arizona. A Border Patrol vehicle arrived quickly, but not before one of them had fled back into Mexico. […]

Congress

Dear Congress: Your Resolution against Rashida Tlaib is Delusional, full of Fake History and Falsehoods. Here’s Why.

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Congressional resolution censuring Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian to serve in the national legislature, is a major scandal. It is rife with propaganda, fake history, and racism. It puts me in mind of Mark Twain’s observation that “America has no native criminal class . . . except Congress.” […]