US politics

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Recently, an agent of the Department of Homeland Security called me and started asking questions about a childhood acquaintance being investigated for extremism. I put him off. My feelings about this were, to say the least, complex. As a military spouse of 10 years and someone who has long written about […]

Featured

Top 6 Ways Republicans have Spread Hatred of Gays — Background to Club Q Mass Shooting

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A 22-year-old gunman walked into Club Q in Colorado Springs Sunday and shot five people to death with a long gun, injuring 25, before two people inside the club bravely took him on and stopped further murders. Club Q bills itself as a safe space for LGBTQ patrons. So report […]

Climate Crisis

Political Super-Storm: When Will Climate Change Become the Crucial Issue in American Elections?

Tom Engelhardt

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Believe me, it’s strange to be an old man and feel like you’re living on a new planet. On November 7th, the day before the midterm elections, I took my usual afternoon walk in New York City and I was wearing a short-sleeved shirt! That was a first for me. And […]

Democratic Party

Young Voters Delivered Big Wins for Abortion Rights

OtherWords

By Ennedith Lopez | – When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade this summer, it unleashed a wave of cruel new restrictions on reproductive freedom. But shredding a half-century-old constitutional right also unleashed another wave: voters. The “red wave” Republicans expected in this year’s midterms fell far short as younger generations mobilized to protect […]

Arms Sales

Corporate Weapons Heaven Is a Hell on Earth: Joe Biden, the National Security State, and Arms Sales

William D. Hartung

( Tomdispatch.com) – Here’s a seldom commented-upon reality of this century and this moment: the United States remains the number-one arms-exporting nation on the planet. Between 2017 and 2021, it grabbed 39% of the total global weapons market and there’s nothing new about that. It has, in fact, been the top arms dealer in every […]

Israel Lobbies

Case Western Reserve U’s President Confuses Criticism of Israeli Occupation Policies with anti-Semitism: CAF MESA

Committee on Academic Freedom

Middle East Studies Association of North America | Committee on Academic Freedom Committee on Academic Freedom 15 November 2022 Eric W. Kaler President, Case Western Reserve University 10900 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, OH 44106 president@case.edu Dear President Kaler: We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on […]

China

Deaf to History’s Questions: A Tale of Two Elizabeths, One Joe, One Donald, and Us

Andrew J. Bacevich

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Britons mourned the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II, and understandably so. The outpouring of affection for their long-serving monarch was more than commendable, it was touching. Yet count me among those mystified that so many Americans also professed to care. With all due respect to Queen Latifah, we decided way […]

FBI

DOJ finally orders FBI to Investigate Israeli Killing of US Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh; Israel Sniffs: Will not Cooperate

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – AP reports that the Department of Justice gave the Federal Bureau of Investigation the charge of investigating the Israeli killing of the enormously influential Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh six months ago, on May 11. Minister of Defense Benny Gantz tweeted that Israel would not cooperate with the FBI and […]

Israel/ Palestine

Palestinians and Native Americans are both the Oppressed Indigenous Peoples of their Lands

Ramzy Baroud

( Middle East Monitor ) – At a recent conference in Istanbul that brought many Palestinian scholars and activists together to discuss the search for a common narrative, a member of the audience declared at the end of a brief, but fiery intervention, “We are not Red Indians”. The reference was a relatively old one. […]