US politics

( Middle East Monitor ) – When the Palestinian Authority leader jumped on the US bandwagon spouting status quo rhetoric, he should have remembered President Joe Biden’s dedication to Zionism and colonial Israel. Upon arriving in Israel yesterday for a two day visit during which he will also go to the occupied West Bank, Biden […]

Books

What I Can Still Love about My Embattled Country (and World)

Frida Berrigan

(Tomdispatch.com ) – It’s hot and hazy as July rolls around. Growing up in the Baltimore swamplands, we used to say, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.” Meaning that the humidity was harder to deal with than the feverish temperatures. At some point in my family, the phrase morphed into: “It’s not the heat, […]

Featured

B’Tselem Billboard Campaign as Biden arrives in Israel: “Mr. President, this is Apartheid”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli human rights organization B’tselem greeted President Biden on his arrival in Jerusalem with a billboard campaign proclaiming, “Mr. President, this is Apartheid.” B’Tselem concluded in a report last year that there is a single governing authority between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, which rules over 7 million […]

Climate Crisis

The Troubling Message of Biden’s Trip to Saudi Arabia

Basav Sen

( Foreign Policy in Focus) – President Biden has set out on his travels to Saudi Arabia. The implications of the trip for the intertwined issues of human rights and energy policy are dire. The Saudi Arabia visit represents a 180-degree turn for Biden, who once called Saudi Arabia a “pariah” while campaigning for president. […]

Antisemitism

Former Oath Keeper reveals racist, antisemitic Beliefs of White Nationalist Group – and their Plans to start a Civil War

The Conversation

By Sara Kamali, University of California Santa Barbara | – During his testimony before congressional investigators, former Oath Keepers spokesman Jason Van Tatenhove left little doubt about the intentions of the white nationalist militia group when its members stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Tatenhove explained that Jan. 6 “could have been a […]

Donald Trump

Imperial Detritus: Henry Luce’s “American Century” Comes Undone

Andrew J. Bacevich

( Tomdispatch.com ) – “The American Century Is Over.” So claims the July 2022 cover of Harper’s Magazine, adding an all-too-pertinent question: “What’s Next?” What, indeed? Eighty years after the United States embarked upon the Great Crusade of World War II, a generation after it laid claim to the status of sole superpower following the […]

censorship

The Family of American Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, killed by Israeli Sniper, Pleads for Meeting with Biden on Mideast Trip

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The family of slain American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh is asking for a meeting with President Joe Biden during his trip to the Middle East this week. So reports Yasmin al-Qassas at Sada al-Balad. In a letter to Mr. Biden, Shireen’s brother Anton Abu Akleh wrote that the family “feels […]

censorship

Biden once wanted to make Saudi Arabia a ‘pariah’ – so why is he playing nice with the kingdom’s repressive rulers now?

The Conversation

By Jeffrey Fields, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences | – (The Conversation) – Even before setting foot in the Middle East for his first visit to the region as president, Joe Biden felt compelled to defend a portion of the trip. “I know that there are many who disagree with my decision […]

Feminism

Iran Moves To Tighten Abortion Restrictions

Golnaz Esfandiari

By Golnaz Esfandiari | – ( RFE/RL ) – Maryam ended her pregnancy two years ago using abortion pills. Her husband supported her. The couple already have a boy and a girl, and they decided they did not want a third child. Abortion pills are not easily accessible in Iran due to government restrictions. Maryam […]