women

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment)| – Michael Schiavo is speaking out about Jeb Bush’s determined, sustained and energetic intervention, as Florida governor, in the private medical decision of the Schiavo family to take Terri off life support after her brain showed no sign of activity. Politico says, “Michael Schiavo called Jeb Bush a vindictive, […]

Afghanistan

Farkhunda is Our Sister: A “Martyr” to women and the Making of a New Afghanistan?

contributors

By Ann Jones | (Tomdispatch.com) | — I went to Kabul, Afghanistan, in March to see old friends. By chance, I arrived the day after a woman had been beaten to death and burned by a mob of young men. The world would soon come to know her name: Farkhunda. The name means “auspicious” or […]

censorship

Iranian Police Arrest Leading Human Rights Activist Again

contributors

By Golnaz Esfandiari | (RFE/RL) | – Narges Mohammadi, the deputy head of the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC) co-founded by Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, was arrested on May 5 at her home in Tehran, according to her husband. Speaking to RFE/RL by telephone from Paris, Taghi Mohammadi said the officers […]

Education

Pakistan – Court jails 10 for life over attack on Malala and on Women’s Education

contributors

France24 English | – An anti-terror court in Pakistan has sentenced 10 men for their roles in the 2012 attack on Malala Yousafzai. France24 English: “PAKISTAN – Court jails 10 for life over Malala attack”

Africa

Global Connections: World History as Social History – a New Synthesis

Juan Cole

I and colleagues have just brought out a world history. Because of the fine and exciting writing of my co-authors, it is more than just a textbook. My readers often ask me about history books – here’s one I can recommend. By John Coatsworth, Juan Cole, Michael Hanagan, Peter C. Perdue, Charles Tilly, and Louise […]

Palestine

The women of Palestine: caught between the occupation and patriarchy

contributors

By Ebru Buyukgul | ( Your Middle East) | – Around this time two years ago, Mona Mahajna, a 30-year-old mother of three, was found shot dead in her apartment in Umm al-Fahm. After her divorce and ensuing separation from her children she took the brave decision to begin a new life. Which sounds admirable […]

Democratic Party

Elizabeth Warren wants to see Hillary Clinton’s positions on Student Loans, Middle Class

contributors

CBSN | – “Sen. Elizabeth Warren continued to shift gears when answering questions about Hillary Clinton and the 2016 election on “CBS This Morning.” CBSN: “7 ways Elizabeth Warren avoids talking about Hillary Clinton”

Afghanistan

Lynching Farkhunda: Birth of Gender Equality and Accountability in Afghanistan?

contributors

By Solaiman M Fazel | (Informed Comment) The brutal murder of a 27 year old Afghan female student, Farkhunda, at the hands of an angry mob in front of the Shah-e Do-Shamshira Mosque near downtown Kabul was not only a heinous crime, but it also reveals the collective irresponsibility and ineffectiveness of the police officers […]

Palestine

Palestinian Women: The Oppressed of the Oppressed

contributors

By Mel Frykberg | – GAZA CITY (IPS) – Israel’s siege of Gaza, aided and abetted by the Egyptians in the south, has aggravated the plight of Gazan women, and the Jewish state’s devastating military assault on the coastal territory over July and August 2014 exacerbated the situation. In a resolution approved by the U.N. […]