Iran, Israel, the US, Russia, and China are interconnected by rumors of cyberattacks and sabotage By Mohammad Eslami and Ibrahim Marashi | – Braga, Portugal and San Marcos, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment, Feature) – As negotiations between Iran and the United States entered a critical third round, an unexpected disaster struck one of Iran’s […]
Archives for May 2025
Iran, US Conclude ‘Difficult But Useful’ Round Of Nuclear Talks In Oman
By RFE/RL’s Radio Farda ( RFE/ RL ) – The fourth round of nuclear talks between Iran and the United States has ended in Muscat, with Tehran suggesting a new round will be scheduled by Omani mediators. Iranian Foreign Minister spokesman Esmail Baqaei wrote on X that the talks on May 11 were “difficult but […]
Donald Trump’s Feverish Lust for Green Energy Resources isn’t about the Climate
( Tomdispatch.com ) – Ancient oak trees rise above gigantic boulders scattered across a high desert mesa in Arizona’s Tonto National Forest. This is Oak Flat (Chi’ chil Bildagoteel), a sacred site for Native Americans, including the Western and San Carlos Apache. And like many other lands across the West, it’s under grave threat from multinational […]
My Palestine: An Impossible Exile
Review of Mohammad Tarbush, My Palestine: An Impossible Exile (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2024) Munich, Germany (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) –– –– It is probably impossible for a single autobiography to capture the lengths of modern Palestinian history. But if one book can get close to this, it is Mohammad Tarbush’s “My Palestine: […]
Rümeysa Öztürk freed, as Judge Warns of Grave Threat to Free Speech
“There has been no evidence that has been introduced by the government other than the op-ed,” U.S. District Judge William Sessions III said, referring to Öztürk’s article urging divestment from Israel. By Brett Wilkins | – ( Common Dreams ) – Rümeysa Öztürk, one of several pro-Palestine scholars kidnapped and imprisoned by the Trump administration […]
Syrian Women and Children return to rebuild, leaving Husbands Behind
In need of capital to rebuild, Syrian men are staying in neighbouring countries to work while their wives head home By Melissa Pawson and Mahmoud Abo Rass | – ( OpenDemocracy.net) – Zahra Ziad met her in-laws for the first time when she moved in with them. Ten days after the former president of Syria, […]
When Politics Leaves Reality Behind
Sacramento (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – The traditional left–right political spectrum no longer captures the forces driving division in America today. That model works when we’re dealing with competing ideologies and when ideological disagreement is the primary driver of division in society. But today, we face something more destabilizing: a profound rupture in shared […]
The Obscenity of Collective Punishment in Gaza
Netanyahu is about to escalate, yet again, his war crimes in Gaza. By John Feffer ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Maybe you remember an incident like this from your schooldays. Someone in your class has done something wrong, like pass around a caricature of the principal, and the teacher decides to punish the […]
Palestinian Literature: A Rich Literary Heritage from a Nation in Exile
By Heather Laird, University College Cork (The Conversation) – Palestinian literature is unique. It stands apart for its ability to capture a nation’s identity in exile – shaped not by borders, but by memory, resistance and longing. The settings of modern Palestinian literature include Israel, the occupied territories, countries more broadly in the Middle East, […]