By James Miller | ( RFE/RL) What a difference a month makes. At the start of August, the extremist group that calls itself Islamic State (IS) [group]controlled a large part of the border between Syria and Turkey, while the U.S.-backed Syrian Defense Forces (SDF), a multiethnic group made up primarily of Kurdish YPG fighters, raced […]
9/11 after 15 years: We’re Still in the Middle of a guerrilla Air War
By Tom Engelhardt | (Tomdispatch.com) | – – On the morning of September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda launched its four-plane air force against the United States. On board were its precision weapons: 19 suicidal hijackers. One of those planes, thanks to the resistance of its passengers, crashed in a Pennsylvania field. The other three hit their […]
Donald Trump’s “sharia law” Bogeyman is more Islamophobia
By Lena Salaymeh | (Informed Comment) | – – Donald Trump has called for extreme vetting of those who believe that “sharia law” should supplant American law. Newt Gingrich suggested that Muslims should be tested for belief in “sharia law.” To discredit Trump’s unexpected adversary, Khizr Khan, Paul Sperry claimed to have discovered a smoking […]
Is Modern Israel a Right Wing Project?
By Yakov M Rabkin | (Informed Comment) | – – The recent appointment of the Soviet-born Avigdor Lieberman has aggrieved many liberal supporters of Israel. The man is on record as a proponent of ethnic cleansing, bombing the Aswan Dam in Egypt and stripping Arabs of Israeli citizenship. These critics bemoan an alleged betrayal of […]
The Violent Christian West should drop Islamophobia and work on itself
By Johan Galtung | (Inter Press Service) | – – ALICANTE, Spain (IPS) – Watching Christianity nearly a century–fundamentalist Christians fighting ritualistic Christians fighting secularism, generally moving fundamentalism–>ritualism–>secularism–maybe the same for Islam? Their similarities make “Islam right now” a repetition of Christianity; their differences shout, Watch Out! Let us see where this leads us. Johan […]
Israel shuts down Palestinian radio station amid escalation in press violations
Ma’an News Agency | – – HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli forces raided and ransacked a Palestinian radio station early Wednesday morning in the town of Dura in the southern occupied West Bank district of Hebron, detained five of the station’s employees, and ordered it to be closed for three months, amid a documented escalation of […]
Native American Resistance Camp Fights Oil Pipeline
AJ+ | (video News Report) – – “We take you inside the resistance camp in North Dakota that’s protesting the Dakota Access pipeline, a 1,170-mile oil pipeline project that has been halted. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has sued the company, Energy Transfer Partners, and a decision on the lawsuit is expected Sept. 9. Until […]
The Other Terrorism: White Nationalist Twitter Growing Faster Than ISIL
TeleSur | – – “There is substantial and growing evidence that white nationalism is enjoying a meaningful resurgence within the United States . . .” Twitter users who identify themselves as white nationalists and neo-nazis have been growing faster than supporters of ISIL group, rising more than 600 percent in four years, according to a […]
Most US Networks slight coverage as US & China join Paris Climate Accord in key Turning Point
By Guy Dinmore | (Inter Press Service) | – – HONOLULU, Hawaii (IPS) – The world’s super-polluters – the United States and China – have formally joined the Paris Agreement on climate change in a symbolic show of unity. At a ceremony in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, where China is hosting a summit […]