(By Rabindranath Tagore) The New Year LIKE FRUIT, shaken free by an impatient wind from the veils of its mother flower, thou comest, New Year, whirling in a frantic dance amid the stampede of the wind-lashed clouds and infuriate showers, while trampled by thy turbulence are scattered away the faded and the frail in an […]
Iraq Gov’t Collapsing as 44 Sunni MPs Withdraw from Parliament
(By AFP) Clashes kill 10 as Iraq forces clear Sunni protest camp (via AFP) Iraqi forces killed 10 gunmen Monday in clashes that erupted as they cleared a year-old Sunni Arab protest camp, a move likely to fan resentment among the minority community. As the fighting raged, mosques exhorted followers to “go to jihad,” or […]
A Delegation of Congressional Christian Zionists to Israel
(By Shalom Goldman) Shalom Goldman Just before Christmas, GOP Reps. Michele Bachmann (Minn.), Steve King (Iowa) and Louie Gohmert (Texas) wrapped up a largely secretive week-long congressional delegation or CODEL trip that included stops in Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, and Israel. While there didn’t appear to be any public announcements about December’s trip out of Egypt, […]
Israeli Public favors Teaching Peace, Palestinian Narrative in Schools
(By Commondreams.org Staff reporters) A new survey out Wednesday found that, contrary to the actions of their political leaders, the majority of the Israeli public favors teaching peace in schools and believes the Palestinian narrative should be presented to students. According to the findings, which were presented at an education conference at Tel Aviv University, […]
“Terrorism” tag is tool of Political Repression in Egypt
(By Human Rights Watch) (New York) – The Egyptian government’s designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization appears to be aimed at expanding the crackdown on peaceful Brotherhood activities and imposing harsh sanctions on its supporters. The government should promptly reverse the decision and stop interfering with the Brotherhood’s health, education, and other […]
EPA finally catches a Fracking polluter in the Act, levies Largest ever Civil Penalties
(By Tina Casey) US EPA Nails Fracker With Record Fine (via Clean Technica) The woes just keep piling up for Chesapeake Energy. The company is front and center in the nation’s natural gas fracking boom and it just got hit with one of the largest ever civil penalties for violating Section 404 of the Clean […]
The other Victim of Israeli settler vigilantism is Israeli Society Itself
(By Shirin Rubin) Israeli society will pay the ‘price’ for settler vigilantism, rights group warns (via The Christian Science Monitor) When Ahmad Milhem heard earlier this month that Jewish extremists had scrawled “Mohammad is a pig” on the walls of his local mosque, he feared for both his Arab and Jewish neighbors. “If our young […]
Increasingly, all Roads run through Iran (Damascus, Baghdad, Asia)
(By Marianna Charountaki) “While Iran’s importance for regional politics was always there, it has only now become apparent, especially for the foreign policies of international players, writes Dr. Marianna Charountaki.” In the aftermath of Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s unsuccessful ‘zero problems’ policy with his neighbours followed by the rapprochement between the KRG and Ankara, […]
Calls for Turkey PM to resign as 3 scandal-ridden ministers quit, forcing new Cabinet
(By Fulya Ozerkan and Dilay Gundogan) Turkey PM reshuffles cabinet amid graft scandal (via AFP) Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan replaced nearly half his cabinet in a dramatic reshuffle late Wednesday after a spreading graft scandal forced the resignation of three top ministers and threatened the premier’s own hold on power. Erdogan… Related […]