By Juan Cole AFP Arabic reports that Syrian refugees, and Christian refugees in particular, are hoping that the visit of Pope Francis to Jordan on Saturday will raise the profile of their plight. Jordan is a country of 6.3 million citizens, but it has another 600,000 or so Syrian refugees. Likely on the order of […]
Pope Francis to call for Sovereign, Independent Palestinian State from Bethlehem
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin is signaling that Pope Francis in his visit to Bethlehem on Sunday will strongly support the right of Palestinians to a sovereign state. Implicitly, Pope Francis will condemn the Apartheid system of military rule used by Israel in the West Bank, though he likely won’t use the word. […]
Top 5 Wars on Religious Extremism in Today’s Muslim World
The Fox News commentators who say that the Muslim world is not doing enough to police its own extremist movements don’t actually seem to be reading the news. If anything in a number of countries they’ve gone overboard with a Bush style ‘war on terror.’ To wit: 1. On Wednesday, the commander of Libya’s Air […]
The Obama Effect? Are Iran/ Saudi-and-GCC no longer on a war footing?
(By Juan Cole) There are signs of a diplomatic thaw between Iran and the Arab oil monarchies of the Gulf. It has just been announced that the ruler of Kuwait, Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, will make a state visit to Iran. This news comes after it was confirmed that the Iranian foreign minister has been invited […]
Sunnis Big Losers in Iraq Elections, PM al-Maliki has Largest Party
(By Juan Cole) The results of the Iraqi parliamentary elections are in, and everybody lost. There will be another hung parliament that gets almost nothing done. The Sunni Arabs ended up dividing their vote and doing poorly. The Shiites likewise are deeply divided. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s party did best, positioning him for a third […]
Second Libyan Upheaval, this Time Against Political Islam, Extremist Militias
(By Juan Cole) In Benghazi on Monday morning, fighting resumed between the “Libyan National Army” forces of Col. Khalifa Hifter and fundamentalist extremists. The latter fired rockets at the Benina military airport overnight, but caused no casualties. It was from this base that aircraft were flown on Friday against positions of the fundamentalists, by air […]
GOP holds hearings but in the Real Benghazi a Retired Col. is bombarding Extremists
(By Juan Cole) As congressional Republicans prepare to have yet another round of investigations into the September 11, 2012 attacks on a US “consulate” in Benghazi, Libya, it is hard to see any concrete steps they have taken to forestall such calamities going forward. Congress had refused requests for better embassy security in 2012 because, […]
Under World Cup Pressure, Qatar reforms Guest Worker Laws, abolishes Sponsorship System
Qatar to end sponsorship system for foreign workers (via AFP) Qatar, host of the 2022 football World Cup, said Wednesday it will abolish its controversial sponsorship system for foreign workers, whose treatment in the energy-rich state has stirred mounting international criticism. FIFA chief Sepp Blatter described… ——- AFP: “Qatar to end sponsorship system for […]
Some Saudis Kiss their Camels to defy Gov’t MERS Warning
Saudi homes in on camels in bid to combat MERS (via AFP) Saudi authorities have issued fresh warnings on how to handle the desert kingdom’s wealth of camels, thought to be the source of the mysterious MERS coronavirus in the Gulf state. The Middle East Respiratory System has now killed 147 people out of 491… […]
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