Featured

Middlebury, Vt. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Abdullah Schleifer, prominent Arab journalist and Professor Emeritus at the American University in Cairo, died last week at the age of ninety. The grandchild of European Jews who fled Europe and immigrated to the U.S. in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, Schleifer converted to Islam […]

Featured

A Majority of Americans Views Israel Negatively in wake of Gaza Genocide

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Laura Silver at the Pew Research Center reports that 53% of Americans now have a negative view of Israel, a stark deterioration from 42% in spring 2022 before the Israeli total war on Gaza. Moreover, in just 3 years the percentage of Americans with very negative views of Israel has […]

Featured

Macron: France to Recognize the State of Palestine amid Gaza “Crime”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – French President Emmanuel Macron visited El Arish in Egypt on Tuesday to see refugees from Gaza with his own eyes. He then announced that France would recognize the State of Palestine, probably in June. Mohamed Bouhafsi at French public television reports on remarks of French President Emannuel Macron on Gaza […]

Climate Crisis

Wet Bulb Dead Zones could make Parts of Middle East, Pakistan, Uninhabitable — Even at Night

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Last fall, NASA scientist Colin Raymond and colleagues published an article showing that contrary to expectations, deadly heat and humidity combinations occur along the Persian Gulf at night rather than only during the afternoon. In this part of the Middle East, temperatures are rising at double the average global rate. […]

Featured

Solar Power doubling every 3 Years; 41% of world Electricity now Low-Carbon

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – It may be that Trump can slow the advance of renewables, including solar energy, in the United States. That would be a shame for the US, because consumers will have to pay more for electricity, the grid will be dirtier, and the country will fall farther behind China in the […]

Donald Trump

Is Trump a Bigger Threat to America than Usama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Donald Trump has inflicted more damage on the United States’s markets than did Usam Bin Laden and al-Qaeda on 9/11. The attacks of that date caused the US financial authorities to to close down the NYSE and the Nasdaq for a week, until September 17. This was unprecedented. When trading […]

Dissent

“The American Spring:” Trump is increasingly Like Middle East Rulers who were Overthrown

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Nationwide “Hands Off!” rallies were held in over 1,200 towns and cities, in every single state of the Union on Saturday, staged by over 150 organizations, including workers’ unions, democracy advocates, veterans and human rights groups, according to David Collins at AP. Some of the urban demonstrations were significant, with […]

Featured

Israel Killed Both Parents: 17,000 Gaza Children are worst Orphan Crisis in Modern History

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The renewed total war against Palestinian civilians in Gaza waged by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recreated the worst headlines of 2024, but this time no one is watching, as the deliberately-created Trump crises suck up all the oxygen in the news universe. The UN Office […]

Democracy

A Do-it-Yourself Kit for Defeating Trumpism: Because the Mainstream Politicians Won’t

H. Patricia Hynes

Greenfield, Mass. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – The Republican Administration’s edicts – imposed by broligarchs President Trump and Elon Musk – are with us for the next two to four years. Who/what will defeat them? Not the inside-the Beltway Democratic politicians. Most are supine and silent, or cautious and cowardly, or helping to advance […]