Featured

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Thousands of Egyptians came into the streets Friday in the first major demonstrations in 2 and a half years, to protest the bestowal of the islands of Tiran and Sanafir on Saudi Arabia. Many Egyptians believe that the islands belong to Egypt, and it is unconstitutional […]

Bernie Sanders

The Bernie Sanders Miracle: American Crowd in Brooklyn Cheers Palestinian Dignity

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Democratic debate in Brooklyn last night took an unusual turn when a grumpy old Jewish American upbraided a slightly younger Illinois Methodist for not respecting the dignity of the Palestinian people. BLITZER [Used to work for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobby] : . […]

Featured

Michigan faculty Support Muslim Students on Campus in face of Trumpian Hate-Chalking

Juan Cole

Dear Members of the U-M [University of Michigan] community We stand with our friends/students/colleagues and with the Central Student Government (CSG), Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs (SACUA), and Senate Assembly in condemning the recent anti- Muslim, anti-immigrant, and anti-activist chalkings on the Diag. Whatever the political motivations of those engaged in such acts, their […]

Featured

Negotiations, “Elections,” and al-Qaeda’s assault on Syrian Ceasefire

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – There were five major stories in the US and European press about Syria today: 1. The cessation of hostilities is in danger of breaking down (typically Western politicians and press blame this on the Syrian regime, but as far as I can tell, it is because […]

Arab Spring

Arab Youth view ISIL as major Mideast Obstacle, want less Religion

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The annual Arab Youth survey conducted by pollsters Burson-Marsteller is out, reporting on 3500 interviews with Arabs 18-24 years of age in 16 countries. Those of you who have read my recent book, The New Arabs: How the Millennial Generation is Changing the Middle East , […]

Featured

Saudi’s King Salman in Turkey signals thaw in Ankara-Riyadh Tensions

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Saudi Arabia’s King Salman is visiting Turkey today, after his trip to Egypt this past weekend (I wrote about that at The Nation). There are things that have driven Saudi Arabia and Turkey apart, and things that have brought them together again. The tensions center on […]

Featured

How Americans Hate: 8-fold increase in Islamophobic Crime since 2000

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Congress passed the Hate Crime Statistics Act in 1990, and since then the FBI has been issuing annual reports on crimes of bias or hate crimes. I thought it might be useful to compare the year 2000, Bill Clinton’s last in office, with 2013 and with […]

Featured

Syria: Is al-Qaeda rising as ISIL is rolled Back? Is the US de facto Allied with it?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The cessation of hostilities in Syria never included Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) or al-Qaeda (the Nusra Front or Support Front), but it did include some of the de facto allies of al-Qaeda. The Syrian Arab Army and its Shiite militia allies, with Russian air support, have taken […]

Democratic Party

If ISIL falls before November, how will it affect the US Election?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – GOP frontrunner Donald Trump openly attributes his success at the polls to the terrorist attacks on Paris last fall, in which Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) was involved. Ever since Mosul fell to the organization (originally al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia) in June of 2014, it has provoked great concern […]