Human Rights

Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association of North America | – Letter to the University of California, Berkeley, expressing concern about the suspension of Lecturer Peyrin Kao Chancellor Rich Lyons Office of the Chancellor University of California, Berkeley chancellor@berkeley.edu Benjamin Hermalin Executive Vice Chancellor & Provost University of California, Berkeley hermalin@berkeley.edu […]

Authoritarianism

Sudan’s Agony: Surprising Lessons for the US Resistance to Trump

Rebecca Gordon

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Follow a line south and west from the Gaza strip, continue through Egypt, and you’ll end up in another place where a genocide is in progress. It’s one we don’t hear much about in the United States, probably because it’s happening in an African nation, one of those places Donald Trump […]

Donald Trump

Trump as Nero: The Bible Condemns Rich Predators, Not Poor Trans Lovers

Liz Theoharis

( Tomdispatch.com ) – As more of the Epstein files are released, reminding us of Donald Trump’s close association with Jeffrey Epstein and the young people he abused and trafficked, as well as the president’s ongoing array of misogynist insults and actions (like calling journalist Catherine Lucey “piggy” and name-calling Marjorie Taylor Greene to the point where […]

Caribbean

Peacemaker or Pirate of the Caribbean? Trump Celebrates Murder on the Open Seas

Dan Dinello

As defenseless Venezuelan fishermen are slaughtered by a military blindly obeying his illegal orders, President Trump — wearing a phony peace medallion — parades before the world urging it to “give peace a chance.” A combination of madness and make-believe, the clash of his war crimes horror and the spectacle of his sanctimonious talk of […]

censorship

Syria: One Year since Assad’s Fall

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Syrian transitional authorities have taken positive steps on justice, transparency, and rights but failed to prevent continued violence and atrocities, Human Rights Watch said today on the anniversary of the former government’s fall. As Syrian authorities move the country forward, they should, with international support, credibly address outstanding concerns around […]

censorship

Labeling dissent as Terrorism: Trump’s NSPM-7 raises Constitutional Alarms

The Conversation

By Melinda Haas, University of Pittsburgh (The Conversation) – A largely overlooked directive issued by the Trump administration marks a major shift in U.S. counterterrorism policy, one that threatens bedrock free speech rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights. National Security Presidential Memorandum/NSPM-7, issued on Sept. 25, 2025, is a presidential directive that for the […]

censorship

Rebuking U of Guelph for Cancellation of People’s Conference for Palestinian Solidarity

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association of North America | – Letter to the University of Guelph expressing concern at its last-minute cancellation of the People’s Conference for Palestinian Solidarity Rene Van Acker President and Vice-Chancellor, University of Guelph president@uoguelph.ca Dear President Van Acker and Provost Rosehart: We write on […]

censorship

Yemen: Houthis’ Widespread, Arbitrary Detentions of Political Opponents

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Houthi authorities have detained dozens of political opponents since July 2025, including the leaders of several political parties in Yemen, some of which may amount to enforced disappearances, Human Rights Watch said today. At least 70 people associated with the Yemeni Congregation for Reform, known as the Islah party, were […]

Displaced and Refugees

Amnesty: So-Called Gaza ‘Ceasefire’ becoming Smokescreen for continued Israeli Genocide

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Amnesty International concludes that, over a month after a ceasefire was agreed upon in Gaza and all living Israeli hostages were returned, the Israeli authorities continue to pursue the textbook definition of genocide “by continuing to deliberately inflict conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction.” Moreover, Israeli […]