Human Rights

Earthquake Leaves Millions Homeless and without Water and Electricity in Turkish, Syrian Harsh Winter, Many Facing Death

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Jordanian newspaper al-Ghad reports that on top of the now nearly 30,000 known deaths in Turkey and Syria, millions people are estimated to have been made homeless. Not only are they without shelter, they now lack water and electricity, and often even food and the World Health Organization (WHO) […]

Bashar al-Assad

Turkey-Syria earthquake: Assad blames west as agencies struggle to get aid to his desperate people

The Conversation

By Scott Lucas, University College Dublin | – (The Conversation) – It didn’t take long for Syria’s Assad regime to seek political and economic benefit from the devastation of an earthquake. As emergency services were reaching victims of the 7.8-magnitude tremor on February 6, regime-linked organisations demanded governments “immediately end the siege and unilateral coercive […]

Displaced and Refugees

As Death Toll Soars, can President Erdogan Survive Turkey’s Earthquake Politically?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Monday’s massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake in south-central Turkey, in which at least 20,000 have died — and probably tens of thousands more — has shocked that country and the world. It inescapably has political implications, with Turkish parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for mid-May. President Tayyip Recep Erdogan is facing […]

Displaced and Refugees

Syria bears Brunt of economic Devastation caused by Quake

Michael Jansen

( Irish Times ) – The death and devastation wreaked by Monday’s massive earthquake is greatest in Turkey, but that country is in a far better position to deal with the aftermath than Syria, due to warfare and sanctions. The civil conflict and proxy interventions have left Syria divided, with 70 per cent of territory […]

Houthi

Houthis Violating Women’s and Girls’ Rights in Yemen: UN Experts Highlight Widespread Harm

Human Rights Watch

By Niku Jafarnia, Bahrain and Yemen Researcher, Middle East and North Africa Division | – ( Human Rights Watch ) – Several United Nations human rights experts recently sent a letter to Ansar Allah – also known as the Houthis – the de facto authority in much of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, detailing the […]

censorship

Right-Wing Pro-Israeli Group Standwithus, close to Israeli Gov’t, Harasses GWU Professor

Committee on Academic Freedom

Middle East Studies Association – Committee on Academic Freedom | – Letter to the president of GWU regarding Professor Lara Sheehi President Mark S. Wrighton Office of the President The George Washington University 1918 F Street, NW Washington, DC 20052 via email: bfreyre@gwu.edu Dear President Wrighton: We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies […]

Authoritarianism

Yemen: Authorities Failing to Protect People’s Basic Rights: Dire Conditions, Bureaucratic Barriers to Aid

Human Rights Watch

( Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Yemeni authorities are failing to meet their international legal obligations to protect socio-economic rights for millions of Yemenis, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing a submission to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. After more than seven years of protracted conflict, the Yemeni […]

Gay rights

Who Will Speak Up for My Child, the Drag Queen? And the Non-Binary and Transgender Folks Among Us, Too

Tomdispatch

By Ira Chernus | – ( Tomdispatch.com ) – What makes a good society? Is it a guaranteed right to pursue happiness, as our Declaration of Independence proclaimed? Perhaps, as Gandhi said, it’s providing the poorest and most vulnerable among us with the means to control their own lives. But what happens when it’s the […]