Middle East

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The NYT’s Thomas Friedman reports on a recent telephone conversation he had with Joe Biden, and the interview contains good news. Biden made it clear that he will attempt to re-institute the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) or Iran nuclear deal, admitting, “It’s going to be hard, but […]

Donald Trump

Why America’s Lame Duck 7 Weeks is Palestine’s Nightmare

Harry Blain

( Foreign Policy in Focus) – Before Obama took office, Israel viciously assaulted the Gaza Strip. As Trump gets the boot, could another gambit be in the works? The political scientist William Adler recently argued that the main risk of our current lame duck period is inaction, rather than action. So far as the United […]

Israel/ Palestine

Occupation in the Time of COVID-19: Holding Israel Accountable for Palestinian Health

Al-Shabaka

By Yara Asi Israel has directly contributed to the deterioration of Palestinians’ health during the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Al-Shabaka policy analyst, Yara Asi, explores the different ways in which Israel has impacted Palestinians’ ability to respond to and mitigate the disastrous effects of the pandemic, and recommends approaches to addressing the […]

Epidemics

After the Coronavirus took down Trump in Election, could Israeli PM Netanyahu be Next?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Mahmoud Mujadalah at the Israeli newspaper Arab48 reports that Benny Gantz, the Israeli minister of defense who was set to rotate in as prime minister after Binyamin Netanyahu next year this time, made a potentially game-changing announcement Tuesday. He said that his party list, the Blue and White, will vote […]

Democracy

Biden vows Turkey’s Autocrat Erdogan must “Pay a Price” for attacks on Critics, Syrian Kurds

Middle East Monitor

By Ahmet Alioglu | – ( Middle East Monitor) – One of the leading assistants of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, and a founder of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), resigned last week from the government’s high advisory council citing disagreements and discontent over judicial practices. Bulent Arinc called for a comprehensive reassessment […]

CIA

Israeli Official: “World should thank Israel” for murdering Iranian Scientist; CIA’s Brennan: “Act of state-sponsored terrorism”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – An unnamed Israeli official told the New York Times on Sunday, “the world should thank Israel” for killing Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. I don’t guess I’m thanking Israel for committing a flagrant act of terrorism. If Israel can murder a scientist in Iran, what is to stop it from […]

Featured

Why the world is Safer if Biden can Reinstitute Iran Nuclear Deal

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iran has no nuclear weapons, and no nuclear weapons program using diverted enriched uranium. It has a civilian nuclear enrichment program. Argentina, Brazil, Iran, Japan, the Netherlands and South Korea all have enriched uranium, and all of them have forsworn building nuclear bombs. Argentina, Brazil and Iran have in the […]

Donald Trump

In Bid to Kill a Biden return to Iran nuclear Deal, Israel Assassinates Leading Nuclear Scientist

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Iranian newspaper Ettela’at reports that on Friday, what it called “armed terrorist elements” mounted an assault on the automobile carrying Dr. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was badly wounded in the midst of the clash between his security team and the assailants and was transported to hospital, where he died of […]

censorship

Israel’s growing strategic threat to our freedom of speech

Asa Winstanley

( Middle East Monitor ) – There is an old saying that you should not put the fox in charge of the hen house. It makes perfect sense, and yet that’s exactly what Western governments are increasingly starting to do when it comes to their freedom of speech policies. All bluster about “cancel culture” aside, […]