Middle East

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) took control of the city of Manbij on Tuesday, with Russian gendarmes taking up patrols of the city as US special operations forces abandoned two military bases in the region, which were also taken over by Russians. The SAA and the Russians appear to have […]

Israel/ Palestine

Does the Demi Lovato Affair prove that Brand Israel is now toxic?

Middle East Monitor

By Asa Winstanley | @AsaWinstanley | – “Brand Israel” was launched. As I’ve written before, this public relations strategy was an utter failure. War crimes, apartheid and denial of basic human rights are a hard sell, it seems. By now, Israel is a completely toxic brand, even for some of its own supporters. Israel no […]

Kurds

Kurdish Women Fighters helped Defeat ISIL, & now are a Target of Turkish Invasion

The Conversation

By Haidar Khezri | – Kurdish fighters under attack by Turkey have described President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria as a “stab in the back.” Since bombing began on Oct. 9, Turkish military operations against the Syrian Democratic Forces in northern Syria, Washington’s staunchest and most effective allies in the […]

Kurds

Turkey’s ‘Safe Zone’ in Syria Would Be Anything But (HRW)

Human Rights Watch

Plan Increases Risks for Returned Refugees

Donald Trump

Why? 3 Possible reasons Trump is threatening Turkey with Sanctions after Greenlighting Syria Invasion

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump is slapping sanctions on Turkey for invading northern Syria after Trump told Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan that it would be all right for him to invade northern Syria. It is really difficult to be an analyst of foreign affairs in the age of Trump, because we try to understand […]

Israel/ Palestine

How Palestinian women successfully defended their village from demolition

Waging Nonviolence

By Sarah Flatto Manasrah | – ( Waging Nonviolence) – One year after Israel gave the green light to demolish Khan al-Amar, the small Bedouin village survives thanks to a bold and creative women-led campaign. Just over one year ago, photos and videos of Israeli border police violently arresting a young Palestinian woman went viral. […]

Featured

Trump’s Saigon Evacuation Moment, as US Troops Flee and Syrian/Russian Forces are invited in by Kurds

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – For us oldsters, one of the iconic photographs of the twentieth century was the last US military helicopter taking off from the roof of the US embassy in Saigon, with desperate people hanging off it, fearful of what would happen to them when they fell into the hands of the […]

Kurds

As Turkish troops move in to Syria, the risks are great – including for Turkey itself

The Conversation

By Mehmet Ozalp | – Turkey did not waste much time in launching an attack on Syrian soil just days after US President Donald Trump announced he would withdraw US forces from northern Syria. As this development opens a new chapter in Syria, Turkey maybe unwittingly sinking deeper into that country’s civil war. This is […]

Featured

Kurds consider Asking for Russian No-Fly Zone as Moscow demands Foreign Armies leave Syria

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A CNN exclusive by Barbara Starr and Ryan Browne reveals that Gen. Mazloum Kobani Abdi told the US, “I need to know if you are capable of protecting my people, of stopping these bombs falling on us or not. I need to know, because if you’re not, I need to […]