Jordan

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — The Middle East, from North Africa to Afghanistan, has seen an unusual number of governments collapse in recent years. Libya, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen have abruptly become something akin to failed states, and masses overthrew dictators in Egypt and Tunisia. It is unclear how strong the Afghanistan state […]

Dissent

Leftist Jordanians protest expected gas deal with Israel

contributors

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Dozens of protesters marched in the Jordanian capital of Amman on Friday to denounce a gas deal with Israel that is expected to be passed by the end of the year. Protesters held signs against the Israeli diplomatic mission in Jordan and against normalization with Israel during the rally, bearing messages such […]

Displaced and Refugees

West Only has Money for Bombs? 60,000 Child Laborers in Jordan as Syrian Refugees struggle to Survive

contributors

AMMAN | (IRIN) | – Jordan is straining under the weight of its over 600,000 Syrian refugees, with government officials and aid agencies warning of dwindling resources and capacity to respond to the ever-growing needs. Yet Syrians fleeing the current conflict only make up one small portion of the country’s refugee population. For decades, the tiny […]

Displaced and Refugees

Humanitarian Crisis: Health Care and Jordan’s 600,000 Syrian Refugees

contributors

By Katy Montoya I was scrambling to take notes when the First Lieutenant of the Jordanian Security Forces joined my conversation with security personnel in one of the small offices of Ruba’a al-Sarhan. “No other country would do this for Syria’s civilians,” he declared. Located close to the Syrian border in the al-Mafraq governate, Ruba’a […]

censorship

Shock & Awe In Syria: It never Works

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole The London pan-Arab daily “Hayat” [Life] reports this morning on the air strikes conducted on ISIL positions in Raqqah, Syria, by the United States and several Arab allies. The Syrian government acknowledged that the US gave fair warning it would bomb Raqqah to the Syrian ambassador to the UN. That is, the […]

Egypt

Middle East “Allies” decline to Commit Forces, Resources against ISIL

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole US Secretary of State John Kerry’s meeting in Jedda with ten Middle Eastern foreign ministers produced a communique on Friday, but little more. The regional states promised to do more to stop the transit across their territory of volunteer vigilantes seeking to join the so-called “Islamic State” of Iraq and the Levant […]

Arab Spring

Egypt, Syria, Libya . . . . What is the Appeal of Phoney Elections in the Middle East?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole The world has been treated to a whole series of “elections” in the Middle East recently. Iraq had parliamentary elections, Libya’s parliament voted for a new prime minister, and Egypt and Syria had presidential elections. This summer, Turkey will have elections. It would be nice if all these elections signaled a turn […]

Christianity

Pope Francis in Jordan Reaches out to Forgotten Syrian Refugees, Christians and Muslims

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole AFP Arabic reports that Syrian refugees, and Christian refugees in particular, are hoping that the visit of Pope Francis to Jordan on Saturday will raise the profile of their plight. Jordan is a country of 6.3 million citizens, but it has another 600,000 or so Syrian refugees. Likely on the order of […]