Arab World

By James M. Dorsey | ( Your Middle East ) – “Everything is underground, nothing is public.” The current Saudi-led intervention in Yemen designed to prevent Iranian-backed forces from gaining power symbolises the Gulf’s new assertiveness. This is unfolding as the various Gulf states seek to hedge their bets with different strategies that complement rather […]

Christianity

Palestinian Christian leaders criticize Israeli restrictions on Easter celebration

contributors

By Celine Hagbard | (IMEMC News) – The archbishop of the Sebastian Greek Orthodox Church, Atallah Hanna, addressed crowds in the town of al-Ezzariya (Lazarus) on Saturday, condemning the Israeli restrictions on Easter celebrations, and calling on Christians around the world to pray and to voice their support for their Christian brethren in Palestine. The […]

Apartheid

Missing Israeli Soldier Staged His own “Kidnapping,” Palestinians Rousted

contributors

By IMEMC | — Israeli sources have reported that the 22-year-old soldier, who was believed to be missing, or “kidnapped,” staged his own disappearance, after the soldiers initiated a search campaign and found him, on Friday at dawn, sleeping in Kiryat Arba Jewish settlement in Hebron. Israeli Ynet News has reported that the army searched […]

Iraq

Eyewitness: How the Bush invasion of Iraq created the ISIL Threat

contributors

Lindsey Hilsum | (Channel 4 News) – “Learn how the 2003 invasion of Iraq, by the US and its allies, led to sectarian violence, terror and sowed the seeds of the Islamic State. Our International Editor, Lindsey Hilsum, recounts her experiences of Iraq during the first months of conflict and explains how ISIS has grown […]

GCC

Saudi Arabia’s intervention in Yemen is Morphing into Major War

contributors

By Paul Rogers Since it was first announced, the Saudi Arabia-led war in Yemen has developed very rapidly. Air strikes have already hit numerous targets, resulting in many civilian deaths. Clearly, the Saudis are not prepared to watch Yemen’s long-running domestic turmoil become a full-blown collapse. Ever since a rebellion led by the Shia Houthi […]

Featured

Syria: ISIL Conquest of Yarmouk Palestinian Camp refutes Israeli Propaganda

Juan Cole

Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – On Wednesday, the extremist Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) group, known for its brutal beheadings and mass murder, took over the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp inside Damascus city limits. Palestinian women and Christians and male secularists are at special risk now. Had they been living normally in their homes in what […]

Apartheid

Why Palestine joining the International Criminal Court could be a total game changer

contributors

By Kurt Mills, University of Glasgow | (The Conversation) – After more than five years and much diplomatic wrangling, Palestine has joined the International Criminal Court (ICC). Now, the prospect of Israel being held accountable for war crimes has greatly increased, and that will have significant repercussions for the peace process and for Palestinian statehood. […]

Apartheid

Israel’s Hidden Palestinians fight Eviction

contributors

AJ+ – “100,000 Palestinian Bedouins living in villages in Israel’s Negev desert are being threatened with eviction. Their communities are not recognised by the State of Israel, and so they have no paved roads, and aren’t connected to the electricity or water networks. Ayman Odeh, leader of the third-largest political group in Israel, led an […]

Displaced and Refugees

As Aden falls to Houthis & Saudis Bomb, Yemenis buy up Food, Fuel

contributors

By Almigdad Mojalli – SANA’A, 1 April 2015 (IRIN) – Yemen’s war continued to escalate on Wednesday, with Saudi-led airstrikes in most major cities and firefights across the country. Saudi and its allies are seeking to depose Houthi rebels who claimed control of the capital Sana’a last September. After another night of heavy bombing on […]