Arab World

All we in the West ever hear about Gaza concerns the Hamas Party-Militia or the conflict between its Palestinians and the Israeli army. Some Gaza youth did a cover of Pharrell Williams’s “Happy” to show a different side of the 1.7 million people in the Gaza Strip: #Happy (#Gaza version) – #Pharrell Williams

Featured

Despite being Barred from Jerusalem Easter is a Symbol of hope for Palestinians

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Palestinian Christians in the West Bank say that they have been denied permits to visit Jerusalem in record numbers this year, despite their living just over the green line not far from the holy city. Hanan Ashrawi, the prominent Palestinian human rights activist, maintained that Palestinians only received 30% to 40% of […]

Iraq

The Great Moat of Iraqi Kurdistan with Syria Separates Families

Juan Cole

(By Abdul-Khaleq Dosky in Dohuk, for Niqash) To better protect their borders, authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan are digging a large trench in the area bordering Syria. Locals are protesting about it, saying that links with family and friends in neighbouring towns will be severed and economic opportunities lost; some are already describing it as a […]

Afghanistan

An Int’l Trail of Death and Heartbreak: How the Bush Wars came home with the Vets

Juan Cole

(By Ann Jones) After an argument about a leave denied, Specialist Ivan Lopez pulled out a .45-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun and began a shooting spree at Fort Hood, America’s biggest stateside base, that left three soldiers dead and 16 wounded. When he did so, he also pulled America’s fading wars out of the closet. […]

Arab World

Color Video of Progress in 1950s Iraq before the US Got involved in It

Juan Cole

British Pathé: Ageless Iraq Reel 1 (1950-1959) Blurb: “Reel 1. Directed by Graham Wallace. Cameraman – Reg Cavender. Editor – Jocelyn Jackson. Sound – W.S. Bland and George Newberry. L/S of aeroplane flying over countryside. Various aerial shots of Iraq and its rivers. C/U of a shepherd looking up at the sky. Aerial shot of […]

Arab Spring

Pro-Feminists & Metrosexuals: The New Arab Men of the Millennial Generation

Juan Cole

(By Khaled Diab via Your Middle East ) A growing number of Arab men are not only championing the rights of women but also challenging traditional ideals of masculinity. Sexual harassment in Egypt has reached such epidemic proportions that it has even infiltrated the campus of the country’s oldest secular university. At the heart of […]

History

Mussolini buys Crowds during visit to Libya (1937) – Historical Video of the Day

Juan Cole

Italy ruled Libya from 1911 until midway through WW II, with the fascist years being especially harsh. This newsreel gives a sense of how the Italian colonial administration regimented the population (likely with a combination of bribes and threats) for a spectacle during brutal dictator Benito Mussolini’s visit to his colony in the late 1930s. […]

Barack Obama

Uncle Sam’s Eternal Gua-Gulag: US Continues to Imprison Dozens of Yemenis Cleared or Never Charged

Juan Cole

(Human Rights Watch) (Washington, DC) – The US should expedite the return of Yemeni detainees cleared for release from Guantanamo Bay, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to President Barack Obama. Human Rights Watch released a video showing the plight of families of Yemeni detainees. All Guantanamo detainees should be returned or resettled, or charged […]