Middle East

Hebrew U. lifts Suspension of Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian after Palestinian-Israeli Scholars called for her Reinstatement

NB: Hebrew University made this announcement on Wednesday, reinstating Professor Shalhoub-Kevorkian: In a meeting held today between the Rector of the Hebrew University, Prof. Tamir Sheafer, and Prof. Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, Prof. Shalhoub-Kevorkian clarified that as a critical feminist researcher, she believes all victims and does not doubt their words, and that she did not deny […]

Featured

Naked Hypocrisy: The US once cited UNSC Resolutions to Invade Iraq, now calls Gaza Ceasefire Demand “Non-Binding”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on Tuesday characterized the United Nations Security Council resolution 2728 demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza conflict as “non-binding,” a phrase also used by US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield. The US was rebuked by China, according to Akmal Dawi at VOA: “‘Security […]

Israel/ Palestine

Spending Unlimited: The Pentagon’s Budget Follies come at High Price

Tomdispatch

By Julia Gledhill and William D. Hartung ( Tomdispatch.com ) – The White House released its budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2025 on March 11th, and the news was depressingly familiar: $895 billion for the Pentagon and work on nuclear weapons at the Department of Energy. After adjusting for inflation, that’s only slightly less than […]

Apartheid

As Israel defies UNSC demand for Gaza Ceasefire, UN Human Rights Body slams ongoing “Genocide”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The UN Security Council has finally passed a ceasefire resolution for Gaza, from which the US abstained, so it was passed by the other 14 members. Although UNSC resolutions are binding, and countries like Iraq and Iran have been severely punished for disobeying them, the US is running interference for […]

Culture

The Music of the late Iranian Singer Faramarz Aslani, Forced into Exile by a Puritan Revolution

Fariba Amini

Newark, Del. (Special to Informed Comment) – Amidst war and genocide in Ukraine and in Gaza, a new spring came along. For millions of Persian-speaking people, March 19 marked the beginning of Nowruz or new day this year. A holiday with Zoroastrian roots, Nowruz is celebrated in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and parts of India and […]

Chechnya

How Moscow Terror Attack fits ISIL-K Strategy to Widen Agenda against Perceived Enemies

The Conversation

By Sara Harmouch, American University, and Amira Jadoon, Clemson University | – Russia is reeling from the worst terror strike on its soil in a generation following an attack on March 22, 2024, that killed at least 137 concertgoers in Moscow. The attack has been claimed by the Islamic State group. And despite Russian authorities […]

Algeria

The Middle East Ranks at the Bottom of Gallup’s Happiness Index, except for Rich Oil States; is the US to Blame?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The annual Gallup report on happiness by country came out this week. It is based on a three-year average of polling. What struck me in their report is how unhappy the Middle East is. The only Middle Eastern country in the top twenty is Kuwait (for the first time in […]

Israel/ Palestine

Echos of our Lost Home in Gaza

Global Voices

By Haneen Abo Soad | – The author’s four-generation land and home were destroyed by Israeli F16 rockets in January, reducing it to rubble. Photo provided by the author, used with permission. ( Globalvoices.org ) – On January 12, a message arrived from my sister in Gaza, bearing the devastating news: our parents’ home, a […]

Featured

Purim at the Time of Genocide

Yakov M. Rabkin

Montréal (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – The Jewish holiday of Purim, related in the Book of Esther, celebrates deliverance from a genocide. How to celebrate it when death and starvation kill thousands in Gaza, and the holiday’s rhetoric, namely the memory of the archenemy Amalek, is being used by Israeli politicians responsible for it? […]