Middle East

( Al-Bab.com ) – Record numbers of Covid-19 infections have been reported in the Middle East and North Africa this week. Official figures show more than 570,000 new cases during the last seven days – indicating that the Omicron variant is now spreading rapidly in the region. Among the 20 countries monitored, nine show week-on-week […]

Israel/ Palestine

Breaking the Silence: Oppression of Palestinians reminds American Student in the West Bank of Black Lives Matter

Abigail Leibowitz

( Traveling Twins ) – On Friday, December 24, I joined a Breaking the Silence tour of the South Hebron Hills- an area in the southern West Bank designated as Area C – meaning under full Israeli control and supervision. We visited sites surrounding Yatta, a central Palestinian city, including the Lucifer Farm, and the […]

Bashar al-Assad

Syrian survivors of Torture rejoice over German Court indicting Regime Officer of Crimes Against Humanity

Global Voices

By Okba Mohammed | – ( Globalvoices.org) – Survivors of torture in Syrian prisons celebrated a verdict made at 10 a.m. on Thursday, January 13 by Koblenz Court in Germany, convicting former officer in the Syrian regime Anwar Raslan of crimes against humanity. Many also demanded the end of torture for their loved ones still […]

Israel/ Palestine

Far-Right Israelis aren’t Planting trees in the Negev for ‘forestation,’ but to ethnically Cleanse Palestinians

Middle East Monitor

By Motasem A Dalloul | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – After mass protests by Arab residents and threats by Arab parliamentarians, the Israeli occupation government decided on Wednesday to suspend the major Jewish National Fund (JNF) project of planting trees in the Negev. The JNF is a quasi-governmental body which oversees thirteen per […]

Iran

Saving the Iran Nuclear Deal: Here’s how to ensure that a new agreement isn’t so easily cancelled

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Abolghasem Bayyenat | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – As talks for reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or the Iran nuclear deal, resume in Vienna, it has become increasingly evident that restoring the JCPOA is extremely challenging without ensuring its durability. The developments of the past several years—mainly Trump’s […]

China

US Maximum Pressure Foiled as Iran’s new Best Friend, China, imports as much as 18 million barrels a month of its Oil

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – China continues to rescue Iran from Washington’s financial and trade blockade on Iran, which by May, 2019, had reportedly reduced its petroleum exports from 2.5 million barrels a day to only about a tenth of that. Petroleum is a major source of income for Iran, and benefits the government and […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israel’s Response to Human Rights NGOs’ finding that it practices Apartheid has been to Shoot the Messenger

Ramona Wadi

( ) – While Palestinians have been calling out Israeli apartheid for years, it was the non-governmental organisation B’Tselem that made the headlines a year ago with its designation of Israel as an apartheid state. Twelve months later, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has expressed concerns that the label will stick, for no other reason […]

Iran

Iran doesn’t even have a Nuclear Weapons Program: Why does the US keep passing it off as a Threat?

Ali Abootalebi

( Iran Daily) – The American foreign policy establishment is complex and has many layers. Foreign policy in the United States, as in other countries, is presumed to promote its national interests. However, the nature of the state-society relations in the United States allows for many different layers of forces and influences in shaping foreign […]

Israel

In Human Rights Violation, Israel is holding 500 People without Charge or Trial, including 6 Children

Middle East Monitor

( Middle East Monitor ) – The Palestinian people rightly saluted Hisham Abu Hawash as a brave man who was prepared to die in pursuit of his freedom. On 4 January, the occupation state of Israel agreed to his release following his almost five-month long hunger strike. Images of Hisham’s frail, almost skeletal body were […]