Middle East

The Other Black Lives Matter Protests are in Africa: Sudanese wanted Democracy, not a Long Military-Civilian Transition

By David E Kiwuwa | – In the last few days, tens of thousands of people have, once again, taken to the streets of Sudan’s major cities to demand “freedom, peace and justice”, the rallying cry for the protesters who ousted Omar al-Bashir in 2019. The big difference is that this time they are marching […]

Children

Syrian Refugee Children Are Still Being Robbed of an Education

Human Rights Watch

By Breanna Small and Bill Van Esveld | ( Human Rights Watch ) – June 30 was possibly the most important day of 2020 for Syrian refugee children. At the annual pledging conference for the “Future of Syria and the Region,” dozens of governments and multilateral donors pledged US$7.7 billion in humanitarian aid for Syrian […]

Europe

Europe’s Tunisian Heritage: Common German, English Words Suggest Carthage was Present in the North

The Conversation

By Robert Mailhammer | – Remember when Australians paid in shillings and pence? New research suggests the words for these coins and other culturally important items and concepts are the result of close contact between the early Germanic people and the Carthaginian Empire more than 2,000 years ago. The city of Carthage, in modern-day Tunisia, […]

China

How Trump lost Iran to China: 25-Year ‘Lion-Dragon Deal’ makes Iran part of One Belt, One Road

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The 2015 nuclear deal signed by the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany with Iran had the potential to bring Iran into the world community economically and politically. Iran at one point intended to buy 80 Boeing civilian airliners, creating jobs in Seattle. A country with extensive […]

Donald Trump

UN Special Rapporteur: US Drone Strike killing Iranian Gen. Soleimani was Unlawful

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Agnes Callamard, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, has concluded in a new report that the Trump administration’s killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani at Baghdad International Airport on January 3 was unlawful. Callamard has the responsibility to report on killings by drone. Anna Germoni […]

Israel/ Palestine

Annexation was Always the Israeli Goal in the Palestinian West Bank

Ramzy Baroud

( Middle East Monitor ) – Wednesday, July 1, was meant to be the day on which the Israeli government officially annexed 30% of the occupied Palestinian West Bank and the Jordan Valley. This date, however, came and went and annexation was never actualized. “I don’t know if there will be a declaration of sovereignty […]

Bahrain

Gulf Arab Women were Finally making Progress, but will the Covid-19 Crash and Austerity set them Back?

The Conversation

By Humaira Hansrod | – Citizens of Saudi Arabia are having to get used to something that has long been an unpleasant fact of life in most parts of the world. On July 1, the kingdom tripled the VAT levied on consumer goods and services from 5% to 15%. There were reports of frantic stockpiling […]

Featured

When will Palestine have its Declaration of Independence?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Americans’ commemoration of the Fourth of July in 2020 was often a bit subdued, depending on where in the country you were, given the pandemic and its economic consequences. The subject of the celebration, however, was the foundation of a democratic republic that aspired to be made up of free […]

Israel/ Palestine

Is More Conflict What the Mideast Needs? Israel’s Dangerous Plan to Annex 1/3 of Palestinian West Bank

Middle East Monitor

By Hazem Ayyad | – ( Middle East Monitor.) – As expected, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed Israel’s annexation plan… on the pretext of finishing his consultations with an American delegation. His decision was not made known for certain to his Foreign Minister, retired General Gabi Ashkenazi, who told Israel’s Army Radio: “It seems unlikely […]