Middle East

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In a surprise development, Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif suddenly flew to Biarritz on Sunday for meetings on the sidelines of the G7 summit. He clearly was invited at the instance of French President Emannuel Macron, who is still attempting to salvage what he can of the 2015 Iran nuclear […]

Feminism

Iran: The 14 Defiant Women Who Want To end Gender Apartheid in The Islamic Republic

Golnaz Esfandiari

(RFE/RL) – Iranian human rights lawyer Guity Pourfazel wants to see change in her country and believes Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei should step down and the ruling clerical establishment be replaced with a democratic system. Pourfazel is one of 14 women activists in Iran who have publicly called for Khamenei to resign and for […]

Featured

Former Iraqi PM Threatens Military action against Israel after Tel Aviv Bombed Shiite Militia Base

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Former prime minister of Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki, responded to news that Israel had bombed Shiite militia bases in Iraq with threats that if it continued, Iraq would take strong defensive measures and would carry the fight to Israel itself, forming a multinational coalition and backed by Iran. Al-Maliki has been […]

Yemen

Yemen: fierce fighting as UAE-Backed Separatists & Saudi-backed Gov’t clash over oil fields

Brian Whitaker

(Al-Bab.com) – Intense fighting broke out in Yemen on Thursday as southern separatists and pro-government forces battled for control of the city of Ataq. Both sides in the conflict are officially members of the Saudi-led coalition against the Houthis who control the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen. The separatists are backed by the […]

Israel/ Palestine

Displacement in Gaza and Israel’s demographic obsession

Middle East Monitor

By Nasser Nasser | – The statements made by a senior Israeli political source, which is likely to be Prime Minister Netanyahu himself, published in Israeli media, including Haaretz on 20 August regarding Israel taking practical steps to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, reminds us of what Israel calls the demographic threat. This involves […]

Egypt

How Forms of Political Islam failed in Egypt and Turkey

The Conversation

By Ahmet T. Kuru | – Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s first-ever democratically elected president, died unexpectedly during a trial in June 2019. He was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, an almost century-old Islamist group that rose to power after the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. Its political tenure was short. Morsi was deposed by a coup […]

Yemen

The UAE Remains the Main Player in Yemen, and could Split the Country Up

Middle East Monitor

By Stasa Salacanin | – At the beginning of July, the UAE started to reduce its troop numbers in Yemen, signalling a shift in its military engagement. The move has been interpreted as a sign of the Emirates trying to distance itself from its main coalition partner, Saudi Arabia. Despite the troop drawdown, though, the […]

Featured

Trump Mimics Israeli Supremacist Right, Accuses Jewish American Democrats of Treason to Israel

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump on Tuesday attacked American Jews who vote for the Democratic Party (as 70%-80% of them do) as demonstrating “a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.” What Trump meant has been widely debated and, in my view, misinterpreted. He wasn’t bringing up dual loyalty or accusing Jewish Democrats of […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israeli Squatter-Settlers on Palestinian Land rule the roost in Israel, but at what cost?

Ramzy Baroud

(Middle East Monitor) – Jewish Israeli settlers are on a roll as they rampage across the occupied Palestinian West Bank. While settler violence is part of the daily routine in Palestine, the violence of recent weeks is linked directly to the General Election in Israel, scheduled to be held on 17 September. The previous election, […]