Middle East

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The European Broadcasting Union declined o have a vote on whether Israel should be allowed to participate in next year’s Eurovision singing contest. Several European countries had argued that the country’s genocidal behavior in Gaza was grounds for excluding it from the competition. Russia used to participate in Eurovision, as […]

Arab Spring

Great Powers and the People: The Divergent Paths of the Egyptian and Syrian Revolutions

Mehmet Rakipoglu

Exeter, UK (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – The Arab revolutionary wave that began in 2011 presents two of its most significant, yet fundamentally divergent, case studies: Egypt and Syria. While both nations experienced the overthrow of long-standing authoritarian regimes, the mechanisms, actors, and ultimate outcomes of their revolutions differed significantly. A comparative analysis reveals […]

Israel/ Palestine

A Ceasefire in Name Only: Gaza’s Prolonged Purgatory

Middle East Monitor

by Dr Binoy Kampmark ( Middle East Monitor ) – A ceasefire can be a strange thing. The assumption, generally speaking, is that the parties to it restrain themselves for a period of time, ordering their forces and disciplining their charges from straying. But straying happens, transgressions inevitable. Some are genuine enough: silly […]

Dominionism

Cracks in the MAGA – Likud Collusion to Hasten End Times Reality

H. Scott Prosterman

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – It looks like the perverse romance between MAGA and Israel’s Likud Party is becoming frayed at the edges. Despite the long-standing, anti-Semitic undercurrents in American conservatism, the Republican Party has been a staunch supporter of Israel at least since the 1967 War. The far right Likud Party […]

Democratic Party

Democrats in Congress Are Out of Touch With Constituents on Israeli Genocide

Norman Solomon

San Francisco (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Last month, some House members publicly acknowledged that Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza. It’s a judgment that Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch unequivocally proclaimed a year ago. Israeli human-rights organizations have reached the same conclusion. But such clarity is sparse in Congress. And no wonder. Genocide denial is needed for […]

Israel/ Palestine

Workers Rights and Palestine Solidarity: Clover in South Africa

Open Democracy

When dairy workers made common cause with Palestine solidarity activists, the result was radical love in the public square Maya Bhardwaj United against Clover Here’s what it looked like in practice. In late 2021, I joined a town hall meeting for the Clover campaign in Johannesburg. The hall was full with attendees. Some wore […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israel’s War: Gaza’s Once-Growing Economy is Nearing Total Collapse

The Conversation

By Dalia Alazzeh, University of the West of Scotland and Shahzad Uddin, University of Essex (The Conversation) – Gaza is going through one of the most severe economic collapses the world has seen in modern times. According to a UN report published in late November, the average income per person there is now just US$161 […]

Featured

200 Luminaries from the Arts and Business World demand release of “Palestinian Mandela”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Patrick Wintour at The Guardian reports that some 200 prominent literary, cultural and political figures have signed an open letter demanding the release from Israeli prison of Palestinian activist Marwan Barghouti. Barghouti 66, is widely thought to be one of the few figures who could unite the Palestinians and lead […]

Iraq

Iraq’s 2025 Elections reveal a Democracy without Belief

The Conversation

By Bamo Nouri, City St George’s, University of London The Conversation – Iraqis went to the polls on November 11 to vote in parliamentary elections. Preliminary results put the coalition of Iraq’s prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, in the lead. But no bloc has won anything close to a governing majority in the 329-seat parliament. […]