Middle East

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The thuggish Trump and his gun moll Nikki Haley have threatened member countries of the UN General Assembly with a cut-off of US foreign aid if they vote against the US on Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Trump said, “They take […]

Displaced and Refugees

1,000 Days of War Bringing ‘Apocalypse’ on Yemen: Oxfam

contributors

TeleSur | – – The U.K.-based group said more than 5,000 people have died since the beginning of the war in March 2015. Yemen is on the brink of total collapse and an “apocalypse,” aid agency Oxfam said in a report Wednesday marking 1,000 days since Saudi Arabia and its regional allies began a military […]

Israel/ Palestine

Will Palestine Request Full UN Membership in January 2018?

contributors

TeleSur | – – Egypt introduced a draft resolution to the Security Council to reject a decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The adviser to Palestinian President for Foreign Affairs, Nabil Shaath, informed on Tuesday that his country will request full UN membership in January 2018. “We will present the request again […]

Houthi

Saudi strikes have killed 136 civilians in Yemen, as Huthis Rocket Riyadh

contributors

Middle East Monitor | – – Air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen have killed at least 136 civilians since 6 December, Reuters reported. The UN verified that 87 civilians across the capital Sana’a, Saada and Hudaydah were injured. “We are deeply concerned at the recent surge in civilian casualties in Yemen as a […]

Saleh

Yemen: Will Saudis try to Impose Ahmed Ali Saleh, son of Dictator?

contributors

Brian Whitaker | ( al-Bab.com) | – – When Yemen held parliamentary elections in 1997 Ahmed Ali Saleh, then aged 24, was a first-time candidate. Though new to politics, he won by a handsome margin – a victory that was no doubt helped by having his father, President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and many of the […]

Featured

The Mideast has a Militia Problem: Does Iraq’s Ayatollah Sistani Have the Answer?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani has called for Iraq’s Shiite militias to come under control of the central government. One of the problems facing the Middle East has been the rise of autonomous militias, who are often more powerful than the state and its army. You have […]

Arab World

Why Arabs And Muslims Aren’t Exotic: The Grip of Orientalism (Video)

contributors

AJ+ | (Video Report) | – – “From Aladdin to Bodak Yellow, the media is obsessed with portraying Arabs and Muslims as exotic and mysterious. So why is this sort of imagery so pervasive?” Why Arabs And Muslims Aren’t Exotic | AJ+

Israel/ Palestine

Turkey to defy Trump, open Embassy to Palestine in E. Jerusalem

Juan Cole

Middle East Monitor | – – Turkey will open an embassy in East Jerusalem, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday, days after leading calls at a summit of Muslim leaders for the world to recognise it as the capital of Palestine. “God willing, the day is close when officially, with God’s permission, we will open […]

Children

Iraq: Parliament Rejects Marriage for 8-Year-Old Girls

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – – Amendments Would Have Instated Discriminatory Laws on Family Matters (Beirut) – Iraq’s parliament has rejected proposed amendments to Iraq’s Personal Status Law (PSL) that would allow religious judges to impose discriminatory law on family matters, Human Rights Watch said today. The amendments would have covered areas including inheritance and […]