By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Only one fighting force in Syria is practically speaking taking on Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) on the ground, and that is the Syrian Democratic Forces, the bulk of whose fighters are leftist Kurds of the “People’s Protection Units” (YPG). They are joined by some rural Arab clans […]
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Middle East
Press Freedom in Middle East Cratering in Age of Brutal Dictatorships
By Brian Whitaker | ( Al-Bab.com ) | – – Among the 22 countries belonging to the Arab League, 17 are ranked as “bad” or “very bad” in the annual World Press Freedom Index published today by Reporters Without Borders. The eight classified as “bad” are Algeria, Jordan, Iraq, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar and the […]
Turkey’s Erdogan bans Wikipedia, TV Dating Shows, oh, and Fires 4,000
TeleSur | – – With the April 16 referendum having expanded Erdogan’s powers, the AKP leader continues to lead a mass crackdown against his citizens. While a hotly contested referendum earlier this month expanded Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s authoritarian powers — it appears the Justice and Development (AKP) party leader is wasting no time exercising […]
20 Million People Could ‘Starve to Death’ in Next Six Months
By Baher Kamal | (Inter Press Service) | – – ROME (IPS) – Urgent action is needed to save the lives of people facing famine in North Eastern Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, the UN leading food and agriculture agency’s chief on April 28 warned. “If nothing is done, some 20 million people could […]
On Day of Climate March, Remember advance of Solar globally
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The US public may have to march today for our government to recognize the dangers of climate change. But in the rest of the world many governments are placing a large wager on clean solar energy. The largest concentrated solar plant in the world is not […]
In Photos: Palestinians launch general strike in support of imprisoned hunger strikers
Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A general strike was held across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem on Thursday, as thousands of Palestinians shut down their shops and businesses in solidarity with some 1,500 Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike as part of the “Freedom and Dignity” strike, organized by imprisoned […]
Dear Marine Le Pen: Only a Fascist would Praise Colonialism . . . Oh Wait
Jessica Northey | ( OpenDemocracy.net) | – – Marine Le Pen’s declaration that colonialism was a positive thing is not only a denial of France’s painful history, but an example of the fascism that we now face in Europe. When we see or hear evil we have a moral imperative to call it out. Otherwise […]
Syria’s forgotten pluralism and why it matters today
By Andrea Williams | (The Conversation) | – – The Syrian Civil War has been raging for six years. It has killed nearly half a million people and left over 12 million, about half of Syria’s total population, without a home. A few weeks ago, a devastating chemical attack brought this conflict back into the […]
Refugees, Militias, Sectarianism: Middle East Engulfed by a ‘Perfect Storm’
By Baher Kamal | (Inter Press Service) | – – ROME (IPS) – A perfect storm has engulfed the Middle East, and continues to threaten international peace and security. Hardly anyone could sum up the Middle East explosive situation in so few, blunt words as just did Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the […]