Middle East

Protesting the U of Arkansas for Removing Middle East Center Director over her Condemnation of the Bombing of Iran

Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association of North America | – Letter to the University of Arkansas regarding the removal of Professor Shirin Saeidi as director of the King Fahd Center President Jay B. Silveria The University of Arkansas chancell@uark.edu Dear President Silveria, Chancellor Robinson and Dean Raines: We write […]

al-Qaeda

Syrian-Australian Muslim halts Indian-Australian ISIL Attack on Jewish Australians

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The gruesome and terrifying attack on a Hanukkah gathering at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, left 15 people dead, including a rabbi, a ten-year-old girl and a Holocaust survivor. Some 24 are in hospital. The perpetrators were apparently Australian Muslims of Indian origins, Sajid Akram and his son Naveed Akram, […]

Israel/ Palestine

Soaring West Bank Violence is Fueled by Official Israeli Surrender to Settlers

The Conversation

By Arie Perliger, UMass Lowell (The Conversation) – Owais Hammam was walking near his home in Khirbet Bani Harith in the West Bank on Dec. 3, 2025, when, according to media reports, he was kidnapped by Jewish settlers. Over several hours at a nearby settlement, the 18-year-old Palestinian is alleged to have endured repeated beatings, […]

Academic Freedom

Rebuking UC Berkeley over Suspension of Lecturer for Palestine Advocacy

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association of North America | – Letter to the University of California, Berkeley, expressing concern about the suspension of Lecturer Peyrin Kao Chancellor Rich Lyons Office of the Chancellor University of California, Berkeley chancellor@berkeley.edu Benjamin Hermalin Executive Vice Chancellor & Provost University of California, Berkeley hermalin@berkeley.edu […]

Featured

Benjamin Netanyahu’s Lethal Legacy: Revisionism, Neoconservatism, big Money and Corruption

Dan Steinbock

Since early 2023, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have demonstrated against Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu and his cabinet, due to its proposed judicial reforms, the handling of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas and the Gaza genocide. So, why is he still in power? New York (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Recently, Israel’s […]

Iran

One Year After Assad’s Fall: Iran’s Strategic Collapse In Syria

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By Iliya Jazaeri and Kian Sharifi ( RFE/ RL ) – One year after Assad’s fall, Iran grapples with the collapse of its key regional ally. Tehran lost up to 50 billion dollars invested over a decade, its Mediterranean access, and supply routes to Hezbollah. Iran seeks to rebuild influence, but is there a way back?” […]

European Union

The Transatlantic Rift over Gaza’s Future

Foreign Policy in Focus

Europe wants to reduce the suffering in Gaza. The U.S. is focused on security. By Imran Khalid | ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – The fragile ceasefire in Gaza, now in its seventh week, has done little to calm the political tempests surrounding it. What was meant to be a pause in hostilities has […]

Donald Trump

Israel is Sinking into the Abyss of Netanyahu’s Dictatorship

H. Scott Prosterman

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – It appears unlikely that the Israeli Justice Ministry will approve a pardon for Israeli PM Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, related to his criminal charges for blackmail, corruption and breach of public trust. But Israeli President Isaac Herzog is under pressure to use his standing to override that likely […]

Entertainment

“With them the seed of Wisdom:” FitzGerald’s The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:28

Juan Cole

Quatrain no. 28 in the first edition of Edward FitzGerald’s The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám continues riffing on stanza 121 in the Bodleian manuscript. XXVIII. With them the Seed of Wisdom did I sow, And with my own hand labour’d it to grow : And this was all the Harvest that I reap’d- “I came […]