Middle East

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Candidate Donald Trump called last year for carpet-bombing of Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) in Iraq and Syria. It is possible that Trump has loosened the rules of engagement for the US Air Force, which is providing air support to the Iraqi Army. Looser rules could well be […]

Authoritarianism

In Erdogan’s Turkey, an Artist is Jailed for Painting Reality

contributors

TeleSur | – – A Turkish court has handed down a two-year, nine-month and 22-day jail sentence to a Kurdish artist because of her painting of a Kurdish village being razed by Turkish security forces. Turkish Artist Zehra Doğan Sentenced to Prison for Painting of Kurdish Town Attack — Alexander Rubinstein (@AlexR_DC) March 24, 2017 […]

Israel/ Palestine

Palestine slams Israeli Database Targeting Israelis Who Support Boycott

contributors

IMEMC | – – On March 21st, Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs, Gilad Erdan, announced that his ministry seeks to create a new database of Israeli citizens who support the grassroots Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement to secure Palestinian human rights. In response, Mahmoud Nawajaa, the General Coordinator of the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), […]

Displaced and Refugees

Top 5 Lessons Saudi should learn from its Failed Yemen War

contributors

By Mohammed Nuruzzaman | (Informed Comment) | – – Top 5 Lessons Saudi Arabia Learns from the Yemen War Saudi Arabia’s Yemen war has reached a dead end. Launched in late March 2015 to restore President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power, either by subduing or by eliminating the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and their allies, […]

Iraq

Did Trump loosen Rules? Charges that US Airstrikes Kill 230 Iraqi Civilians in Mosul

contributors

TeleSur | – – “Finding survivors is very difficult because the area is completely destroyed,” an authority told reporters. “It’s a very big disaster, indeed we can describe it as a disaster.” Dozens of residents were buried in collapsed buildings in the Iraqi city of Mosul after a U.S. airstrike Wednesday as rescuers tried to […]

Israel/ Palestine

Ex-Mossad Chief: Occupation of Palestinians Is Israel’s Only Existential Threat

contributors

IMEMC | – – Former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo asserted, on Tuesday, that the Israeli occupation and the conflict with the Palestinians are the only existential threat facing Israel. Pardo stated, according to Haaretz: “Israel has one existential threat. It is a ticking time bomb. We chose to stick our head in the sand, creating […]

Israel/ Palestine

Failed Plan to Reconstruct Gaza Fuels Water, Sanitation Crisis

contributors

TeleSur | – – Under the plan, Israel continues to tightly control the materials that are being used to build vital infrastructure in Gaza. The United Nations-backed strategy for the reconstruction of Gaza following the 2014 offensive by Israel has been dubbed a failure by the international charity Oxfam. An investigation released Wednesday revealed that […]

Human Rights Watch

Iraq: ISIS Dumped Hundreds in Mass Grave

contributors

Via Human Rights Watch | – – Security Forces, Prisoners, Women, Among Those Executed (Erbil) – The Islamic State (also known as ISIS) executed and dumped the bodies of possibly hundreds of detainees at a site near Mosul, Human Rights Watch said today. Multiple witnesses told Human Rights Watch that the bodies of those killed, […]

Asia

Isolated Saudi Arabia pivots to Asia; but will it spread Extremism There?

contributors

By Babak Mohammadzadeh | (The Conversation) | – – Capital cities across Asia spent the last month rolling out the red carpet for a rarely seen visitor: Saudi Arabia’s ageing King Salman, accompanied by a hundreds-strong diplomatic entourage including senior princes, businessmen and ministers. Taking in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Japan, China and the Maldives, the […]