Middle East

By IMEMC | – – Zionist Union member of the Israeli parliament of the Knesset, Tzipi Livni, called for a referendum, Saturday afternoon, over what she reduced to a “problem” with Palestinians. Speaking at an event in the Israeli city of Rishon LeZion, south of Tel Aviv, Livni censured Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failing […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israel approves $18.6 mn in new funding for Squatter settlements in Palestinian West Bank

contributors

Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Israeli government approved on Sunday the allocation of an additional 72 million shekels (about $18.6 million) to settlements in the occupied West Bank due to the “worsening security situation” in the territory, according to Israeli media. The funds to illegal settlement communities will reportedly include […]

Corruption

Why don’t Technocrats think the cure for Iraqi Corruption more Democracy? It is Everywhere Else!

contributors

Usman W. Chohan | (The Conversation) | – – The tragedy of modern Iraq is often studied with a humanitarian, moral, religious, political or military lens, but fiscal perspectives are much harder to come by. In strong democracies, it is almost considered a given that a legislature helps oversee the budget, and its oversight supports […]

Featured

Pyrrhic Victory? As Iraq rolls back Daesh, can it stay together as a Country?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – From all accounts, most people in Fallujah are very happy about being out from under the murderous and puritanical rule of Daesh (ISIS, ISIL). But Daesh took the city in January of 2014 for a reason. Locals did not put up much of a fight to […]

Iraq

How ISIL is losing al-Anbar Province: Corruption, Reckless Driving, Carelessness w/ Secrets

contributors

Niqash.org | Baghdad | – – “Newsletters sent to Islamic State fighters in Anbar indicate the group’s problems with bad drivers and corruption. It also shows a decentralized command structure that ensures the group’s ongoing survival.” A cache of internal correspondence and newsletters, sent by senior members of the extremist group known as the Islamic […]

Authoritarianism

The rise and fall of Turkey’s progressive opposition

contributors

By Nick Ashdown | ( OpenDemocracy) | – – Turkey’s pro-Kurdish opposition party, the HDP roared into parliament on the back of a rainbow coalition of alienated progressives and minorities. Now, armed conflict is pulling it back into the messy tangle of Kurdish politics. “It started like a forest fire,” said HDP deputy and honorary president Ertuğrul […]

Featured

The end of the Beginning: The Fall of ISIL in Fallujah

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – After Montgomery and his troops defeated the Germans and Italians at El Alamain in northern Egypt in 1942, Winston Churchill was relieved finally to have some good news after a string of defeats. He said, “Now this is not the end. It is not even the […]

Israel/ Palestine

PM: Israeli cut-off of West Bank water supplies in Ramadan ‘inhumane and outrageous’

contributors

Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Prime Minister’s office on Thursday slammed Israel’s decision to cut off water supplies for tens of thousands of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank this week as “inhumane and outrageous.” Rami Hamdallah issued a statement in response to the move by Israel’s national water […]

Israel/ Palestine

In further Move to Far Right, Israel passes Draconian Terrorism Law

contributors

Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A controversial new anti-terrorism law passed the Israeli Knesset on Wednesday, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, which will grant the Israeli state far-reaching powers in cases of suspected “terrorism,” in a move a member of the Joint List called “draconian and unacceptable.” According to Haaretz, the […]