Middle East

By Deirdre Fulton, staff writer | Commondreams.org ) – – “I’ve never seen Celsius temps like these on a weather map before,” climate scientist Michael Mann said on Twitter. Thermometers in Kuwait and Iraq reached record-shattering temperatures this week, with Weather Underground reporting that the measurements could be the hottest ever seen in the Eastern […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israeli squatters fire on, threaten Palestinians on their private land

Juan Cole

Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli settlers verbally attacked Palestinian residents of the town of al-Khader in the southern occupied West Bank on Saturday, threatening them with a gun as the Palestinians were working in their land, which is situated in the Bethlehem district between the illegal Israeli settlements of Neve […]

Featured

Is Russia deepening Cooperation with US in Syria, or hitting US Bases?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – About a week ago, Russian warplanes bombed a Syrian base used by the US and the UK. The Wall Street Journal suggested that Russia was attempting to herd Washington into a closer military cooperation. At the same time, the Arabic press commented on on a Washington […]

Iraq

Will Iraq’s next Government be . . . Iran-backed Shiite Militias?

contributors

By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | – – The [so-called] Islamic State [IS] group has caused a realignment of Iraq’s political map. Next year’s provincial elections will signal who will rule the land after the security crisis has passed – and it may not be to everyone’s liking. In April 2017 Iraq will […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israeli Army Uproots Olive Trees in Salfit, “Settlers Only” Road to be Opened

contributors

IMEMC | – – Israeli soldiers, on Wednesday, uprooted olive trees in the village of Deir Istiya, Salfit governorate, under the pretext of opening a road designated for the sole use of people residing in illegal West Bank settlements. Head of Deir Istiya council, Sa’id Zaidan, informed WAFA correspondence that Israeli forces have begun uprooting […]

Authoritarianism

Purge of teachers and academics bulldozes through Turkish education

contributors

By Moritz Pieper | (The Conversation) | – – As news of the attempted military coup in Turkey unfolded, I was in Pennsylvania. Travelling in the US, I had coincidentally found myself in the home state of Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, who Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has singled out as the mastermind of the […]

Egypt

Arab nationalist press Reacts to Erdogan’s Crackdown with cries of “Dictator!”

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s firing of some 50,000 people, including educators, bureaucrats, police and military personnel, in the wake of the failed July 15 coup against him, provoked sharp criticism in Egypt, Jordan and other Arab countries that have an adversarial attitude toward the Religious Right […]

Free Syrian Army

US to ‘Reconsider’ Backing for Syrian Rebels After Boy Beheaded

contributors

TeleSur | – – The killers claim to be fighters om a rebel group that has received both financial and arms support from the United States and allies. A disturbing video circulating online shows an alleged group of U.S.-backed Syrian rebels beheading a Palestinian boy who they accused of being a fighter loyal to President […]