By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | — Al-Zaman (The Times of Baghdad) reports that Iraqi Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi met Tuesday with leaders of the Shiite militias to plan the retaking of Ramadi, a Sunni Arab city about 78 miles due west of Baghdad that fell on Sunday to Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) as the […]
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Middle East
Vatican recognition of saints symbolic victory for Palestinians
By: Charlie Hoyle BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The grounds of the Carmel Convent in Bethlehem, home to blue-shuttered stone buildings on a hilltop facing the Nativity Church, are adorned with the image of Mariam Bawardy, one of two Palestinian nuns canonized by Pope Francis in Rome on Sunday. Tucked away from the traffic-filled streets of central […]
2007: Progress Continues in Ramadi, Mullen Notes During Visit
Just to show Iraq’s ups and downs, here is a celebratory article from the US Department of Defense about the apparent rollback in Ramadi of al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia (the parent organization of Daesh/ ISIS/ ISIL) from 2007 DoD News By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service RAMADI, Iraq, Dec. 19, 2007 – Driving through downtown […]
Why does the Iraqi Army Keep Running Away from ISIL?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Commen) | — Baghdad was shaken by the news that the Iraq army and police in Ramadi ran away from the advancing forces of Daesh (ISIL, ISIS). As a result, good American weaponry again fell into the hands of the extremists. Diya’ al-Wakil, former Iraqi military spokesperson, has the same […]
After fall of Ramadi to ISIL, does Iraq have a future?
By Brian M Downing | (Informed Comment) | – Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, has fallen to forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. ISIL has now reversed a string of defeats since it swept into northern and central Iraq last summer. This will improve the movement’s recruitment and reaffirm its […]
Israel Pushes Negev Bedouin Palestinians into a Corner
By Ari Heistein | (Informed Comment) | – Israel’s latest move to demolish a Bedouin village and replace it with homes for Jewish citizens is no surprise to anyone familiar with the state’s policies in the Negev. Beginning in the 1970s, the State of Israel launched a campaign to push the Negev Bedouin from […]
Who does Jerusalem belong To?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – Far right Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu commemorated Israel’s “Jerusalem Day” with a speech in which he said, “Jerusalem was always the capital of the Jewish people only, and no other,” and warned that Muslim terrorism menaced it. Jerusalem, Daru Shalem, was founded sometime between 6500 and […]
As ISIL takes Ramadi: America’s Hydra Problem in the Middle East
By Inge Fryklund | (Foreign Policy in Focus) | — In the Greek myth, Heracles battles the Hydra — a multi-headed reptilian monster that was terrorizing the Greek countryside. However, every time a head was cut off, two grew in its place, so cutting off one head at a time was an ineffective plan of […]
Illegal Israeli Squatters uproot hundreds of Palestinian olive trees near Hebron
HEBRON (Ma’an) – Israeli settlers destroyed and uprooted hundreds of olive saplings in the Palestinian town of al-Shuyoukh northeast of Hebron in the southern West Bank. Local activist Ahmad al-Halayqa told Ma’an that about 80 acres of land planted with olive saplings had been vandalized by Jewish settlers from nearby illegal settlements and outposts. This […]