Middle East

Dawn Chatty | (OpenDemocracy) | – – “As the war is prolonged, families are exhausting their savings. Without a massive re-thinking of how aid is delivered and distributed, refugees in the region are going to look for ways to leave.” As I write, Russian air bombardment in Syria is pushing even greater numbers of middle […]

Russia

Boycotts as Russia seethes against Turkey after Shootdown

contributors

By Tom Balmforth | ( RFE/RL) | – – MOSCOW — Vladimir Putin said there would be “serious consequences” after Turkish fighter jets shot down a Russian warplane on November 24. True to the Russian president’s word, Moscow has issued a slew of retaliatory measures and proposals following the incident along the Syrian-Turkish border. The […]

Israel/ Palestine

Jewish-Only Cities to Evict Thousands of Palestinians

contributors

By IMEMC News | – – Thousands of Palestinians will be displaced as part of a new Israeli plan to build several Jewish-only communities in the Negev region, in south of the Israeli territory, which will be built on top of Bedouin Palestinian villages, civil rights groups said Wednesday. “This is part of an ongoing […]

al-Qaeda

Why did Turkey dare shoot down a Russian Plane? The Proxy War in Syria

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Turkish government decision to down a Russian jet operating in the north of the Syrian province of Latakia is breathtaking in its boldness. Russia may no longer be a superpower, but it is a nuclear-armed great power. The newly elected Justice and Development Party (AKP) […]

Bashar al-Assad

Can France forge a grand alliance against ISIL that includes Putin & Obama?

contributors

Shelby Holliday | (WSJ Video Report) | – – “In the wake of the Paris attacks, French President Francois Hollande is traveling to Washington and Moscow to build support for a new “grand coalition” to defeat Islamic State. As WSJ’s Shelby Holliday reports, disagreement over the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could stand in […]

Russia

Putin, Furious, calls Turkey ‘accomplices of terrorists’ after Russian jet downing

contributors

EurActiv.com | – – Russian President Vladimir Putin called Turkey’s downing of a Russian fighter jet today (24 November) a stab in the back administered by “the accomplices of terrorists,” saying the incident would have serious consequences. Speaking in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday before a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah, […]

censorship

Saudi Arabia: Poet Sentenced to Death for Apostasy

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – – (Beirut) – A Saudi court sentenced a Palestinian man to death for apostasy on November 17, 2015, for alleged blasphemous statements during a discussion group and in a book of his poetry. The accused, Ashraf Fayadh, 35, denies the charges and claims that another man made false accusations to […]

Bashar al-Assad

From Putin To Khamenei: A Koran Copy With Its Own History

Juan Cole

By RFE/RL | – – It may not be the original version of the first . . . edition of the Koran, dating back 1,500 years, but it’s still quite a book. In a meeting heavily publicized by Russian media, President Vladimir Putin on November 23 gave Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei one of the […]

Iraq

Pushing back against ISIL/ Daesh: How the Kurds Reclaimed Sinjar

contributors

VICE News | (Video report) | – – “Islamic State (IS) fighters swept into the Iraqi city of Sinjar in August 2014, forcing Kurdish peshmerga forces to retreat. The city, primarily made up of Yazidis, a religious minority with roots going back thousands of years in the region, was soon overran with IS militants. They […]