Middle East

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Former Israeli president Shimon Peres, 92, gave an interview with the Associated Press Monday in which he spoke bluntly about the mistakes of prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, without naming him. Of the Greater Israel project of the country’s right wing, which aims at annexing the Palestinian […]

Jabhat al-Nusra

Syria: al-Qaeda, Army of Islam Cage Hostages in Street as Human Shields

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – – (New York) – Syrian armed groups are endangering civilians, including women, and detaining soldiers by placing them in metal cages throughout Eastern Ghouta. The armed groups say they are doing that to deter indiscriminate government attacks on the area. Expand Still from video showing caged civilians in Eastern Ghouta, […]

Iraq War

An American Citizen Apologizes to the Iraqi People

contributors

By Jeffrey Ruoff | (Huffington Post) | – – "In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight road was lost." – Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy Dear Iraqi people, I write to apologize for the illegal 2003 U.S. invasion of your country. Presidential candidate […]

Featured

Al-Zawahiri Calls for al-Qaeda- ISIL Axis against Russia & US

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – al-Hayat [Life] reports that on Sunday, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, called for unity between al-Qaeda and Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) in the face of American, Russian and Shiite forces in Syria. Al-Zawahiri, a mastermind of the September 11 attacks on the US, succeeded Usama Bin Laden when […]

Egypt

Who are the ISIL Fighters in Egypt’s Sinai, claiming to down Plane?

contributors

By Joanna Paraszczuk | ( RFE/RL ) | – – A [so-called] Islamic State [group] (IS) affiliate in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula has claimed that it downed a Russian charter plane that crashed in a mountainous area of the Sinai Peninsula on October 31. Russia’s transport minister has denied the claims. The Airbus A321 — carrying […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israeli Forces shot 2600 Palestinians with live, rubber Bullets in October: Red Crescent

contributors

Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces shot and wounded at least 2,617 Palestinians with live and rubber-coated steel bullets through October, the Palestinian Red Cross said Sunday, as clashes carried on into the new month. A Red Crescent spokesperson told Ma’an that at least 760 Palestinians were shot with live […]

Democracy

Turkey election: Erdoğan and the AKP get majority back amid climate of violence and fear

contributors

By Bahar Baser and Ahmet Erdi Öztürk | (The Conversation) | – – Turkey’s president, Recep Tayip Erdoğan, appears to have strengthened his grip on the country after the Justice and Development Party (AKP) won an outright majority in a snap election just five months after an inconclusive poll. It is a result that will […]

Egypt

Why ISIL is a Vast Exaggeration: & No, it can’t Shoot down Planes

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) in the Sinai Peninsula made a big deal of claiming they shot down a Russian airliner Saturday morning. They did not. The plane was at 30,000 feet when it got into trouble. Anti-aircraft weaponry like Manpads can’t reach those altitudes. This kind of […]

Bashar al-Assad

Regime Market Bombing Kills 100: Don’t Syrian Lives Matter?

contributors

Majed Aboali | (Foreign Policy in Focus) | – – Hospital workers in Syria, barely able to keep up with demand, are desperate to reduce the supply. Their plea: stop the killing. ————————————————————————– Breaking News CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh reports on the aftermath of a missile attack on a market in the Syrian suburb of […]