Middle East

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address slighted foreign policy in favor of touting domestic progress and proposing new domestic initiatives. But there were some foreign policy highlights worth underlining. 1. Obama pushed back hard against hawks like Senator John McCain, who want to ramp up a […]

Democracy

Yemenis living “hour to hour” as Houthis take Presidential Palace

contributors

SANA’A (IRIN) – Muneer Asharby nearly didn’t go to work today. It wasn’t until after noon that he finally braved the walk. Even so, he kept half of his hardware shop closed in case he needed to make a fast exit. The day before a mortar shell landed just in front of his shop, in […]

Iran

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Warn Israel Following Strike That Killed General

contributors

By Golnaz Esfandiari | (RFE/RL) — The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) warned on January 20 that Israel should expect “devastating thunderbolts” in response to the January 18 air strike in Syria that killed an IRGC general and several members of the Lebanese Hizballah militia. In a statement posted on Iranian news sites, Major […]

Bashar al-Assad

Israel’s Syria Strike: Is it trying to Help al-Qaeda vs. Hizbullah & Iran?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — There are several questions around the Israeli helicopter gunship strike on Mazari` al-Amal in Syria’s Quneitra Province, which killed Hizbullah personnel and an Iranian general. First, what were the latter doing there? Second, why did Israel strike them? The Israeli cover story, that Hizbullah was planning attacks inside […]

Israel

Israeli PM Netanyahu Campaigns to Discredit, Defund Int’l Criminal Court

Juan Cole

By Alexandra Halaby – (IMEMC & Agencies) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that the ICC announcement by Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to initiate a preliminary investigation into Israel for possible war crimes committed in Gaza was “absurd” and a “perversion of justice.” Mr. Netanyahu went on to say that decision by the ICC was […]

al Qaeda in the Arabian Penisula

It is Failed State in Yemen that permitted al-Qaeda to Train Paris Terrorists

contributors

CCTV America | — “CCTV America’s Susan Roberts interviewed Yemen correspondent for The Times of London Iona Craig about how Yemen has played a role in al-Qaida training and the Charlie Hebdo killings. Craig is an independent journalist and discussed the stability of Yemen, what makes it a hub for al-Qaida and how the West’s […]

Apartheid

We must Support Palestinians’ Decision to Join the Int’l Criminal Court

contributors

By Kenneth Roth | (Human Rights Watch)– Published in: Los Angeles Times The Israel exception to Western governments’ human rights principles has been starkly on display in the reaction to the Palestinian Authority’s decision to join the International Criminal Court. In Washington, Ottawa, Paris and London, as well as Tel Aviv, the response has ranged […]

Apartheid

Gaza: Bringing War-Disabled Palestinian Youth back into Society

contributors

By Khaled Alashqar | (IPS) — Samah Shaheen (right), one of Gaza’s many disabled young people, joined the Irada programme to acquire expertise, learn computerised wood carving and escape social marginalisation. Credit: Khaled Alashqar/IPS GAZA CITY, Jan 17 2015 (IPS) – The Israeli attacks that the Gaza Strip has suffered in recent years have left […]

Iraq

Iraqi Shiites, Fuming over Slow US Fight against ISIL, threaten to Revoke Agreement

contributors

By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) – Four months have passed since the US began to work with an international alliance to confront the threat of the extremist group, the Islamic State, in Iraq. Yet for many locals, there don’t seem to be any obvious results. The Islamic State, or IS, group still has […]