Middle East

Lincoln, NE (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Long before Israeli leaders invoked biblical rhetoric to justify the “erasure” of a Palestinian homeland, another colonizing people sought to remake a land in the image of their God. In July 1847, Brigham Young declared the American Great Basin “the place” God had set apart to “make” […]

censorship

Syria: One Year since Assad’s Fall

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Syrian transitional authorities have taken positive steps on justice, transparency, and rights but failed to prevent continued violence and atrocities, Human Rights Watch said today on the anniversary of the former government’s fall. As Syrian authorities move the country forward, they should, with international support, credibly address outstanding concerns around […]

Israel/ Palestine

One way Zohran Mamdani could arrest Indicted War Criminal Benjamin Netanyahu

Middle East Monitor

by Dr Mohammad Yousef ( Middle East Monitor ) – New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has repeatedly stated that he would instruct the NYPD to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he set foot in New York, citing the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against him. Netanyahu is wanted by the ICC […]

Climate Crisis

Rate of Global Heating in the Arab World is Twice the Global Average

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The World Meteorological Organization has issued its annual report on the 22 countries of the Arab world, covering last year, and presents alarming conclusions about human-driven climate change in that region. 2024 was the hottest year on record in the Middle East, around 1º Celsius (1.8º F.) hotter than the […]

Corruption

At Trump’s Prompting, Israel’s Netanyahu seeks a Pardon, But Israeli Law may not Work that Way

The Conversation

By John Strawson, University of East London (The Conversation) – The interesting thing about Benjamin Netanyahu’s call on Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, to pardon him for charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, is that he has not been found guilty on any of them. The trial is made up of three separate but […]

European Union

Several Countries to Boycott Eurovision Singing Contest over Israeli Participation

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The European Broadcasting Union declined o have a vote on whether Israel should be allowed to participate in next year’s Eurovision singing contest. Several European countries had argued that the country’s genocidal behavior in Gaza was grounds for excluding it from the competition. Russia used to participate in Eurovision, as […]

Arab Spring

Great Powers and the People: The Divergent Paths of the Egyptian and Syrian Revolutions

Mehmet Rakipoglu

Exeter, UK (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – The Arab revolutionary wave that began in 2011 presents two of its most significant, yet fundamentally divergent, case studies: Egypt and Syria. While both nations experienced the overthrow of long-standing authoritarian regimes, the mechanisms, actors, and ultimate outcomes of their revolutions differed significantly. A comparative analysis reveals […]

Israel/ Palestine

A Ceasefire in Name Only: Gaza’s Prolonged Purgatory

Middle East Monitor

by Dr Binoy Kampmark ( Middle East Monitor ) – A ceasefire can be a strange thing. The assumption, generally speaking, is that the parties to it restrain themselves for a period of time, ordering their forces and disciplining their charges from straying. But straying happens, transgressions inevitable. Some are genuine enough: silly […]

Dominionism

Cracks in the MAGA – Likud Collusion to Hasten End Times Reality

H. Scott Prosterman

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – It looks like the perverse romance between MAGA and Israel’s Likud Party is becoming frayed at the edges. Despite the long-standing, anti-Semitic undercurrents in American conservatism, the Republican Party has been a staunch supporter of Israel at least since the 1967 War. The far right Likud Party […]