Middle East

(By Juan Cole) Binyamin Netanyahu is again beating the “Israel is a Jewish state” drum, and now wants to have it legislated into Israeli organic law. On Sunday, Netanyahu said, “There are those who do not want Israel to be defined as the national homeland for the Jewish people…” “They want a Palestinian national homeland […]

Climate Change

Egypt going Big Into Solar Energy, Announces $1 Billion Investment

Juan Cole

The new Egyptian government apparently sees solar energy as being a key part of the country’s future, based on recent comments made by its Local and Administrative Development Minister Adel Labib. At the recent inauguration of a conference organized…

Human Rights

Boycott, divestment, sanctions movement seeks justice for Palestinians

Juan Cole

(By Marilyn Jerry) Opinion: Boycott, divestment, sanctions movement seeks justice for Palestinians (via NJ.com) By Marilyn Jerry With the collapse of Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts to promote a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, many are asking, “What now?” Given the number of times such talks have failed, it doesn’t seem likely… […]

Climate Change

The Ukraine Crisis and Qatar’s Ascendancy should Make us think Big Solar, not Gas

Juan Cole

Originally published on SolarWakeup.By Yann Brandt Solar may be a small portion of energy production globally but the importance in geo-politics continues to grow. All energy usage may be local, when a homeowner plugs in their cell phone charge into…

Bush

Condoleezza Rice, Charged with War Crimes at Rutgers, withdraws as Commencement Speaker

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Condoleezza Rice on Saturday pulled out of giving the commencement address at Rutgers University after professor and student protests. Rutgers historian Professor Rudy Bell argued that while it would be appropriate to have Rice on campus as part of an academic debate, she is unsuitable as a commencement speaker because of her […]

Israel

US calls Israeli Squatter attacks on Palestinians ‘Terrorism’; Israel says ‘only vandalism’

Juan Cole

(Via AFP) Israel police challenge US ‘terror’ findings (via AFP) Israeli police on Thursday challenged Washington’s inclusion of Jewish extremist attacks on Palestinians in a global terror report, saying such incidents could not be likened to militant attacks. For the first time, the State Department’s 2013 Country… ——– Press TV: “US report sees Israeli […]

Dissent

The Cost of Repression: Turkey on May Day

Juan Cole

(By Emma Sinclair-Webb @esinclairwebb ) With a reported 39,000 police officers and 50 water cannon vehicles, plentiful supplies of teargas, and a complete shutdown of the public transport system in the city, the Turkish government succeeded once again in banning the celebration of May 1 in Istanbul’s Taksim Square. With streets leading to the […]

Israel

It’s Not about Hamas: Decrying Palestinian Unity

Juan Cole

(By Gregory Harms) Aside from the occasional cross-border violence between Gaza and Israel, Hamas, which governs the coastal strip, has received little attention in the press over the last few years. Because of their recent agreement with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas’s government in the West Bank, the subject is receiving increased treatment. The story, however, […]

Bush

Top 10 Attacks on US Embassies in Republican Administrations that Lindsey Graham doesn’t Care about

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) The Republicans in Congress keep beating the dead horse of Benghazi. Now they have sprung a briefing memo for Susan Rice, based on CIA talking points. I shows that the briefing hewed to the CIA line of the time, which was that the Benghazi disturbances were copy cats of those in Cairo, […]