Shiites

By Güneş Murat Tezcür, Arizona State University (The Conversation) – In July 2025, clashes between the Druze religious minority and Sunni Arabs backed by government-affiliated forces led to hundreds of deaths in Sweida province in southern Syria. Israel later launched dozens of airstrikes in support of the Druze. This eruption of violence was an eerie […]

Druze

Israel is exploiting the Vacuum left by southern Syria’s sectarian Clashes and a weak State

The Conversation

By Rob Geist Pinfold, King’s College London (The Conversation) – Several days of bitter sectarian fighting in the south of Syria brought the fledgling government in Damascus dangerously close to direct conflict with Israel, after Israeli warplanes launched strikes against government buildings in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on July 16. The United Nations and a […]

Asian-Americans

Zohran Mamdani’s last Name reflects Centuries of intercontinental Trade, Migration and cultural Exchange

The Conversation

By Iqbal Akhtar, Florida International University (The Conversation) – When Zohran Mamdani announced his candidacy for mayor of New York City, political observers noted his progressive platform and legislative record. But understanding the Democratic candidate’s background requires examining the rich cultural tapestry woven into his very surname: Mamdani. He takes the name from his father, […]

Iran

Israel’s Attacks have Exposed Iran’s Weaknesses, but it is in Little Danger of Collapsing

The Conversation

By Farhang Morady, University of Westminster The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said that his country’s campaign in Iran “could certainly” lead to regime change. In an interview with Fox News on June 15, he called the government in Tehran “very weak” and added that, given the opportunity, “80% of the [Iranian] people would […]

Featured

Iraqi Shiites Demand Expulsion of US Troops after Israel Attacks Iran

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli-Iranian War of 2025 has put Iraq in an extremely difficult situation. The country’s Shiite majority sympathizes with Iran and with the Palestinians, and resents Israel’s use of Iraqi airspace to attack their Shiite neighbor. On Sunday the Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Soudani met with Thomas Seiler, the […]

Alawites

Syria: End Coastal Killing Spree, Protect Civilians

Human Rights Watch

Summary Executions, Indiscriminate Shootings, Outrages on Personal Dignity. ( Human Rights Watch – (New York) – Summary executions and other atrocities have taken place in Syria’s coastal region following insurgent attacks on Syrian security forces and during subsequent government security operations, with the Alawite community bearing the brunt of the violence, Human Rights Watch said today. […]

Alawites

Shiite Latakia Falls to new Syrian Government, as Sheikhs call for Reconciliation and Recruits are Pardoned

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Monday, the Levant Liberation Council (Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham/ HTS) guerrilla forces extended their rule to Latakia, Syria’s major port, in the northwest of the country. One Syrian source maintained that there was an uprising of anti-Assad Alawites in Latakia, and that HTS rebels had not entered the city. Other […]

Featured

How Biden inherited the War with an Iraqi Shiite Militia from Bush, Trump and Netanyahu

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The “Party of God Brigades” (Kata’ib Hizbullah) of Iraq struck the Tower 22 US military base in the far north of Jordan on the border with Syria on Sunday, killing three US military personnel and wounding dozens more. The Shiite militia said that it was part of its continued attempt […]

Iran

Muslims and Jews: Remembering Jewish School Days in Pre-Revolutionary Tehran

Nassrine Azimi

( The Chukogu Shimbun ) – HIROSHIMA —The elegant art deco building of Ettefagh, Iran’s famous Jewish school, still stands on a leafy avenue adjacent to Tehran University. Originally established by prominent Iraqis who had settled in Iran following Jewish pogroms and expulsions of the 1940s and early 50s in Iraq, Ettefagh started as a […]