Uncategorized

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) – Dozens of Palestinian families living in the Bedouin Abu Nuwwar village to the east of Jerusalem will be forced from their land in less than a month, locals told Ma’an on Saturday. Israeli authorities are evacuating the families to clear way for the expansion of the illegal Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, […]

Climate Change

Hawaii goes Green and other Big Renewables Stories

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – The Hawaii legislature has just passed a bill by an overwhelming margin that sets a goal of 100% renewable energy in the state by 2045. The new law requires that the state get a third of its electricity from renewables by 2020, only five years from now. […]

nuclear weapons

Why won’t US, Israel Ratify Nuclear Test Ban Treaty but seek Iran Sanctions?

contributors

By Kanya D’Almeida UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – With the four-week-long review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) underway at the United Nations, hopes and frustrations are running equally high, as a binding political agreement on the biggest threat to humanity hangs in the balance. Gamma spectroscopy can detect traces of radioactivity from nuclear tests […]

African-Americans

We’re all Iraqis now: How Bush’s Wars Militarized Baltimore & Ferguson Police

contributors

By Michael Gould-Wartofsky | (Tomdispatch.com) | – Last week, as Baltimore braced for renewed protests over the death of Freddie Gray, the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) prepared for battle. With state-of-the-art surveillance of local teenagers’ Twitter feeds, law enforcement had learned that a group of high school students was planning to march on the Mondawmin […]

Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s Endless War: Between the US, Taliban and ISIL

contributors

By Brian M. Downing | (Informed Comment) | – War is largely a seasonal activity in Afghanistan. Winters are harsh and fighters need to work fields and tend herds. With spring, another fighting season is underway. This year will be different from its many predecessors. US ground troops are no longer engaged in large numbers; […]

Israel

Black Lives Matter in Israel too: Protest against police violence

contributors

By Lauren McCauley, staff writer | (Commondreams.org) | — Several thousand people, mostly hailing from Israel’s large Ethiopian population, took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Sunday to protest racism and police brutality against ethnic minorities. According to reports, marchers blocked highway traffic chanting and bearing signs which read: “A violent policeman must be […]

BDS Occupied Territories

The One-State Conundrum: The Everyday Politics of Confinement in Palestine

contributors

By Sandy Tolan | (Tomdispatch) | – The SUV slows as it approaches a military kiosk at a break in a dull gray wall. Inside, Ramzi Aburedwan, a Palestinian musician, prepares his documents for the Israeli soldier standing guard. On the other side of this West Bank military checkpoint lies the young man’s destination, the […]

Africa

Global Connections: World History as Social History – a New Synthesis

Juan Cole

I and colleagues have just brought out a world history. Because of the fine and exciting writing of my co-authors, it is more than just a textbook. My readers often ask me about history books – here’s one I can recommend. By John Coatsworth, Juan Cole, Michael Hanagan, Peter C. Perdue, Charles Tilly, and Louise […]

Acidification of Oceans

If Climate Change ends Capitalism, what good are Climate Economists?

contributors

By David Ray Griffin | (Informed Comment) – Since the 1970s, when he essentially founded the economics of climate change, William Nordhaus had been considered its preeminent authority. According to a fellow economist, the optimal economic policy had for decades been simply “what Bill Nordhaus said." This view had been unquestioned, said a 2013 article, […]