Month

Archives: December 2013

Turkey hopeful of ties with EU during Greek presidency

The Turkish government believes that ties with the EU could be further boosted during the rotating presidency of Greece and Italy in 2014

Dubai Fireworks for New Year 2014

(By Juan Cole) Dubai Fireworks spectacular for New Year at Burj Khalifa (2 million gather): Dubai will be the site of the 2020 world expo which will help it further emerge as…

Iraq Gov’t Collapsing as 44 Sunni MPs Withdraw from Parliament

(By AFP) Clashes kill 10 as Iraq forces clear Sunni protest camp (via AFP) Iraqi forces killed 10 gunmen Monday in clashes that erupted as they cleared a year-old Sunni Arab protest…

A Delegation of Congressional Christian Zionists to Israel

(By Shalom Goldman) Shalom Goldman Just before Christmas, GOP Reps. Michele Bachmann (Minn.), Steve King (Iowa) and Louie Gohmert (Texas) wrapped up a largely secretive week-long congressional delegation or CODEL trip that…

17% of Americans Support Afghanistan War: CNN (Video of the Day)

(By Juan Cole) A CNN/ ORC International poll has found that only 17% of Americans support the war in Afghanistan. That is down from 52% in 2008. 82% of Americans are against…

Top Ten Middle East Stories 2013: How the Region has Changed

Israeli Public favors Teaching Peace, Palestinian Narrative in Schools

(By Commondreams.org Staff reporters) A new survey out Wednesday found that, contrary to the actions of their political leaders, the majority of the Israeli public favors teaching peace in schools and believes…

Israel plans 1400 New Squatter Homes in Palestinian West Bank

(AFP reports) Israel plans new settler homes while freeing Palestinians (via AFP) Israel will reveal plans to build 1,400 settler homes in the West Bank and in east Jerusalem to coincide with…

Assange warns of Information Apartheid & Encompassing State: “This is the Last Free Generation”

(By Juan Cole) Wired notes that Wikileaks activist Julian Assange addressed the Chaos Communication Congress by Skype Sunday. Assange said, “This is the last free generation... The coming together of the systems…

It’s going to get bad fast between Israel and the US

Pressuring Israel through the framework agreement is just what a weakened Obama needs to regain the adulation of his supporters

Iraqi Troops sent by Shiite PM al-Maliki arrest Sunni Parliamentarian, kill his Brother

(AFP reports) also at the Jordan Times Iraq forces arrest Sunni MP, kill brother and guards (via AFP) Iraqi security forces on Saturday raided the home of a Sunni MP who backs…

The Year in Review: JibJab on 2013

JibJab's 2013 Year in Review (To the tune of "Give my Regards to Broadway!")

Egypt’s Veiled Rapper Speaks out about Women’s Issues (Video of the Day)

The BBC reports: "Mayam Mahmoud is Egypt's first rapper who wears a hijab. The 18-year-old recently made it to the semi-finals of the talent show Arab's Got Talent and spoke to the…

“Terrorism” tag is tool of Political Repression in Egypt

(By Human Rights Watch) (New York) – The Egyptian government’s designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization appears to be aimed at expanding the crackdown on peaceful Brotherhood activities and…

Benghazi Consular attack was Local, not al-Qaeda: NYT Correspondent Demolishes GOP Talking Points

(By Juan Cole) David D. Kirkpatrick at the New York Times has settled the controversy over events in Benghazi on September 11, 2012, by actually going to Benghazi and digging into the…

Beirut Teen who took Selfie moments before Carbomb exploded dies of Injuries

(AFP reports) Teen in Beirut bombing 'selfie' dies (via AFP) A Lebanese teenager seen posing for a group "selfie" in front of a bomb-laden car moments before it exploded in the capital…

SNL: Anti-Depressant for Obama (Video of the Day)

Saturday Night Live commercial parody with Jay Pharoah on the anti-depressant Obama needs after the year he had in 2013.

EPA finally catches a Fracking polluter in the Act, levies Largest ever Civil Penalties

(By Tina Casey) US EPA Nails Fracker With Record Fine (via Clean Technica) The woes just keep piling up for Chesapeake Energy. The company is front and center in the nation’s natural…

Ethiopia aims to become Africa’s Green Energy Giant

Ethiopia intends to increase its power generation from 2000 megawatts to 10,000 MW. That goal is not unusual for a developing country. What is distinctive is that its government wants to achieve…

Syria spills over on Lebanon: Beirut Bombing Kills Sunni Critic of Syria’s al-Assad

(By Juan Cole) Respected Lebanese politician and former ambassador to the United States, Muhammad Shatah, was assassinated by a massive car bomb near the parliament building on Friday. He was on his…

The mother of all wars

What has happened in Turkey in the past 10 days is just mind-boggling.

EU welcomes annulation of controversial regulation lifting investigation secrecy

European Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Füle welcomed the annulation of the bill obliging those carrying out investigations to inform superiors

EU warns Israel of backlash for settlement building

Unnamed diplomat tells Israeli TV that European governments would have little sympathy for construction announcements during talks

The other Victim of Israeli settler vigilantism is Israeli Society Itself

(By Shirin Rubin) Israeli society will pay the 'price' for settler vigilantism, rights group warns (via The Christian Science Monitor) When Ahmad Milhem heard earlier this month that Jewish extremists had scrawled…

Increasingly, all Roads run through Iran (Damascus, Baghdad, Asia)

(By Marianna Charountaki) "While Iran’s importance for regional politics was always there, it has only now become apparent, especially for the foreign policies of international players, writes Dr. Marianna Charountaki." In the…

Locusts & Climate Change Plague Yemen on top of al-Qaeda, Drones, Huthis (Video of the Day)

Yemen has suffered flash floods and unusual amounts of rainfall recently. These phenomena are not new, but they may be increasing because of climate change, which increases water vapor in the atmosphere.…

Yezidi Kurdish Family in Syria, 1899 (Photo of the Day)

A Kurdish Yezidi Family of the Mount Simeon district of northern Syria, at a village near Aleppo, circa 1899 (From Gertrude Bell, Syria: The Desert and the Sown, 1908) The Kurdish population…

US Arms Shiite Iraqi Gov’t to Kill Sunni Rebels, Arms Syrian Sunni Rebels to overthrow Shiite Gov’t

(By Juan Cole) It can only be called an Escherian Mobius Strip foreign policy. The Obama administration is sending hellfire missiles and surveillance drones to the Shiite Islamic Mission Party-dominated government of…

Israel Plans New Settlement Push Despite Threat to Peace Talks

Israel plans to announce a push for more construction in Jewish settlements when it frees two dozen Palestinian prisoners next week, an Israeli official said on Wednesday, in a move that could…

Calls for Turkey PM to resign as 3 scandal-ridden ministers quit, forcing new Cabinet

(By Fulya Ozerkan and Dilay Gundogan) Turkey PM reshuffles cabinet amid graft scandal (via AFP) Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan replaced nearly half his cabinet in a dramatic reshuffle late Wednesday…

Freed Pussy Riot Band Members call for ‘Russia without Putin’ (Video of the Day)

Channel 4 News reports: On this occasion of their release, it is worthwhile reprinting excerpts from the translation of an interview by Elena Masyuk with Maria "Masha" Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova from…

Snowden’s Christmas Message on Privacy: Does NSA threaten 9th, 14th Amendments, ‘Inviolate Personality’?

(By Juan Cole) Edward Snowden's Christmas address, carried by the British Channel 4, concentrated on the disappearance of privacy. He said that a child born today might "never know what it means…

Egyptian Junta designates Muslim Brotherhood as “Terrorist Organization” in Attempt to Crush Dissent

(By Juan Cole) In Egypt, the interim appointed government of Prime Minister Hazem Biblawi, backed by the military junta that made the coup of July 3, on Wednesday formally categorized the Muslim…

Benjamin Netanyahu's 'Jewish' Christmas Message Gaffe

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered his holiday blessings to the Christian citizens of Israel on Tuesday, in which he stressed the importance of the community’s contribution to the Israel Defense Forces –…

Wounded by Apartheid Wall, Occupied Bethlehem Hopes for Pilgrimage Revival

(Agence France Presse) Bethlehem eyes tourist boom after dark decade (via AFP) After a decade of unrest, Bethlehem has seen a surge in visits to Christ's traditional birthplace, raising hopes of a…

Assyrian Christian Revival in Turkey

(By Alexander Christie-Miller) The Christian Science Monitor recently reported on an Assyrian Christian revival in southeastern Turkey, fueled by a burgeoning Turkish economy and more tolerant laws enacted by Prime Minister Tayyip…

The Flight to Egypt – Coptic Artwork (Picture of the Day)

h/t osjusa.org Attributed to the Coptic Museum, Cairo, Egypt Coptic Christians probably came to predominate in Egypt by the 600s when Muslim Arabs conquered it. As late as 1200, some historians think…

Birth of Hope: Top Ten Solar Energy Stories 2013

(By Juan Cole) The story of a doomed race who need to be saved by a messiah is on people's minds today. It functions at a spiritual level. There is an analogous…

Damascus’s Other Battle: Regime Cyberwar on the Opposition

(By Dave Maass) Social Engineering and Malware in Syria: EFF and Citizen Lab’s Latest Report on the Digital Battlefield (via EFF) More than two years into the Syrian conflict, the violence continues…

Climate Denialists Spending Billions in untraceable Dark Money to fool the Public

(By Lauren McCauley) The expansive misinformation campaign behind climate change denial is increasingly being funded in the dark, reveals a new report published Friday in the journal Climatic ChangeAccording to the study…

Chief Rabbi of Yazd, Iran, 1903 (Photo of the Day)

The Chief Rabbi of Yazd, Iran, in the center Iran's population in 1900 was around 10 million. There were roughly 100,000 Jews in Iran at that time. Lord Curzon wrote in the…

The Iraqization of Egypt: Two Large Bombs Rock Security Bldg in Mansoura, kill 14, wound 130

(By Juan Cole) Two large explosions at the state security building in downtown Mansoura, Dahqaliya Province, killed at least 14 persons and wounded 130 on Monday, reducing some of the edifice to…

War Crime: Syrian Regime Killed Hundreds of Civilians, including Children, with Airstrikes on Aleppo

(By Ole Solvang, senior emergencies researcher, Human Rights Watch) < Dozens of government airstrikes that have killed hundreds of civilians, including children, in Aleppo governorate in the last month were unlawful. After…

From Tahrir to New Orleans: Hope has not Failed, it has only Begun

(By Rebecca Solnit) Hope, History, and UnpredictabilityBy Rebecca Solnit North American cicada nymphs live underground for 17 years before they emerge as adults. Many seeds stay dormant far longer than that before…

A Christian Bride of Mosul, Iraq, 1903 (Photo of the Day)

Caption: A Mosul Bride: The girl in the centre of the picture is a Christian bride decked out in her wedding costume. The gold coins, necklaces, and girdle are her dowry. From…

Coleridge, Kubla Khan (Poem of the Day)

(By Samuel Taylor Coleridge) Kubla Khan Or, a vision in a dream. A Fragment. In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless…

The End of the Turkish Model? Erdogan’s Paranoia and Authoritarian Streak Threaten his Legacy

(By Juan Cole) Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is sounding more and more hysterical, and less and less like a statesman as 2013 ends. If you thought Barack Obama had a tough…

Top Five Differences between Duck Dynasty’s and Miley Cyrus

Top Five Differences between Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson and Miley Cyrus

(By Juan Cole) Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal last week defended Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson and slammed pop diva Miley Cyrus. He said, “The politically correct crowd is tolerant of all viewpoints,…

Top US academic association decries Israel boycott

Association of American Universities releases statement saying measure ‘clearly violates’ academic freedom

FDL Book Salon on Andrew Bacevich, Breach of Trust: How Americans Failed Their Soldiers and Their Country

Hosting Book Salon at Firedoglake: FDL Book Salon Welcomes Andrew J. Bacevich, Breach of Trust: How Americans Failed Their Soldiers and Their Country Author: Juan Cole Sunday, December 22, 2013 12:15 pm…

Gov’t lost its legitimacy: Turkey's main opposition leader

Turkey’s main opposition leader has raised the pressure on the government over the massive graft probe

Egypt Military Junta Sentences 2011 Revolutionaries to 3 Years Hard Labor

Egypt court jails anti-Mubarak activists for 3 years (via AFP) An Egyptian court on Sunday sentenced three activists who spearheaded the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak to three years in jail for…

Obama warns South Sudan against Coup as US Plane comes under Fire

Obama warns S. Sudan against military coup (via AFP) President Barack Obama warned South Sudan on Saturday that Washington and its allies would cut aid to the country over any attempted military…

SNL: Not only is Santa Black, but one of his Reindeers is Gay

Kenan Thompson and Cecily Strong make fun of Fox News' Megyn Kelly and her silly insistence that "Santa Clause is white." (See also IC's take on the controversy).

Walt Whitman’s “Salut au Monde” (Poem of the Day)

(By Walt Whitman) "Salut au Monde" [Greeting to the World: from Leaves of Grass, 1856] 1 O TAKE my hand, Walt Whitman! Such gliding wonders! such sights and sounds! Such join’d unended…

Iranian-Armenian Nurse taking an X-Ray in Isfahan, 1900 (Photo of the Day)

(By Juan Cole) This amazing photograph probably dates to 1900. Taken in at the Christian Mission Society hospital in Julfa, the Armenian neighborhood of Isfahan, it shows a nurse taking an x-ray…

NSA bribed Encryption Companies to Install Back Doors: Was the Law Broken? Did Obama Know?

(By Juan Cole) Reuters gets the scoop: the National Security Agency gave internet security firm RSA some $10 million to use an NSA encryption formula in its BSafe software. RSA is now…

Real-Life “Gravity:” Space Repair Walk and NASA’s Breakthroughs 2013

CBS reports on today's space walk by astronauts to repair the cooling system at the International Space Station: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration reports on its achievements and breakthroughs in space…

How many American Weddings would have to get hit by Drones before they were Banned?

(By Tom Engelhardt) The headline -- “Bride and Boom!” -- was spectacular, if you think killing people in distant lands is a blast and a half. Of course, you have to imagine…

Video of the Day: Fox News wishes you ‘Happy Holidays’ (War on Christmas Fail)

Cenk Uygur of Young Turks reports on Fox Cable News' hypocrisy in hyping a mythical "war on Christmas" that allegedly involves forbidding the phrase "Merry Christmas," and then turning around and using…

Sufi Center in Hama, Syria, c. 1900 (Photo of the Day)

(From Gertrude Bell, Syria: The Desert and the Sown, 1908) Hama is a small, mainly Sunni Arab city in the center-west of Syria famed for its water wheels. For Syrian Sufi orders…

Obama will Veto new Iran Sanctions, Israel War Mandate pushed by AIPAC Senators

(By Juan Cole) In his end-of-the-year press conference, President Obama had to defend his Iran negotiations in the face of a revolt within his own party. Thirteen Democratic senators and thirteen Republican…

Erdogan expected to bounce back from corruption probe blow

Turkish prime minister has been hurt by arrests of people close to him – and his government's response – but his presidential prospects are still strong

Europe Lawmakers Push Back on Circumcision

Encouraged by Israeli diplomats, parliamentarians from the Council of Europe have submitted a motion opposing an earlier resolution condemning ritual circumcision of boys. Click here for the rest of the article...

American Public: Invasion of Afghanistan a Mistake, Speed up Withdrawal

(By Sarah Lazare) More than twelve years after the initial invasion, U.S. public opinion of the so-called Good War in Afghanistan appears to be souring.A clear majority of people in the U.S.…

UN: A Million Palestinians will Need Food aid in Israel-blockaded Gaza Next Year

PressTv reports, "The UN says nearly a million Palestinians are expected to need food aid in the Gaza Strip next year" Their blurb: "About 800-thousand Palestinian refugees are currently receiving food aid…

Four Syrian Bedouin Women, c. 1890 (Photo of the Day)

Photo of the Day: Four Syrian Bedouin women in the late 19th century. Mirrored from Al-Mashriq Syria in 1900 had a population of a little less than 3 million (not counting what…

Scotland is going 100% Green by 2020; shame on Dirty America

(By Juan Cole) Glasgow is the city of the future, not Phoenix. Scotland has a population of about 5.3 million, a little more than the US state of Arizona. But the resemblance…

Congress cuts Food Stamps, maintains Estate Tax Loophole worth $100 bn to the Rich

(By Juan Cole) You know how the Tea Party House of Representatives obsessed with cutting food stamps to working families and veterans and children this fall? They were trying to save $4…

Real Time Earth Wind Map

Real Time Earth Wind Map from Earth Nullschool.net h/t Treehugger

Taiwanese Animators Explain to Obama the Unconstitutionality of NSA Spying (Video)

"NSA data mining program probably unconstitutional, judge says" (Taiwanese Animators)

How to get an Iran Nuclear deal: Top 7 Confidence-Building Steps

(By Bijan Khajehpour, Reza Marashi and Trita Parsi) [Excerpts from a new report from the National Iranian American Council:] Upon assuming the presidency in January 2009, Barack Obama told the world that…

Is Edward Snowden a modern Martin Luther?

(By J.M. Porup) Quiz time, people. Identify the following: A powerful church that has betrayed its founding principles. A secretive priesthood that knows all your sins. An empire that anoints princes. But…

India Flap derives from America’s Gulag Practices and Far-Right Supreme Court

(By Juan Cole) The militarization of American police and humiliating practices of routine strip and cavity searches are the real culprits in the current diplomatic dispute between the United States and India.…

Colbert: NSA Spying on Online Games to Prevent non-existent Virtual Terrorism

Stephen Colbert reports on NSA spying on online games. He notes that covert NSA analysts may be a majority in some virtual hang-outs and had to institute protocols so that they did…

The Sixth Mass Extinction: Why Climate Scientists’ Hair is on Fire

(By Dahr Jamail) I grew up planning for my future, wondering which college I would attend, what to study, and later on, where to work, which articles to write, what my next…

Saudi Internet Activists face Crackdown

(By Human Rights Watch) (Beirut) – Activists in Saudi Arabia face a repressive and intolerant government as they advocate popular political participation, judicial reform, and an end to discrimination against women and…

Top Ten Ominous Signs about Last Month being the Hottest November on Record

(By Juan Cole) The The National Climatic Data Center of the National Oceanic and Aeronautics Administration has announced that if you take the average land surface temperature and the average sea surface…

“60 Minutes” does Infomercial for NSA with Security Official posing as Journalist

(By Techdirt) CBS Airs NSA Propaganda Informercial Masquerading As 'Hard Hitting' 60 Minutes Journalism By Reporter With Massive Conflict Of Interest (via Techdirt) Last night I started seeing a bunch of folks…

842,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon (pop.: 4.4 mn) as UN Calls for $6 bn Aid

(By Agence France Presse) One in five Lebanon residents Syria refugees: UN (via AFP) One of five people living in Lebanon are refugees who have fled the conflict in neighbouring Syria, the…

American Studies Association to Boycott Israeli Institutions in Historic Vote

(By Sarah Lazare) An association of 5,000 academics on Monday became the largest U.S. scholarly organization ever to join the boycott of Israeli academic institutions.The American Studies Association, which calls itself "the…

Federal Judge to NSA: What you did to Verizon Customers was Unconstitutional

(By Juan Cole) Judge Richard Leon of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled Monday that the bulk collection by the National Security Agency of cell phone data…

Syrian Christians Menaced by Extremist Sunnis, Slam Lack of Lebanese Support

Layal Abu Rahhal reported in Arabic from Beirut for al-Sharq al-Awsat [The Middle East] on the dilemmas of Syrian Christians and their Lebanese neighbors, Dec. 13, 2013. This is my paraphrase, influenced…

Photo of the Day: Pyramids in Giza at Sunset

h/t Ahl Misr Zaman

How Peter O’Toole Saved the Arabs (According to David Lean)

(By Juan Cole) The late Peter O'Toole played T.E. Lawrence in David Lean's 1963 "Lawrence of Arabia" with genius and abandon. All of us in my generation who went into Middle East…

Dozens Killed by Regime Barrel Bombs in Aleppo, half of them Children

The Lebanese newspaper al-Nahar reports that the Syrian air force bombed Aleppo on Sunday with makeshift barrel bombs, killed at least 36 persons, including 15 children. They targeted neighborhoods controlled by rebels…

Saudi activist sentenced to 300 lashes, 4 yrs in jail after calling for constitutional monarchy

A Saudi Arabian political activist was sentenced to four years in prison, 300 lashes, and a travel ban after calling for a constitutional monarchy. He is the fourth member of the Saudi…

Tunisia Holocaust Conference Honors 5,000 Forced Into Labor Camps, Deportees

A conference commemorating the effects of the Holocaust on Tunisian Jews is being held in Tunis. Click here for the rest of the article...

Is our Media Screwing us on Climate the Way it Did on Iraq?

Like The Iraq War, Media Fails To Report On Climate Change Accurately (via Clean Technica) Originally published on Skeptical Science. By Stephan Lewandowsky. “Iraq is developing a long-range ballistic missile system that…

The 1% is Hogging so much of our Income that it’s Holding the Economy Back

(By Anthony W. Orlando) Over the past few years, I have encountered a lot of myths about the so-called “One Percent.” Now that my book Letter to the One Percent has been…

Why are Christian Militias never “Christian Extremists”?

(By Juan Cole) The dramatic events in the Central African Republic no doubt seem distant and complex for a North American audience. CAR is geographically as large as France, but with a…

Gaza: 5000 Palestinians evacuated from Flooded Homes, Israeli Blockade Hampers Rescue

(By Juan Cole) Several days of unseasonably cold weather and torrential rains have increased the misery in the already miserable Gaza Strip, where 1.7 million Palestinians are besieged and blockaded by the…

“Hallelujah” cover by Tunisian Folk Singer Emel Mathlouthi

Emel Mathlouthi covers Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" Mathlouthi has been an important voice of the ongoing Tunisian political upheavals provoked by leftist youth activism.

Is the Drought in the US Southwest becoming Permanent?

(By Bobby Magill) Is the West’s Dry Spell Really a Megadrought? (via Climate Central) By Bobby Magill Follow @bobbymagill SAN FRANCISCO — The drought that has been afflicting most of the Western states…

Indian Gays Shocked by Supreme Court Ruling upholding Colonial Sodomy Laws

(By Boris Dittrich) The day after International Human Rights Day, India’s Supreme Court published its ruling on whether the country’s sodomy law, which had been overturned by the Delhi High Court and…

Syrian Refugees’ Misery deepened by Snow Storm as Europe Shuts Doors

World Bulletin writes: "... the worst of winter is yet to come for 2.2 million refugees living outside Syria and millions more displaced inside the country. A storm named Alexa is sweeping…

The Enigma of Israel and Solar Energy

(By Juan Cole) Israel ought to be a pioneer in solar energy. It is mostly sunny and the amount of energy it could realize from solar panels is enormous. It has a…

End of the road for Hrithik-Sussanne marriage

Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan and his wife of 13 years, Sussanne Roshan, are ending their marriage, the Hindustan Times reported on Friday. In a statement requesting the media to respect his privacy,…

US Drones Kill 15 in Yemen Wedding Convoy, mistaking them for al-Qaeda

CIA operators of US drones in Yemen mistook a wedding convoy for al-Qaeda on Friday, killing 15 persons and wounding many others. Some 10 were killed immediately and 5 more died from…

A Government of the Billionaires, for the Billionaires, by the Billionaires

(By Bill Moyers) I met Supreme Court Justice William Brennan in 1987 when I was creating a series for public television called In Search of the Constitution, celebrating the bicentennial of our…

Photo of the Day: Was St. Nicholas “White”?

(By Juan Cole) Fox News's Megyn Kelly maintained this week that Santa Claus and Jesus are "white." Russian icon of St. Nicholas of Myra on whom the figure of Santa Claus is…

US, UK suspend Aid to Syrian “Moderates” as Fundamentalists Grab Western Supplies

(By Juan Cole) The United States and the United Kingdom have suspended aid to the Syrian National Council and its Free Syrian Army, headed by Gen. Salim Idriss, after FSA warehouses of…

Israeli criminals make their way to Morocco

Lacking an extradition treaty with Israel, Morocco has become an unlikely sanctuary for Israeli mobsters looking to make money or to avoid police investigations.

Five Women Human Rights Activists who are Changing the Middle East

By Tasnim Nazeer Despite setbacks in the wake of the “Arab Spring”, the region’s female activists gained strength following the uprisings and have no plans to stop fighting for better and fairer…

Sec. Hagel threatens to cut $1.6 bn Pakistan aid b/c Drone Protests Blocking NATO Convoys

by Sarah Lazare U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel threatened Pakistani [leaders] on Monday with cutting off up to $1.6 billion in aid if the country's mass protests against U.S. drone strikes continue,…

Has a European Boycott of Israeli Colonies in the Palestinian West Bank Begun?

By Juan Cole First, the European Union decided last summer to exclude Israeli Occupation institutions from Israel-EU cooperation initiatives. That is, Israeli institutions are routinely invited to European scientific conferences and projects…

Jon Stewart: NSA Totally Doing all those Things Obama Admin denied they were Doing

Jon Stewart reviews the false statements by President Obama and administration officials about the nature and scope of National Security Agency electronic surveillance of Americans. It is in fact scooping up emails…

Video of the Day: Turkish Economy Flourishing but needs to go Green

Euronews reports, "Turkey's economy continues to boom" Euronews notes that the Turkish economy had a growth spurt in the third quarter, and it is certainly doing better than other non-oil states in…

Dear Pres. Obama: Dissent isn’t Possible in a Surveillance State

By Juan Cole In his stirring eulogy of Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first president to be legitimately elected, by the entire South Africa people, President Barack Obama said, "There are too many…

Presidents shaking Hands with Dictators

By Juan Cole President Barack Obama's casual hand shake with Cuban president Raul Castro at the memorial for Nelson Mandela has, predictably, set off a wave of outrage among right wing politicians…

Egypt’s crisis is structural

Egypt has been struggling to get back to normal, but the damage caused by decades of dictatorship has caused many Egyptians to consider military rule as the best option for now.

Google, Microsoft, Silicon Valley Giants Demand Rollback of out-of-control NSA Spying

By Andrea Germanos In an open letter to President Obama and members of Congress, AOL, Apple, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo, write: We understand that governments have a duty to…

After Mandela: Can Massacred South African Mine Workers get Justice?

The summer, 2012, massacre of striking mine workers by South African police, which killed 44 persons and wounded at least 78, continues to wend its way through the South African system. The…

Can Mandela’s Truth and Reconciliation Heal the Middle East?

By Juan Cole Every transition from an authoritarian government to democracy is different. Some go relatively smoothly (Poland, South Korea). Others are rocky (Taiwan, Bosnia, Tunisia). In some instances, authoritarianism reasserts itself…

Knesset speaker Edelstein to lead delegation to Mandela memorial

MKs Dov Lipman, Pnina Tamano-Shata, Nitzan Horowitz, Gila Gamliel and Hilik Bar to also attend service for civil rights leader

Tech giants call on US to reform surveillance laws

Eight leading US-based technology companies Dec 9 called on Washington to overhaul its surveillance laws following revelations of online eavesdropping by Snowden

Young Israelis Emigrating Abroad Roils Politics in Tel Aviv

Uri Avnery discusses the issue of young Jewish Israelis leaving Israel for other countries, including Germany. Israel's out-emigration rate was similar to other industrial countries a decade ago, but it is possible…

Top 10 errors in Netanyahu’s Speech Demanding Iran give up ‘Genocidal’ Policies

By Juan Cole Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu demanded on Sunday that the world community constrain Iran to change its "genocidal policy" toward Israel, in the course of a speech in which…

Uygur: Bush Targetting of Juan Cole proves that NSA can’t be trusted with our Personal Data

Cenk Uygur at Young Turks makes the point that the National Security Agency and other US intelligence (services who are ending up with massive amounts of electronic surveillance information on Americans --whether…

Israel president 'ready to meet Iran counterpart'

Israeli President Shimon Peres said Sunday he would be prepared to meet his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani, even though their two countries consider each other arch-enemies.Asked at an economic forum over a…

Egypt: Harsh Sentences Commuted but Case a Dangerous Message for Protesters

By Human Rights Watch Update: December 7, 2013 The Sidi Gaber Minor Offenses Court on December 7 commuted the sentences for the 21 female Brotherhood protestors. The 14 young women received a…

Are British Spies Complicit in US Drone Strikes? Court of Appeals Takes Case

by Jack Serle An unprecedented attempt to discover if British officials are complicit in the CIA drone campaign in Pakistan reached the Court of Appeal this week. The case is brought by…

Solar would be Cheaper: US Pentagon has spent $8 Trillion to Guard Gulf Oil

By Juan Cole Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel was in the Gulf on Friday at a conference of defense ministers from the region, including the Gulf Cooperation Council and Iran. Hagel underlined…

The Mandela Problem of the AWM Wing of the GOP

The US Republican Party has become the party of the angry white man (AWM) in the United States, which is a large part of the reason it has had trouble winning presidential…

Collective Frustration, But No Collective Action, in Qatar

Date: December 7, 2013 Author(s): Justin Gengler In late June 2013, as neighboring Arab states continued their struggles against popular pressure for political reform or regime change, the Gulf emirate of Qatar…

FBi Laptop Camera Snooping and Orwell’s 1984: Side by Side Comparison

Jon Schwartz ( @tinyrevolution ) posted this to Twitter. It is a side by side comparison of a passage from "1984" to the news report from a former senior FBI official that…

Interview with Jeremy Scahill Questions “War on Terror”

Euronews asks Jeremy Scahill about his new film, "Dirty Wars," which has been nominated for an Academy Award. Scahill was also recently interviewed at Democracy Now! "AMY GOODMAN: Jeremy, this report that…

Crystal Night Must not be Repeated versus other European Minorities

By Anne-Ruth Wertheim, Amsterdam Crystal Night took place on the night between 9 and 10 November 1938. Across the whole of Nazi Germany and parts of Austria, a pogrom was held against…

Today’s South Africa by the Numbers (with Photos)

Population of South Africa: 51 million (slightly larger than South Korea) Annual Gross Domestic Product (nominal): $384 billion (in neighborhood of Taiwan, Austria, UAE) Rank among world economies: 29 Rank among African…

Photo of the Day: Apartheid South Africa Sign

This sign is left over from Apartheid days and is preserved under an awning in downtown Johannesburg, South Africa as a reminder of what was. I photographed it in August, 2012. ------…

Photo of the Day: Mandela Training in Algeria

h/t Sami Ben Gharbia ‏@ifikra Nelson Mandela training with the Algerian Liberation Front in 1962. The Algerians fought an 8-year war, 1954-1962, to become independent from French imperialism, in the course of…

Book of condolence to open at South African embassy in Abu Dhabi

Ambassador to the UAE also plans memorial service in Abu Dhabi next week.

Yemen attacks should be assessed in terms of internal political conflicts

Attacks in Yemen are a part of the political transition that’s taking place there, and as for the Islamist groups there is a deep degree of skepticism amongst the public that they…

Mandela: We want equal Political Rights; When Protest was Outlawed, we chose Sabotage

Mandela's declaration to the court as his trial began in Pretoria at the Supreme Court of South Africa on April 20, 1964 I am the first accused. I hold a bachelor's degree…

NAS: From Ice Sheet Collapse to Mass Extinctions, You’re not Ready for Climate Change

By John Queally Hang on. Get Ready.Those are at least two of the takeaways from a new report released by scientists in the National Academy of Sciences on Tuesday which says the…

United States, Israel opposed Mandela, supported Apartheid

The attempt to make Nelson Mandela respectable is an ongoing effort of Western government spokesmen and the Western media. He wasn't respectable in the business circles of twentieth-century New York or Atlanta,…

Tunisian Rapper Jailed for 4 Months for Insulting the Police

Tunisia Live reports that: "Rapper Ala Yaacoubi, known by his stage name Weld el 15, turned himself in to a court in Hammamet today, where his 21-month prison sentence was reduced to…

Nelson Mandela, Iconic Leader for Jews of South Africa — and World

Nelson Mandela has become a beloved icon for all of South Africa. His death will surely be mourned by the Jewish community, with which he enjoyed an enduring bond. Click here for…

Muslim-American Tolkiens? Throne of Crescent Moon Author on Ethnic High Fantasy

Saladin Ahmad, a Muslim-American fantasy author from Dearborn, Michigan, is the author of the novel, Throne of the Crescent Moon. He spoke in Grand Rapids on the meaning of his background for…

Does Turkey’s PM Erdogan have a GOP-Style “Woman Problem”?

By Macidegül Batmaz We know that women have always been an easy target for politicians around the world. But there is no other country like Erdogan’s “New Turkey” where the political agenda…

Souad Nawfal forced to flee after jihadist threats

A prominent female civilian activist has been forced to leave Syria because of threats to her life by hard-line jihadists, according to Arabiya television.

Jon Stewart: Fox seems a little Hysterical about Muslim-American Women Swimming

Jon Stewart has discovered the most horrible thing in the world on Fox Cable News. A YMCA in St. Paul Minnesota has set aside an hour for Somali Muslim women to swim…

A Jewish Woman in Tunis, 1880: Photo of the Day

Jewish Woman in Tunis, c. 1880. via University of Chicago Middle East Photos For the history of Tunisian Jews see this site

Trashing the Law against warrantless GPS tracking: NSA collecting 5 Billion Phone location Records a Day

Trashing the Law against warrantless GPS tracking: NSA nabs 5 Billion Phone location Records a Day

Remember when the National Security Agency officials maintained that they were "only" collecting "metadata" from your cell phones? What they meant by that was that they weren't listening in on your calls,…

GOP: No Climate Change because, Bible

Opposing views points to the scary ignorance and bible-thumping to which GOP representatives in Congress are appealing in their genocidal stand against quick action on climate change. If you have to have…

Best-Selling German Satirical Novel About Return of Hitler To Be Made Into Film

A best-selling German satirical novel about the return of Adolf Hitler to modern-day Germany is being adapted into a film. Click here for the rest of the article...

Jazz Oud from Tunisia: Dhafer Youseff, “Eastern Waves”

Tunisian oud jazz by Dhafer Youseff Dhafer Youseff Quartet, "Eastern Waves" ("Les Ondes Orientales") For more on the artist see CCTV :

Almost Human: How Robots, Race and Neoliberalism killed Detroit and what it Means for You

Detroit can go into bankruptcy, a judge has ruled. Likely it means that workers' pensions will be at least in part stolen from them. It is a good occasion to reprint this…

Nevada’s “Crescent Dune” Solar Facility will Produce Energy at Night

Jared Anderson at Breaking Energy writes of technologies for solar power storage that allow the energy generated by the sun to be released at night: "a US-based company will jump ahead of…

Blacked Out: Could Governments just Erase Dissidents from the Internet with a Click?

By Peter Van Buren What if Edward Snowden was made to disappear? No, I’m not suggesting some future CIA rendition effort or a who-killed-Snowden conspiracy theory of a disappearance, but a more…

Sunni-Shiite Tensions soar in Lebanon; Hizbullah accuses Saudis in Iran Embassy Bombing

Several dramatic accusations and events have heightened Sunni-Shiite tensions in Lebanon, as the Syrian Civil War continues to spill over onto Beirut's politics. In the northern city of Tripoli, Sunni Salafis (who…

On the 80th Anniversary of Repeal of Prohibition, Why isn’t Marijuana Legal?

It is the eightieth anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition. Among the many reasons for the popularity of banning alcohol in the US then were the concern of industrialists such as Henry…

The Public Professor: Dissent in Commodified Higher Education

by Christian Christensen The Public Professor: Dissent in Commodified Higher Education Or…What Kind of University Will My Daughter Attend in 2027? The following is the text of my public Professorial Installation lecture…

Top 10 Ways the US is the Most Corrupt Country in the World

Those ratings that castigate Afghanistan and some other poor countries as hopelessly "corrupt" always imply that the United States is not corrupt. VOA reports : While it is true that you don't…

Israeli Blockade of 40,000 Gaza Fishermen Briefly Broken by Youth Protesters

About 200 Palestinian youth ctivists briefly broke the Israeli blockade on fishing off Gaza past an arbitrary 6-mile limit on Monday. World Bulletin writes: ""We want to show the world that there…

Can even Colbert make us laugh at America’s tragic growing Wealth Divide?

Stephen Colbert on America's astonishing wealth divide, which has even the Wall Street Journal worried: Boing Boing gives us the statistics : "#1 The lowest earning 23,303,064 Americans combined make 36…

Americans are 5% of World Population, consume 1/4 of its Energy (infographic)

Source: InternationalBusinessGuide.org

G. Willow Wilson on her Ms. Marvel Character as Muslim-American Superhero (BBC)

The BBC interviews G. Willow Wilson, creator of the reboot of the Ms Marvel comic book as a young Muslim-American. Here is the BBC interview: Informed Comment covered this development earlier: "…

Libya Needs UN Forces, National Reconciliation to Resolve its Crisis (Al Ghwell)

by Hafed Al Ghwell Libya needs to formulate a vision and a plan for what it wants to be in 10 or 20 years. It needs an economic strategy that will re-start…

Dr. Strangelove in Afghanistan: an Advice Column for the Praetorian Surveillance State

By Tom Engelhardt Col. Manners Answers Your Questions on the Etiquette of War, Nuclear Threats, and Surveillance By Colonel Manners (with a helping hand from Tom Engelhardt) [Editor’s Note: Many publications have…

Feinstein & Rogers justify NSA Spying with Syrian Rebels (Voted to Arm Syrian Rebels)

Senator Diane Feinstein and Rep. Mike Rogers took to the airwaves on Sunday to warn that Americans are less safe than two years ago and that al-Qaeda is growing and spreading and…

Photo of the Day: Palestinian Bedouin outside Jerusalem, 1930

from Elia Photo Service via Mashriq Note that when this picture was taken the British counted roughly a million Palestinians in British Mandate Palestine, scheduled to achieve statehood as Palestine when the…

Egyptian Constitution: Army Strengthened, Religious Parties Banned, Freedom of Belief, Speech Enshrined

Over half the articles of the proposed constitution for Egypt were approved by the "Committee of 50" on Saturday. The rest will be taken up on Sunday. The voting was on a…

Israel to Ethnically Cleanse 70,000 Palestinians in Massive Negev Land Grab

Determined to derail the US press for peace negotiations with the Palestinians, the far-right Likud government of Israel is moving ahead with among the biggest projects of ethnic cleansing in the sad…

Egypt: Military Regime arrests Dissident Ahmad Maher of April 6 Youth

Activist Ahmad Maher turned himself in to Egyptian police on Saturday. He and the April 6 organization played a major role in the 2011 revolution against Hosni Mubarak and went on to…

Annual Informed Comment Fundraiser

I hope you all like the new design. Of course, the changes are a work in progress but 2014 is an important year for Informed Comment. We will be adding some editorial…