Month

Archives: August 2014

Global Warming & Louisiana Bayou: Native Lands Submerged as Sea Levels Rise

"In collaboration with Louisiana Public Broadcasting, the PBS NewsHour examines the vanishing coastline of Louisiana and the vulnerability of its native tribes to rising sea levels. This report is part of our…

Chechens Now Fighting On Both Sides In Ukraine

By Liz Fuller via RFE/ RL Eighteen years after the signing of the Khasavyurt Accord that ended the 1994-96 Chechen war, a veteran Chechen field commander has issued a timely reminder that…

Pro-Israel Attacker puts British MP George Galloway in Hospital

UK Respect Party Member of Parliament George Galloway was assaulted by a pro-Israel fanatic on Friday evening, leaving him with a broken jaw, broken ribs, and other injuries. The attacker shouted about…

Iraq: Is the Battle of Amerli a Turning Point?

By Juan Cole The Iraqi military is maintaining that it has successfully relieved the town of Amerli (pop. 15,000) in northern Iraq from a siege by ISIL (the so-called Islamic State of…

Could a Palestinian Boycott Pinch Israeli Economy?

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- In the last two months, Palestinians across the West Bank have begun heeding calls to boycott Israeli goods in increasing numbers as popular campaigns have taken to the street…

Iraq Crisis: Will Sunni Tribes of Besieged Falluja Turn on IS There?

By Mustafa Habib | Fallujah | via Niqash.org Recently most of the attention has been on northern Iraq. But military action in western Iraq has been going on for months, after areas…

Ukraine: What is the word for What is Happening There?

By Daisy Sindelar via RFE/RL Oleksandr Chernov, a doctor and journalist from eastern Ukraine, spent 10 days as a captive of pro-Russian separatists based in Slovyansk. During that time he was blindfolded,…

Should Americans be allowed to Serve in Foreign Armies?

AJ+ "An American, Douglas McAuthur McCain was killed fighting for the Islamic State group (formerly known as ISIS or ISIL) in Syria. He's not the only American to have been killed fighting…

Israelis Alarmed as al-Qaeda Captures Golan, UN Peacekeepers

By Juan Cole Israel now has a border with al-Qaeda! Israeli observers have been alarmed by the capture of the Quneitra checkpoint between Syria and the Israeli-Occupied Golan Heights by the al-Qaeda…

Obama, al-Assad and ISIL update FB Status: It’s Complicated

AJ+ AJ+ Will The US Bomb IS Group (AKA ISIS) In Syria?

ISIS: How to Defeat a Phony “Caliphate”

By John Esposito via Huffington Post Containing and ultimately defeating ISIS will require both short and long-term response. ISIS expansion has been made possible by political conditions in Syria and Iraq, ethnic-religious/sectarian…

US Public Worried about ISIL, Putin– But Climate Change is Real Challenge

By Juan Cole In a new Pew/ USA Today poll, the American public shows itself alarmed by the rise of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in northern Iraq…

US Open round-up: Stan Wawrinka tells fan to ‘shut up’ en route to third round

In the heat of the moment, locked in a suddenly tight match after midnight at Flushing Meadows, Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka snapped at a rowdy spectator, telling him to “shut up”.An…

Not the Onion: Shooting Range raises Age Limit to 12 after 9-year-old girl Kills Instructor with Uzi

CBS New York buries the lead: "A 9-year-old New Jersey girl accidentally killed an Arizona shooting instructor as he was showing her how to use an automatic Uzi, authorities said Tuesday. CBS…

Mitch McConnell caught Promising Billionaires he’ll Enrich them at our Expense

By Nicole Girard via Liberals Unite Mitch McConnell really does not care about our problems. The way he talks about the needs of average Americans, you’d think we were his sworn, personal…

Israel War Aftermath: Epidemic feared in Gaza sheltering centers as skin infections spread

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Displaced Gaza residents in sheltering centers are suffering from dangerous skin infections which could become a epidemic as a result of water shortage, the Ministry of Health says. Speaking…

Syrian Rebels welcome US Air strikes on ISIL Terrorists

By Juan Cole Ilaf reports that rebels in East Aleppo, Syria are deeply divided over the prospect of President Obama ordering US air strikes on the so-called "Islamic State" (IS). IS is…

Mansplaining Women’s Pay Gap (John Oliver satire)

John Oliver explores America's wage gap between men and women and proposes a possible solution. Note: Solution proposed is 100% sarcastic. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: The Wage Gap between Women…

As Int’l Powers focus on Kurds and Sunni Arabs, have Shiite Politicians lost Iraq Forever?

Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | via Niqash.org In Baghdad [last] week, Iraq’s most senior Shiite Muslim politicians are lamenting their increasing isolation from the international community. The EU and the US are…

Can you Pass the Hamas Quiz?

By Jeffrey Rudolph (updated) The degree of mainstream media distortion concerning Hamas is endemic in the US and Canada. In my local newspaper, the Montreal Gazette, one searches in vain for meaningful…

Why Would They Stay? Making Sense of ISIS and Iraqi Sunnis

By Nathan Spannaus ISIS’s meteoric rise to prominence has brought renewed attention on Iraq’s Sunni population and their relationship with radical forms of extremism. Outside of Iraq, the condemnations of ISIS have…

Open-Ended Ceasefire reached in Israel/ Gaza: But how Long will it Last?

By Juan Cole Israel on the one side and Hamas and Islamic Jihad on the other have announced an open-ended cease-fire brokered by Egypt, the terms of which are similar to those…

The new Jewish exodus: Emigrating Israelis replaced by European Jewry

By Naava Mashiah via Your Middle East So much ink has been spilled over the past month during the latest eruption of violence between Israel and Gaza. An overflow of comments and…

Veils, Gloves and Violence: New Extremist Rules See Women Disappear From Mosul’s Streets

By Nawzat Shamdeen | Mosul | via Niqash.org Extremists are forcing Mosul's women to wear full facial veils. Mosul was always a conservative city when it came to women’s rights. However the…

Reading Africa: How exciting Literature takes us beyond the Dreary Headlines

By Shaun Randol There is not one positive news story on the front page. The two news organizations might as well tack up a single headline—“Africa Implodes”—and call it a day. The…

5 Ironies of US Reaction to Egypt/UAE Bombing of Libya

The diplomatic angst issuing from Washington around the United Arab Emirates and Egypt bombing of weapons depots belonging to the Qatar-backed fundamentalist militia of Misrata holds many delicious ironies: 1. According to…

Poll: Palestinians of Gaza just like Americans: Want Peace, hate “ISIS” and refuse to Give up their Guns

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- An overwhelming majority of Gaza residents support a long-term truce with Israel and oppose the disarmament of the Palestinian resistance, a poll released on Saturday showed. The poll, which…

Border Police Militarization and the Immigrant Children

By Aviva Chomsky via Tomdispatch.com Call it irony or call it a nightmare, but the “crisis” of Central American children crossing the U.S.-Mexican border, which lasted for months amid fervent and angry…

Victim of McCarthy-Era Witch Hunt calls on U-Illinois not to Fire Critic of Israeli Policies

Note by Juan Cole: In the early 1950s, under the influence of Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-WI), a national witch hunt was conducted for leftists. McCarthy claimed to have a list of 100…

Can the Kabbalah teach us to Repair Climate Change?

By Alexandra Piacenza How can Kabbalah, the system of mystical interpretation of Jewish scripture with roots in the 13th century, have a bearing on modern-day environmentalism? In the Kabbalistic view, God’s very…

Iraq: Another Kurdish Town besieged by IS: Is Amerli the next Sinjar?

Iraq: Another Town besieged by IS: Is Amerli the next Sinjar?

By Ahmad Mohammed | Kirkuk | Niqash.org Demonstrators call on the government to help the besieged town of Amerli. In Salahaddin, a drama of historic proportions is playing out in the town…

Has the War on Terror Failed?

AJ+ "Has the West’s global “War on Terror” failed? Thirteen years of U.S. counter-terrorism policies have opened up a Pandora’s box of questions - both political and ideological." Aj+ Has the War…

Iraq: Bombs & Bullets vs. Political Process

By Juan Cole A series of bombings and shootings left some 35 dead in Iraq on Saturday, following on a massacre of 68 worshipers Friday at a Sunni Mosque in mixed Diyala…

Sean Hannity Pwned by Patricia Bynes when he tries to “Educate” Her

The Young Turks: “A Ferguson, Mo. official was having none of Fox News host Sean Hannity's attempt to "educate" her on police brutality Wednesday night. Hannity kicked off an interview with Democratic…

It’s not Fergustan: Ferguson is what America Looks Like

AJ+ People around the world have watched Ferguson, Missouri in disbelief that what they're seeing is taking place in the United States. But Ferguson is actually quite American. AJ+ host Dena Takruri…

Gaza needs UN Peacekeepers, Now! How to Break the Israel/Palestine Stalemate

By John V. Whitbeck After the breakdown in the six-day "pause" to permit negotiations on a long-term Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire and the resumption of Israel's onslaught against the caged people of Gaza, concerned…

Obama’s budding Cambodia Policy in Syria

By Juan Cole Former British ambassador to the United States Sir Christoher Meyer is advocating that the US and Western Europe stop advocating the overthrow of the Baath regime of Syrian dictator…

Failed US War on Terror resulted from bizarre search for Moderate Jihadis

By Patrick Cockburn via Tomdispatch.com [This essay is excerpted from the first chapter of Patrick Cockburn’s new book, The Jihadis Return: ISIS and the New Sunni Uprising, with special thanks to his publisher, OR Books. …

Can You pass the Iran Quiz?

By Jeffrey Rudolph What can possibly justify the relentless U.S. political and economic aggression against Iran? It cannot be argued that Iran is an aggressive state that is dangerous to its neighbors,…

Democracy, in India as elsewhere, is not a tyranny of the Majority

It’s Not About The Numbers There is a broader—and deeper—meaning to democracy. Part of that ideal is the idea that every tessera in the mosaic can sparkle. By Gyanendra Pandey Democracy, it…

Iraq: If Terrorists hit Southern Iraq oil fields, $5-$7 a gallon Gas?

By Juan Cole Iraq's former oil minister, Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum, warned on Thursday that the so-called "Islamic State" terrorist organization could hit the Iraqi oil fields in the south around Basra. Basra…

How will Obama and the US respond to IS’s murder of James Foley ?

Channel 4 News: "Islamic State releases a video showing the murder of US journalist James Foley, apparently at the hands of a British jihadi fighter. Barack Obama says he will continue to…

Why has Egyptian Youth Activist, Punished by last 4 Presidents, gone on Hunger Strike?

AJ+ Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah was in prison when his son was born, and is now in prison as his father lies in the ICU. He's fed up and is taking…

Dear Hillary Clinton: When did not bombing Syria create Isis?

By Fariborz S Fatemi Hillary Clinton’s criticism of Barack Obama on Syria and the rise of Isis is wrong, and an exercise in selective memory. When did not bombing Syria create ISIS?…

Why Militarized Policing is the worst Response to Ferguson’s Problems

By Chris Cocking, University of Brighton The town of Ferguson, Missouri has now seen ten days of almost nightly disorder following the shooting of black teenager Michael Brown by the police. The…

What to Iraq’s Sunni Arabs have in common with Ferguson, Mo. African-Americans?

What do Iraq’s Sunni Arabs have in common with Ferguson, Mo. African-Americans?

By Juan Cole If prime minister-designate Haydar al-Abadi in Iraq is to hope to defeat the so-called "Islamic State" (actually a kind of mafia made up of serial murderers and marauders), he…

How effective will Erdogan be as Turkey’s new President?

By Mustafa Gurbuz The future of Turkey depends not only on Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ambitions but also strategies of the opposition parties, which have proven to be ineffective so far. Turkey’s first…

Iran Hard Liners denounce US Human Rights Abuses in Ferguson, Mo.

By Golnaz Esfandiari via RFE/RL The unrest in the U.S. state of Missouri sparked by the fatal police shooting of a black teenager is being played up by Iranian hardliners, with several…

The American Cult of Bombing

By William J. Astore via Tomdispatch.com When you do something again and again, placing great faith in it, investing enormous amounts of money in it, only to see indifferent or even negative…

Five things to Know about the Peshmerga Fighters of Iraqi Kurdistan

AJ+ "The Peshmerga are seen as one of the only forces who can defeat the Islamic State group, formerly known as ISIS or ISIL. But who are the Peshmerga and what are…

ISIS to US: We’ll drown you in Blood; beheads US Journalist, Holds Tikrit

By Juan Cole The Iraqi military made a push on Tikrit north of Baghdad on Tuesday, but had to call off their campaign when they ran into minefields, booby-trapped buildings, sniping and…

How America made Martyrs of two Iranian Democrats and overthrew Iran’s Liberal Government in 1953

By Farhad Malekafzali August 19 is the anniversary of the 1953 CIA-MI6 coup in Iran. The coup overthrew a government with a remarkable commitment to the norms of liberal democracy. The fate…

In Iraq, it isn’t just about minorities: The “Infidels” attacked by the so-called “Islamic State” include the Sunnis, Too

By Ali A. Olomi The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has declared war on "kafirs." According to most observers, this term as ISIS uses it refers to Christians, Yazidi, and…

Israel: Crowd shouts “Death to Arabs” at Jewish-Muslim Wedding

By Juan Cole An Israeli crowd gathered outside the wedding of a Muslim man and a Jewish woman in Rishon Lezion, shouting "death to Arabs" on Sunday. They were from the far…

The New Jim Crow: Has the Right finally Repealed the Civil Rights Act?

By Juan Cole The 45 million African-Americans in the United States are unequal before the law vis-a-vis European-Americans and becoming moreso. In the age of Jim Crow (the white South's attempt to…

Is Israel De-Industrializing Gaza?

By Martin Lejeune (Maan News Agency) On the night of the July 27, the first day of the Muslim Eid-Al-Fitr festival following the fasting month of Ramadan, the Israeli air force dropped…

Iranian Woman wins Math Genius Prize, Iranian officials Obsess about her Hair

By Golnaz Esfandiari via RFE/RL "No hair, no ears, no neck." That's how one journalist described a front-page portrait of Iranian mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani that an Iranian newspaper digitally doctored to obscure…

Gov’t: Be Careful what you Say on Facebook: “Are you on the Terrorist Watchlist?”

AJ+ "One million people worldwide have been swept up by TIDE, the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment. It's a list of people suspected of being terrorists that's managed by the U.S. National Counterterrorism…

Largest Israeli anti-War Rally since Gaza Campaign Began: 10,000 Protest in Tel Aviv

Reuters: "Anti-war demonstrators protest against the war in Gaza at a rally in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square. Rough Cut" - Largest anti-war rally since attack on Gaza began in July. Reuters: "Anti-war…

6 Things To Know If Police Stop You In The US

AJ+ "If a police officer were to stop you on the street in the U.S. and start questioning you, what would you do? Check out our quick list of six things you…

Greenland Glaciers Collapsing much Faster than Thought

Emory University: "Climate Change: The Physics of Glacier Loss" Related press release from UC Irvine from this spring: "Greenland will be far greater contributor to sea rise than expected Major UCI-NASA work…

After its Failed Gaza Campaign, What next for Israel?

By Paul Rogers, University of Bradford via The Conversation With a tenuous five-day ceasefire now underway, the pause in the Gaza War allows each side to consider its position. The Israeli Embassy…

Can al-Abadi win over Iraq’s Moderate Sunnis?

By Juan Cole Arguably, the so-called Islamic State (actually a vicious gang of serial killers) could never have taken over northern and Western Iraq if the largely Sunni Arab populations there had…

Inside Mosul: A Yearning for Deliverance from IS Radicals

By Khales Joumah | Mosul | niqash | NIQASH listens in on a conversation between Mosul locals to find out how they feel about US air strikes on their city and the…

Israeli Assault killed Half of all Chickens in Gaza, Damaged Agriculture

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The Food and Agriculture Organization on Thursday warned that the Israeli assault on Gaza had caused extensive damage to the coastal enclave's agricultural sector and would have long-term consequences.…

Is Climate Change Making us Ill?

By DW "More extreme and recurring heat periods and weather events, spreading diseases: Climate change has a huge impact on the life on our planet. But what impact does it have on…

Dutch Lawyer who saved Jewish Boy in WWII returns Medal to Israel over Bombing of his Family in Gaza

By Juan Cole Henk Zanoli, a 91-year-old Dutch attorney who in 1943 saved a Jewish boy from the Nazis, has returned to Israel the "Righteous among the Nations" medal awarded him three…

Egypt’s Cover-Up: Rabia Massacre One Year Later

By Sarah Leah Whitson Published in: Open Democracy “Forget about Morsy, forget about Rab`a,” my Egyptian neighbourhood grocer told me the other day, expressing the loyalty to the president, Abel Fattah al-Sisi,…

Sexual violence as a war strategy in Iraq

By Nazand Begikhani via Your Middle East "These are strategic theories of rape in wartime which have been deliberately practiced by IS jihadists in Syria and now in Iraq," writes Dr Nazand…

Thirsty in Gaza: Israel Destroyed or Damaged 28 Miles of Water Pipes

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Water Authority said on Thursday that the water distribution network in Gaza had suffered $34.4 million worth of damage as a result of the Israeli offensive…

One Nation, under SWAT: The undemocratic Militarization of the Police

By Matthew Harwood via Tomdispatch.com Jason Westcott was afraid. One night last fall, he discovered via Facebook that a friend of a friend was planning with some co-conspirators to break in to…

Top 10 Mistakes of former Iraq PM Nouri al-Maliki (That Ruined his Country)

By Juan Cole Now that Nouri al-Maliki has resigned as prime minister, it is worth looking at the way his two terms as prime minister (2006-2010, 2010-2014) shaped Iraq. Did his policies…

Israeli official confirms US nixed arms sale; PM blamed for icy ties

WSJ report of frayed relations between Washington and Jerusalem, including combative Obama-Netanyahu phone call, sparks firestorm among Israeli politicians

Evacuating Miami Beach: Can South Florida Save itself from Sea Level Rise?

Two SJMC faculty, Kate MacMillin and Juliet Pinto, explore the narrative of a South Florida community under threat from sea level rise in this half-hour documentary. WPBT2: "South Florida's Rising Seas -…

Only Mideast Democracy? In Midst of War, Israel Clamps Down on Dissent

By Sarah Lazare As a tenuous ceasefire takes hold, the besieged Gaza strip must contend with the path of death and destruction left by Israel's month-long military assault, including 1,939 Palestinian lives…

Families of Afghan Civilians Killed by US/NATO Cannot get Justice

By Bruce Pannier via RFE/RL Amnesty International has released a report documenting the inability of the families of Afghan civilians killed in attacks by U.S. and other foreign forces to obtain justice.…

The Politics of Energy and the Destabilization of Palestine

By Tareq Ramadan The latest Israeli military campaign directed towards the 139-square mile, densely-populated Palestinian Gaza Strip has already led to the deaths of more than 1,900 Palestinians[i] (more than 80% are…

The Appeal of Intervention: New Iraqi Premier, Libyan Parliament ask for Int’l Troops

By Juan Cole According to a spokesman for his Da'wa Party (Islamic Call or Islamic Mission), Iraq's prime minister-designate Haydar al-Abadi is preparing a platform on the basis of which he will…

Arab Youth and the Changing Middle East (HuffPo Cole Interview)

By Juan Cole Huffington Post Live Highlight: Juan Cole, "The New Arabs: How the Millennial Generation is Changing the Middle East" Related book: The New Arabs: How the Millennial Generation is Changing…

Iraq Intervention? More like Ceaseless Escalation

By Elliott Colla, author of Baghdad Central While visiting Baghdad last year, I was struck by what Iraqis said every time I tried to apologize for the 2003 invasion: “Don’t apologize for…

6 Robin Williams Movies That Teach Us Progressive Values

By Mindy Fischer via Liberals Unite There’s no doubt that Robin Williams could make us laugh, but he did a whole more than that. He made us think and dream. Because he…

Need for Tough Love: Defending the Gaza Assault Hurts Israeli, American Interests

By Gregory Harms Almost two-thirds of Americans feel Israel's operations in Gaza were justified. When given sufficient information, and when thinking outside ideological parameters, Americans commonly draw reasonable conclusions and are in…

Blown Chances in Gaza Israel and the U.S. Miss Many Chances to Avoid War

By Sandy Tolan via Tomdispatch.com Alongside the toll of death and broken lives, perhaps the saddest reality of the latest Gaza war, like the Gaza wars before it, is how easy it…

Lauren Bacall’s Best Lines

via "Layla Raymanova" "here're Lauren Bacall's (1924-2014) best lines from the movie TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT." Little-known fact: Lauren Bacall and former Israeli president Shimon Peres are first cousins, both with…

Iraq: Al-Abadi garners Iranian, US, Saudi Support: But can He Unite Iraq?

By Juan Cole Middle Eastern regional powers joined the US in welcoming the appointment of Haydar al-Abadi as Iraq's next Prime Minister, creating a dorm full of strange bedfellows. The chairman of…

Hundreds, if not Thousands will Die: Film Crew finds Iraqi Yezidis still Trapped on Mountain

Channel 4 News "Dramatic footage as our Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Rugman helps drag dehydrated children to the back of a military helicopter who have fled Islamic State forces in northern Iraq.…

Israel Drones Gaza Human Rights Worker to Death

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A rights group Monday condemned an Israeli drone attack on Gaza that killed a Palestinian worker for a human rights organization the day before, a statement said. The Palestinian…

Robin Williams entertaining the Troops in Afghanistan, 2007

“Good Morning, Afghanistan!” Robin Williams entertaining the Troops, 2007

"A Life Overseas": Robin Williams (1951-2014) was one of the acts for the 2007 USO show here on Kandahar AirField. Alert: Profanity. Robin Williams At Kandahar AirField May Mr. Williams rest in…

Gaza and the Palestine Crisis in History: World War II

By William R. Polk At the outbreak of World War II, both Palestinians and Zionists enlisted in large numbers -- 21,000 Jews and 8,000 Palestinians -- to help the British in their…

The Long Knives Come out in Baghdad

By Juan Cole The coup-like atmosphere created by Nouri al-Maliki's stationing of his troops at the Green Zone, checkpoints and bridges in Baghdad on late Sunday backfired on him with Iraq's parliamentarians.…

Party of Palin? Why Almost No Scientists Are Republican

Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks: ""A large majority of the public (76%) and nearly all scientists (97%) say that it is appropriate for scientists to become actively involved in political debates…

Nightmare in Iraq

Joe Stork via Human Rights Watch Fearing for their lives, more than 150,000 Yezidis fled Sinjar and surrounding villages to mountains north of the city on August 3, 2014 when the Islamic…

Gaza and the struggle for Palestine: the 1930s

By William R. Polk Annoyed but not deterred, the British Colonial Office decided in the 1930s, as it was then also doing in India, to crack down hard on the "troublemakers." It…

Palestinian Education: another victim of Israel’s Gaza War

By Aimee Shalan and Samer Abdelnour Al-Shabaka is an independent non-profit organization whose mission is to educate and foster public debate on Palestinian human rights and self-determination within the framework of international…

Iraq: Is al-Maliki Preparing to Make a Coup?

Nouri al-Maliki, who is seeking a third term as prime minister of Iraq in the teeth of widespread opposition, abruptly began acting like a strongman on Sunday night. He went on television…

Israel can’t Afford to Lose Jews Like Me

by DAVID H. SCHANZER for ISLAMiCommentary David Schanzer Writing in the New York Times . . . , columnist Shmuel Rosner labeled non-Israeli liberal Jews that are becoming more estranged from modern…

The Israeli assault has caused $150 million damage to Gaza food industry

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The Israeli offensive on Gaza has caused "huge losses" for the already-struggling food industry in the coastal enclave, a national industry association said . . . [last week].…

The US intervened again in Iraq in Part to Save the Yazidis: Who are They?

By Petr Kubalek via RFE/RL Islamic militants this week encircled thousands of members of the Yazidi minority in northern Iraq, prompting the Obama administration to carry out humanitarian air drops to the…

Gaza and the Struggle for Palestine: Historical Background (Pt. 1, a)

By William R. Polk Like many observers I am both sick at heart and emotionally drained from watching and reading about the horrible events in Gaza. Is there more to be said…

The Cruel Jest of American “Humanitarian Aid” to Iraq

By Juan Cole The United States of America has no claim on the language of "humanitarian aid" to Iraq after what it did to that country. It is rather as though Washington…

West Bank Continues Uprising, Israeli Army Injures 40 at Hebron Demo for Gaza

HEBRON (Ma'an) -- At least 40 Palestinians were injured in central Hebron on Friday afternoon as Israeli forces dispersed hundreds taking part in rallies condemning the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza as…

“Move a little Inland:” Press Lord Cranky Billionaire Rupert Murdoch on what to do about Global Warming

By Climate State "According to Murdoch we just have to move a bit inland and the worst is a temperature rise of 3 degree and a modest sea level rise of six…

Iraq: Tribes and other Sunnis begin Splitting from so-Called “Islamic State”

By Shalaw Mohammed | Kirkuk | via Niqash.org The Sunni Muslim extremist group that has taken over parts of Iraq recently is dependent on support from locals in the areas it wants…

New Wave of Christian Refugees as “Islamic State” Takes Iraq’s Largest Christian Town

By Middle East Eye "Christians have fled from the largest Christian city in Iraq as the militants of the Islamic State took control. They were given a choice of death, fleeing, conversion…

Obama strategically Bombs Iraq, vowing no Troops on Ground

Why is Obama bombing Iraq, Really?

By Juan Cole Al-Zaman reports that a US drone hit mortar emplacements and F-18s struck artillery arrays and armored vehicles deployed by the so-called "Islamic State" (IS) in Kuwair east of Mosul…

Iraq: Yazidis Trapped By Extremists: ‘We Will Run Out Of Food, Water In Two Days’

By Khales Joumah | Mosul | via Niqash.org Over the weekend, the Sunni Muslim extremist group, Islamic State, entered the Sinjar area in northern Iraq. Their arrival saw the population, mostly members…

The Capital of the Caliphate: VICE on the so-called “Islamic State” in Syria & Iraq

By VICE: "The Islamic State, a hardline Sunni jihadist group that formerly had ties to al Qaeda, has conquered large swathes of Iraq and Syria. Previously known as the Islamic State of…

Israelis Knocked out Gaza Power Plant, causing Hospital, Bakery and Water Crisis

Middle East Eye: "MEE report shows the effect of Israel's bombardment of Gaza's power plant, which has severe impact on hospitals, bakers and other vital facilities for Palestinians in the besieged Strip."…

The US helped Break up the Sudan, and now South Sudan Faces Famine

By Nick Turse [This story was reported in partnership with the Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute. Additional funding was provided through the generosity of Adelaide Gomer.] Juba, South Sudan -- The…

Obama & Airstrikes to Protect Iraqi Kurds: 1991 Deja Vu all Over Again

By Juan Cole During the Gulf War in early 1991, then-president George H. W. Bush called on Iraqis to rise up against Saddam Hussein and the Baath Party. In the Kurdish north…

With Warming Lake Water, Toledo’s Algae Problem will Get Worse

PBS News Hour: "Conversation with Richard Stumpf of NOAA on the science behind the algal bloom." Stumpf points out that the algae like war water and so this problem will get worse…

A Discourse of sexualized violence rises among the Israel Firsters, including on Bill Maher

By Alex Shams BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- As the bombs have been falling on Gaza over the past four weeks, another war has been ongoing for the hearts and minds of the global…

Gaza Crisis Spills Into Nigeria

by Allan Christelow On Friday, July 25, in the city of Zaria, a procession of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria came into conflict with Nigerian army troops. The procession had gathered for…

Israel, Gaza, and the Boycott, Sanctions, Divestment Movement

AJ+ "Israel's month-long assault on Gaza has over 1900 Palestinians dead, mostly civilians. It has sparked condemnation by the UN and of course on twitter. Outraged tweeps are using the hashtag #BDS,…

Is Zionism/ Jewish Nationalism a Political Cult? The Salaita Firing

By Juan Cole Liberal politics in the broad sense, in the tradition of Locke, Voltaire, Madison, Jefferson and John Stuart Mill, is rooted in a conviction that vigorous debate clarifies issues and…

Israel caused $5 billion in damage to Gaza, 40,000 Homes Destroyed or Damaged

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israel's offensive on Gaza has caused over $5 billion of damage to homes and infrastructure in the Strip, the Minister of Public Works said ... Some 10,000 homes have…

Israeli Soldiers Deliberately Shot down Fleeing Civilians (Stories begin to Leak out) – HRW

By Human Rights Watch When will there be justice for the civilians in Khuza’a, who suffered shelling for days, then faced deadly attacks by Israeli soldiers after being ordered to leave the…

Hiroshima Taught us that the “National Security State” isn’t about Security for us (Noam Chomsky)

By Noam Chomsky via Tomdispatch.com If some extraterrestrial species were compiling a history of Homo sapiens, they might well break their calendar into two eras: BNW (before nuclear weapons) and NWE (the…

British Cabinet Member Resigns over UK Gov’t Gaza Stance, wanted to go to ICC

Channel 4 News "Sayeeda Warsi, the minister who quit over Gaza, says she had to stand down because of the UK's "indefensible" position. Watch her first TV interview since her exit" She…

Israel Still Holding Gaza Civilians Hostage, Doesn’t Get Geneva Conventions

By Juan Cole The Israeli government is saying that it will only let in building materials so that Palestinians in Gaza can rebuild or repair the some 40,000 buildings that have been…

Climate Change, Dirty Natural Gas, and the Gaza War

By Juan Cole Calls by Israeli politicians in mainstream positions for the Palestinians to be ethnically cleansed from Gaza in part reflect frustration over the security issue many Israelis maintain the people…

Product Placement takes over the Media & subverts the News (John Oliver)

By John Oliver "The line between editorial content and advertising in news media is blurrier and blurrier. That's not bullshit. It's repurposed bovine waste." HBO: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Native…

“We are all Gaza”: West Bank protests Israeli Brutality, Divide & Rule Tactics

By Daoud Kuttab (Maan News Agency) Analysis: Gaza and the West Bank are one political entity The admission was buried deep in a long drawn out analysis by Israel's leading columnist. Nahum…

The Battered People of Gaza: “We’re not Abandoning the Resistance & No Peace until the Blockade is Lifted”

Paul Mason, Channel 4 News (Gaza City) "In the destroyed suburb of Zeitoun in Gaza City Paul Mason finds local support for Hamas still strong." They look you in the eye and…

Israel’s Indiscriminate Killing of Civilians is a Feature, not a Bug of its Strategy (The Young Turks)

By Cenk Uygur, The Young Turks "As Israel showed signs of scaling back its ground offensive in Gaza, its war from the skies continued Sunday, as an airstrike outside a U.N. school…

Q & A w/ Juan Cole on “The New Arabs”: If Elders in Mideast Can’t Get it Done, will the Youth?

by *JOSEPH RICHARD PREVILLE and JULIE POUCHER HARBIN for ISLAMiCommentary Column » By the Book “Many Palestinians see the Israelis as aggressive colonizers of Palestinian land and resources or as jailers; many…

Top 5 Ways the US is Israel’s Accomplice in War Crimes in Gaza

By Juan Cole The US State Department became a little testy with Israel on Sunday over the 6th school shelling by the Israeli military, which killed 10, saying "The United States is…

When will the Madness Stop? Inside the Collapsing Hospitals of Gaza

Channel 4 News: "Paul Mason meets some of the victims of the latest shelling in Gaza, including a two-year-old child, as the outside of a UN school in Rafah is hit. The…

Israel’s Repeated Bombing of Schools and Schoolchildren Is a War Crime & Should be Punished

By Alan Smith, University of Ulster The shelling of Jabalia Elementary Girls' School in Gaza on July 30 by Israeli forces was a shocking example of modern military action. The shelling was…

Are the 17 Intel Agencies now the Fourth Branch of Government?

By Tom Engelhardt via Tomdispatch.com The Fourth Branch The Rise to Power of the National Security State By Tom Engelhardt As every schoolchild knows, there are three check-and-balance branches of the U.S.…

The Hateful Likud Charter Calls for Destruction of Any Palestinian State

By Jonathan Weiler Since virtually every comment on Hamas in American media includes the assertion that the group's Charter rejects Israel’s right to exist, it's worth noting the following from the Likud…

Iran’s elite Guards fighting in Iraq to push back ISIS

In early July, hundreds of mourners gathered for the funeral of Kamal Shirkhani in Lavasan, a small town northeast of Tehran.

Proposition 1: How to Swindle the Middle Class

By Cathy Stripe Lester On August 5, Michigan taxpayers will be asked to vote on Proposition 1, which is being presented in commercials as a way to “help small businesses and create…

Do you Think your Smartphone Location Data is Private? The Police Don’t

By Hanni Fakhoury via EFF The Fourth Amendment protects us from “unreasonable” government searches of our persons, houses, papers and effects. How courts should determine what is and isn’t reasonable in our…

“Mr. Netanyahu is Engaged in the Liquidation of an Entire Nation” – Powerful Palestinian Statement from West Bank

BBC: Spokesman for Fatah, Dr Husam Zomlot tells the BBC News that Israeli PM Netanyahu is guilty of ' liquidation of an entire nation'. 'We haven't got any rockets in West Bank…

UN on Gaza: Health System Collapse, 25% Displaced, 5% w/ Clean Water, Epidemic Threat, Generally Mad Max

By United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Occupied Palestinian Territory: Gaza Emergency Situation Report Highlights • The Rafah area was subject to the heaviest shelling and fighting recorded since…

“Dead Children Names Too Threatening For Israel” – Something being Covered Up (Young Turks)

The Young Turks: ""The Israeli Broadcasting Authority has banned a radio advertisement from a human rights organisation which listed the names of some of the scores of children killed in Gaza since…

Boycott of Israel Spreads in European Civil Society over Gaza War, Could Cost $5 bn/ yr

By Juan Cole The ill-considered and remarkably brutal Gaza war likely will give further impetus to the Boycott, Sanction and Divestment movement by Western civil society to pressure Israel on its illegal…

Gaza: Khuzaa district Flattened, Evidence of Israeli Atrocities

Channel 4 News: "WARNING - this report contains graphic images some viewers may find distressing. Paul Mason reports on the end of the proposed 72-hour ceasefire and violent attacks on Gaza which…

Obama steps up to call Bush-era CIA Torture “Torture,” Despite Legal Implications

CNN points out that President Obama's forthright condemnation of Bush administration-era CIA torture could cause legal problems for Agency employees, and that the Congressional report he was talking about avoided that diction.…

Is Israel Committing a Genocide against the Palestinians of Gaza?

By Luke Peterson Yes, Israel is committing genocide. What we are witnessing now is the extension of the program of national erasure against the Palestinians that the Zionist project has always entailed,…

Are Israelis and Zionists really talking about a Final Solution of the Palestinian Problem?

By Juan Cole The Times of Israel published and then removed from its site an essay by Yochanan Gordon that openly called for genocide against the Palestinians of Gaza. A cached version…

Gaza: Israel has Left 1.7 mn. with no Clean Water, Little Electricity

By Luisa Gandolfo, University of Aberdeen When Operation Protective Edge commenced on July 8, Israel pledged to draw on lessons learned from previous conflicts to ensure that this operation would not near…

CIA Chief Shocking Admission: We spied on Senate staffers

By Jon Queally, Commondreams Yes, Admits CIA Chief, We Spied on Senate Panel Investigating Torture The findings of an internal investigation at the Central Intelligence Agency made available to the public on…

About a Girl: To ‘Liesel’ in Gaza…

Girl in Gaza. (origin of photos unknown) by ROBIN KIRK for ISLAMiCommentary Of all of the images of the destruction being visited upon Gaza and Israel, why did the picture of a…

Gaza: Analysis shows Israel Keeps Changing Justification

AJ+ Analysis of tweets from Israeli military over past few weeks shows that the justification for its attack on Gaza keeps changing, with previous narratives admitted to be untrue. AJ+ "Why Does…

Wiping another Country off the Map: Israel does it to Palestine

By Juan Cole Back when the warmongers had hopes of ginning up a war between the United States and Iran during the Bush administration, one of their propaganda talking points was the…