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Archives: March 2015
Lynching Farkhunda: Birth of Gender Equality and Accountability in Afghanistan?
By Solaiman M Fazel | (Informed Comment) The brutal murder of a 27 year old Afghan female student, Farkhunda, at the hands of an angry mob in front of the Shah-e Do-Shamshira…
What’s at Stake in Nuclear Talks for Ordinary Iranians
By Saideh Jamshidi Iran's new round of nuclear negotiations with the United Nations is expected to be completed by March 31, today. But one thing is clear: Leader Ali Khamenei wants to…
Saudi airstrike on Yemen Refugee Camp kills 45
RT | - 45 people were killed and another 65 injured in an airstrike by a Saudi-led coalition at a refugee camp in Houthi-controlled northern Yemen on Monday, the International Organization for…
The Forgotten Iraq Front: ISIL besieges the People of Ramadi
VICE News | - "In early March, while the world was watching Iraqi government forces advance on the Islamic State (IS) in Tikrit, IS was launching a series of assaults on what…
Israel’s Netanyahu jumps Shark with “Iran-Lausanne-Yemen” axis barb
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, no longer allowed to sit at the adult table because of his past food fights, has been reduced, as Haaretz observed,…
Climate War on Planet Protested at U of Michigan 50 Yrs after 1st anti-Vietnam War Teach-in
Science for the People | - "This event marks the 50th anniversary of the nation’s first teach-in on the war in Vietnam, held at the University of Michigan on March 24-25, 1965.…
US Air Strikes Split Iraq Coalition aiming to Take Tikrit
By Paul Rogers | (The Conversation) - So it has begun – the US is bombing Tikrit, once a stronghold of Saddam Hussein’s regime and now held by Islamic State militants. Strategically…
Palestinians fear their land will be taken by rising Israeli right
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Palestinians are increasingly anxious for the future and are hesitant on a return to negotiations with Israel in the wake of the success of right-wing parties in Israel's recent…
Yemen: Saudi-Led Airstrikes Take Civilian Toll
Human Rights Watch | - (Beirut) – The Saudi Arabia-led coalition of Arab countries that conducted airstrikes in Yemen on March 26 and 27, 2015, killed at least 11 and possibly as…
A Game-Changer in Syrian War? al-Qaeda-led Factions take Idlib
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - The provincial capital Idlib, a city of 165,000 in the old days and administrative center of the northwestern Idlib province, appears to have fallen completely…
ISIL, Yemen, Syria: Drought, Climate Change and new Wars
By David Reed | (Foreign Policy in Focus) - Natural resource scarcity poses a far broader challenge to prosperity and national security than traditional military threats. The U.S. intelligence and security communities…
French Firm Pulls Out of Jerusalem Cable Car Project
by IMEMC News | - France-based utility giant Suez Environnement said Wednesday that, because of political sensitivities, it has decided not to take part in a cable car project linking West Jerusalem…
Antarctic Ice Melting Faster than Ever in “Unstoppable Decline”
By Laurence Padman, Fernando Paolo and Helen Amanda Fricker | (The Conversation) Ask people what they know about Antarctica and they usually mention cold, snow and ice. In fact, there’s so much…
Who Has A Stake In Yemen Fight?
By Michael Scollon | (RFE/RL) - Yemen is at the center of a proxy war between regional heavyweights Iran and Saudi Arabia. It's the source of fears of a broader Sunni-Shi'ite conflict.…
Lebanon’s Shiite Hizbullah slams Saudi attack on Yemen
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - Hasan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hizbullah, Lebanese Shiite party-militia, weighed in on Friday on the Saudi intervention in Yemen. The Saudis put together a Sunni…
Will Indiana ‘Religious Freedom’ Law permit anti-Gay Discrimination?
Jackie Koppell and Jo Ankier | (TheLipTV) "Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed a religious freedom bill into law amid pressure from opponents who argue that the measure is a secret way for…
More Palestinians killed than any year since1967, Says United Nations
By Valentina Ieri UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - In 2014, the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) saw the worst escalation of hostilities since 1967, said a report by the…
Ted Cruz Thinks Non-Christians Have Too Much Power
Cenk Uygur, John Iadaola and Jimmy Dore | (The Young Turks) - "Cenk Uygur, John Iadaola and Jimmy Dore host of The Young Turks discusses Sen. Ted Cruz and his message for…
The rise of the Israeli far right & the future of Palestine
By Ghassan Khatib | (Ma'an News Agency) - The victory of Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing allies last week at the polls amounts to a major defeat of left and center-left parties…
How GOP threats against Iran have Guaranteed end of European Sanctions
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - The US sanction regime on Iran has a unilateral dimension. That is, there are sanctions only the US applies. Then there is a European dimension,…
Old GOP Realist James Baker’s hard Ride among Neocons
By Carlyn Meyer | (Informed Comment) - (Washington, D.C.) - Neoconservatives are beside themselves over James Baker’s speech at the recent Fifth National Conference of J Street, the pro-Israel lobby. Even before…
Assyrian Christians and the ISIS Assault on the Remains of Nineveh
By Adam H. Becker | (Informed Comment) In their sanctimonious showboating ISIS has trashed the ruins of ancient Assyria and this is a loss for world cultural heritage and more so for…
Why The Iraqi Army Is Stuck On The Outskirts of Tikrit
By Mustafa Habib | (Niqash.org) - (Baghdad) - The offensive to re-take Tikrit from extremists seems to have stalled as troops surround the city but cannot go further. The same thing is…
Founding Fathers decried Standing Army: How about a Global Pentagon?
By William D. Hartung | (Tomdispatch.com) President Obama and Senator John McCain, who have clashed on almost every conceivable issue, do agree on one thing: the Pentagon needs more money. Obama wants…
What’s Religion Got to do with it? German Co-Pilot as Terrorist
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - Once it became clear that Andreas Lubitz, 28, deliberately crashed Germanwings Flight 9525, a reporter immediately asked "what was his religion?" (Parent company Lufthansa said…
Obama: GOP has no Alternative to Obamacare b/c it was their Plan
CBSnews.com | (Web extras) "On the fifth anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, the president slams Republican critics for their unfulfilled predictions of doom and gloom." CBSnews.com: "Obama pokes fun at GOP…
Cleanest Country in the World? Costa Rica goes 100% Renewable Energy
ITN | - (On Demand News) "Costa Rica manages to achieve a clean energy milestone by using only renewable energy for the first 75 days of the year - a record for…
Would a US-Iran Deal end US Military Interventions in ME?
RT | - "Nuclear talks have resumed in Switzerland with the US and Iran struggling to clinch a crucial deal ahead of the March deadline. The western nations want Iran to halt…
Pro-Palestinian ad campaign takes over walls of US cities
By Alex Shams | BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Commuters in cities across the United States were surprised this month to find their daily trips to work adorned with posters and banners calling on…
Washington’s 2 Air Wars: alongside Iran in Iraq, Saudis in Yemen
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - The United States is now involved in two air wars in the Middle East, not to mention more widespread drone actions. US fighter jets have,…
Obama-Netanyahu Tiff worsens: US won’t rule out using UN to create Palestine
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - President Obama put some further hints out there on Tuesday about how he might proceed on Israeli-Paletinian relations in his final two years. Asked if…
Traitor Senators used Israeli Spies against their own Country
By Cenk Uygur and John Iadaola | (The Young Turks) | - "Cenk Uygur (http://www.twitter.com/cenkuygur) and John Iadaola (https://twitter.com/jiadarola) host of The Young Turks discuss a recent report on Israeli spying activities…
As Yemen crumbles, civilians brace for the worst
By Almigdad Mojalli | - SANA'A (IRIN) - Abdu Hasan Dabwan is not willing to let it happen again. Twice before, the 54 year-old says, he waited too long, refusing to flee…
Netanyahu’s Victory did us the favor of ending the Charade
By Yigal Bronner | (Informed Comment) - (Jerusalem) | The results of the Israeli elections are good for everybody. Good, because any remaining fog has cleared, and we now have a perfect…
Jim Crow in the Holy Land
By Phyllis Bennis | (Foreign Policy in Focus) - The last days of the campaign sounded an awful lot like the Jim Crow South, when African Americans had officially won the right…
Mideast Apocalypse 2030: Why Obama wants the Palestine Issue Solved. Now.
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - It began in Hebron, which Palestinians call "al-Khalil," the city of Abraham. Hundreds of thousands of Israel squatters had been enticed into this Palestinian city…
Climate Change: Can the Insurance Industry be saved from Bankruptcy?
Link TV | - "The reinsurance industry insures insurance companies to help reduce risk associated with underwritten policies. Insurance rates have risen in areas with extreme weather events. Frank Nutter, President of…
Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories ‘must end’ – White House chief of staff
RT | - US officials continue to maintain that American policy towards Israel will undergo changes in the wake of pre-election comments made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he stated…
The Rise of ISIL & the Political Bankruptcy of Arab Politics in the Levant
By Ali R. Abootalebi | (Informed Comment) The rise of the so called ‘the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (al-Sham)’ or the ISIL—the Daesh in Arabic—is fundamentally the result of both…
What exactly have the US & EU been doing to Iran’s Economy?
By Luke Johnson | (RFE/RL) Iran has been targeted by a steady dose of economic and military sanctions over the past 35 years, resulting in a maze of red tape intended to…
All the Wars and Coups of President Ted Cruz
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - Texas Senator Ted Cruz, one of three Cuban-Americans in the Senate, is throwing his hat into the ring for the 2016 presidential race today. Cruz…
Israeli control of their water a continuing threat to Palestinians: Report
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Palestinians are suffering from unfair distribution of water resources as Israel is consuming the vast majority of Palestinian water, Palestinian officials said Sunday. A Palestinian farmer harvests wheat during…
US “War on Drugs” ruined Mexico even worse than it did Afghanistan
By Rebecca Gordon | (Tomdispatch.com) - They behead people by the hundreds. They heap headless, handless bodies along roadsides as warnings to those who would resist their power. They have penetrated the…
Obama with Drama: Translating his comments on Israel’s Netanyahu from the Vulcan
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - Now that Leonard Nimoy is most unfortunately no longer with us, Barack Obama is the primary exemplar in American popular culture of the maddeningly calm,…
Tunisia needs Rights and Economic Development, not a ‘War on Terror’
By John Hursh | (Informed Comment) - On Wednesday afternoon, gunmen attacked the Bardo Museum in Tunis, killing at least 20 people. Many more people sustained serious injuries. The casualties included foreign…
Jerusalem a Tinderbox that could Explode: EU Report
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) – A leaked EU report cautioned that Jerusalem has reached its highest point of "polarization and violence" since the Second Intifada in 2005, according to international news sources. Describing the…
Iran’s Lakes becoming Deserts as Climate Change, Dams provoke Aridity
AFP | - "Nazar Sarani's village in southeast Iran was once an island. It is now a desert, a casualty of the country's worsening water crisis. Climate change is blamed, but so…
Palestinian Women: The Oppressed of the Oppressed
By Mel Frykberg | - GAZA CITY (IPS) - Israel’s siege of Gaza, aided and abetted by the Egyptians in the south, has aggravated the plight of Gazan women, and the Jewish…
Yemen Bombing: It’s not ISIL and it’s not Sunni-Shiite Conflict
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - The massive twin bombings at mosques in the capital that shook Yemen on Friday, killing over 100 and wounding many more, were immediately claimed by…
Even if they can Defeat ISIL/ Daesh, Can Iraqi Politicians Get together? The Surprising Answer
By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) - Former political enemies are forming new, non-sectarian alliances to prepare for an extremist-free future. Shiites are partnering with Sunnis and Kurds to support progressive…
Unprecedented CO2 Crimes: Next time, Let’s Call it “Cyclone ExxonMobil”
By David Ray Griffin, author of “Unprecedented: Can Civilization Survive the CO2 Crisis?” (Clarity Press, 2015). | - Cyclone Pam, which this past week caused unprecedented destruction in the South Sea island…
Obama might stop vetoing UNSC Resolutions re: Israel after Netanyahu rejected Palestinian state
RT | - The US is “evaluating” its policy towards Israel in the wake of Benjamin Netanyahu’s re-election and campaign statements. This could involve passing a UN resolution condemning Israeli settlements. President…
Will Palestine now take Israel’s Netanyahu to Int’l Criminal Court for War Crimes?
By Kate Shuttleworth and Joe Dyke | JERUSALEM/BEIRUT (IRIN) - Shortly before Israel’s elections on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that as long as he remained in power there would be…
10 Foot Sea Level Rise Concern: Warm Water Reaching Antarctic Fast-Thinning Glacier
Jackson School of Geoscience News | University of Texas, Austin | - Excerpt: Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin’s Institute for Geophysics (UTIG) in the Jackson School of Geosciences have…
Top 5 Signs of the Decline and Fall of the American Republic
By Tom Engelhardt | (Tomdispatch.com) Have you ever undertaken some task you felt less than qualified for, but knew that someone needed to do? Consider this piece my version of that, and…
Iraq: Shiite Militia atrocities During Fight Against ISIL & Iraq’s Response
Human Rights Watch | (New York) - Militias, volunteer fighters, and Iraqi security forces engaged in deliberate destruction of civilian property after these forces, following US and Iraqi air strikes, forced the…
Tom Friedman & funding ISIL: Israel/Iran Derangement Syndrome
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - Being a liberal Zionist was always a tough thing to pull off, but it is becoming increasingly just impossible. The intrinsic contradiction between wanting social…
Mideast Reacts with Horror: “Israel has elected Extremism and Racism”
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - Observers in the Arab press who contemplated the victory of far right Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu in the Israeli elections express emotions from "concern and…
Growing Up in Syria: Children Images and War
Asaad Al-Saleh | (Informed Comment) When I wrote my book, “Voices of the Arab Spring” (Columbia UP, 2015), I did not feature testimonials by children. Though the book surveys participants from various…Facing Down Anti-Muslim Bigotry Through Faith in America
David Schanzer | (ISLAMiCommentary) - Address to Islamic Association of Raleigh (NC) David Schanzer As-salamu alaykum. Thank you so much for the invitation to address you this afternoon. I am very pleased…
Will Terrorist attack on Tunisia Museum-goers Test Gov’t’s Commitment to Rights?
Human Rights Watch | (Tunis) The despicable attack in the Bardo Museum in Tunis on March 18, 2015, killing at least 19 foreign tourists and Tunisians, will test efforts by the Tunisian authorities…
The Palestinian-Israelis’ Selma Moment?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) Ayman Odah, leader of the Joint Arab List, the party representing Palestinian-Israelis and elements of the Israeli left, responded late Tuesday to the news that Israelis…
The Impotence of the Big Dick strain of American Nationalism
By Nan Levinson | (Tomdispatch.com) Let’s face it: we live in a state of pervasive national security anxiety. There are various possible responses to this low-grade fever that saps resolve, but first…
United Nations: 100,000 Gazans Still Homeless Since Summer Attack
By IMEMC News & Agencies | - The official UN death-toll for the 2014 war shows that 1,549 Palestinian civilians were killed in comparison to four Israelis, and 504 Palestinian children were…
Syria: Signs of Popular Backlash Against al-Qaeda
By Robert S. Ford and Tony Ghazal Mouawad | (Informed Comment) As the Syrian civil war drags into its fifth year, the al-Qai'da linked Nusra Front [Support Front] has a reputation as…
Apartheid Forever: Israel’s Netanyahu rules out Palestinian Citizenship Rights
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, under extreme pressure over the real possibility that he will lose the March 17 elections, has made a powerful appeal to…
Worst than ISIL: Iraq’s US-caused Public Health Catastrophe
By Mozhgan Savabieasfahani | (Informed Comment) The Iraqi people, once the envy of the Arab world for their outstanding educational and health-care systems, have been reduced to a nation of refugees, flung…
Palestine: 2014 sees Record number of Journalists Targeted
RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) said Sunday that 2014 saw 465 violations of media freedoms in the occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.…
Palestinian-Israelis Aspire to National Role after Elections
France24 | - At 20% of the Israeli population, Israelis of Palestinian heritage have united to back a single party and for the first time could lead the opposition in parliament with…
Dear MSM: The Israeli Elections are about Minority rights, not Iran
By Sammy Smooha | (The Conversation) There are 5.3 million eligible voters living in Israel today (votes may be not cast abroad). Among these voters there are three main minority (non-dominant) groups.…
Top 5 ways Netanyahu sabotaged US and Israel Interests
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - Binyamin Netanyahu is fighting the most difficult political battle of his life. His party seems likely to come in smaller than the center-left coalition of…
Shale Oil is no Savior- its rail cars keep exploding in our home towns
By Tom Giesen | (Informed Comment) On July 6th, 2013, a train composed of tank cars filled with shale oil sat on the railroad tracks above the town of Lac Megantic, Quebec.…
Gaza: Child Survivors with PTSD – Aftermath of the Israeli offensive
RT | - "The UN is looking into possible war-crimes committed by Israel in Gaza. RT's Bel Trew has the stories of those who survivor the offensive." RT: "Child Survivors: Aftermath of…
Why is no one asking? Did GOP & Israel Lobbies write Iran Letter for the good of America?
By Hamid Zangeneh | (Informed Comment) People who worry about American national interests and security fall in one of the two categories: they either trust the President to advance national interests and…
Could Sunni-Shiite Rift make Tikrit a Pyrrhic Victory? Al-Azhar & Shiite Militias
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) The foremost Sunni Muslim seat of learning, al-Azhar University in Cairo, has stirred controversy by issuing a considered legal opinion (fatwa) condemning the Shiite militias or…
European Leaders: GOP Letter Helped Iran in Nuclear Negotiations
By Sarah Lazare | (Commondreams.org) - An open letter to Iranian leaders from 47 Republican senators has provoked sharp rebuke from European countries that are party to the nuclear talks. Germany's foreign…
Cyclone Pam & Vanuatu’s Global Warming future: Fewer but Worse Storms
BBC News | - "A huge tropical cyclone with winds up to 270km/h (170mph) has devastated parts of the island nation of Vanuatu in the South Pacific. Cyclone Pam is being described…
Why Tough Talk from Netanyahu won’t Guarantee his Election Victory
By Simon Mabon | (The Conversation) - For decades, Israeli politicians have argued that they live in a “tough neighbourhood” in an effort to justify and legitimise their foreign policy. While historically…
Could a Netanyahu loss in Israeli Elections change Everything?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - Israeli polling is suggesting that Binyamin Netanyahu's party might get only 21 seats or less in the 120-seat Israeli parliament, with his rivals, the Zionist…
GOP Senators tried to instruct Iran, showed own Ignorance of the Law
By Curtis A Bradley, Duke University | (The Conversation) - On March 9, forty-seven Republican Senators signed an open letter directed at Iran’s leaders, ostensibly to warn them about the limited effect…
Not a Jewish State: Palestinian-Israelis form Coalition that could be 3rd Largest Party
CCTV America | - "For the first time, Arab political groups are united as one party for Israel’s parliamentary elections and could influence the selection of the next prime minister of Israel.…
As Islamic State retreats, aid workers uncover human toll
By Louise Redvers | (IRIN) - BAGHDAD/LONDON, (IRIN) - A week after launching a major offensive to recapture the city of Tikrit, pro-government forces in Iraq claim they are close to reclaiming…
Iran’s Khamenei: GOP Letter Disgusting, shows Decline of American System
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei spoke Thursday about the letter signed by 47 Republican senators that had been sent to him warning that any nuclear deal he…
Saturn’s moon Enceladus has an Ocean, Geysers and maybe Life
By Andrew Coates | (The Conversation) The Cassini mission that has investigated Saturn since 2004 has revealed much about the giant planet and its many moons. Perhaps most tantalising is the discovery…
Just How dangerous is Sen. Tom Cotton, Iran Letter Crackpot? You’d be Surprised
By Medea Benjamin and Nalini Ramachandran | (Foreign Policy in Focus) Hailing from Arkansas, 37-year-old Senator Cotton boasts the title of being the youngest member of the Senate, but he spouts the…
As state Sinks, GOP forbids Fla. State Enviro workers from saying “Climate Change”
RT America| - "The agency responsible for setting and enforcing conservation guidelines for the state of Florida, the Department of Environmental Protection, reportedly issued directives banning other state workers from using terms…
Is Big Oil Finally Entering a Climate Change World?
By Michael T. Klare | (Tomdispatch.com) Many reasons have been provided for the dramatic plunge in the price of oil to about $60 per barrel (nearly half of what it was a…
Contrary to Israeli PM, alternative to realistic Iran Nuclear Deal is *no* Deal
By Thomas Graham, Jr. | (Informed Comment) A possible agreement on the nuclear issue with Iran has been much in the news these days. The United States has been trying to restrain…
Satellite Imaging Shows 4/5s of Lights across Syria have gone out
By Josh Butler | - UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - A single image can be more powerful, more descriptive and more potent than an entire essay – ‘ a picture says a thousand…
Israeli Army Incursion into Central Gaza to Bulldoze Farmland
By Saed Bannoura | IMEMC & Agencies - Several armored Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers carried out, on Wednesday morning, a limited invasion into an area east of the al-Maghazi refugee camp,…
Dear Sweden: HR Dispute with Saudis makes this a good time to adopt Electric Cars
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) First, the new left wing government in Sweden cancelled an arms sale to Saudi Arabia, even though Prime Minister Stefan Lofven favored it. (He had been…
Ghosts of Saladin, Saddam & Khomeini: Tikrit Campaign’s Historical Meaning
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - The Iraqi forces (one-third army, two-thirds Shiite militias) that are surrounding Tikrit 80 miles north of Baghdad are not just Iraqi forces. They are mostly…
Did GOP Leaders Betray Our Country By Writing Letter to Iran?
Cenk Uygur | (The Young Turks) - ""Cenk Uygur (http://www.twitter.com/cenkuygur) host of The Young Turks discusses the continuing developments between the United States and its allies and Iran regarding their Nuclear program.…
On Int’l Women’s Day, Lebanese Anchor stands up to Sexist Sheikh
Elliott Hill and Mark Sovel | The Lip TV | - "Sexist Islamist scholar Hani Al-Seba’i told Lebanese television host Rima Karaki to shut up in an interview on Lebanon’s Al Jadeed…
5 Things Official Washington won’t Tell you about Netanyahu’s Israel
Bill Van Esveld | (Human Rights Watch) - Amid the controversy around Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s speech to the US Congress, the Obama administration’s National Security Council (NSC) recently published “five…
Dems on Hill line up with Obama on Iran Deal after GOP Letter Stunt
By Luke Johnson | (RFE/RL) WASHINGTON -- Democratic Party backers of a bipartisan bill requiring congressional review of a potential deal to limit Iran's nuclear program are concerned that a Republican letter…
The Letter: Top 5 Similarities of GOP and Iran Hard Liners
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - 47 GOP senators sent a letter to Iran on Monday warning that country that any agreement only signed off on by President Obama might not…
Oklahoma: SAE Fraternity has Troubled History of Race Vandalism, Hazing
KJRH-TV | (Tulsa) - An Oklahoma station reports that SAE fraternity members have been involved in anti-Semitic and anti-Native American acts of vandalism as well as the racist chant against African-Americans recorded…
Iran FM Zarif Schools GOP Senators on Int’l Law: This is a UNSC Resolution
From the web page of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Dr. Zarif's Response to the Letter of US Senators Asked about the open letter of 47 US Senators to Iranian leaders,…
Israeli Foreign Minister Lieberman Suggests Decapitation for Disloyal Arabs
By IMEMC News | - Israeli Foreign Minister and the head of Yisrael Beiteinu Party, Avigdor Lieberman, lashed out at Israel's Arab citizens, Sunday, threatening to cut their heads off with an…
From Iraq’s Next big Front: Kurdish Fighters Closing in on Mosul
VICE News | - "With the timeline unclear for a forthcoming US-led coalition assault on the Islamic State (IS) stronghold of Mosul, Kurdish peshmerga fighters continue to man the trenches at the…
Bombing Iran: What would Happen if the Hawks got their Way?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - Some of those who believe that Iran's civilian nuclear enrichment program is inevitably dual use (that it can be used to produce a nuclear weapon)…
Is Israel’s Election about enacting Jim Crow for 20% of its Citizens?
By Jo Roberts | (Informed Comment) - Israelis go to the polls on March 17 to elect a new government. The incoming Knesset will face an issue that fractured the previous coalition:…
Treason of the Wonks: How to Create a National Insecurity State
By Andrew J. Bacevich | (Tomdispatch.com) - Policy intellectuals -- eggheads presuming to instruct the mere mortals who actually run for office -- are a blight on the republic. Like some invasive…
Iraqi Flees ISIL to Dallas, Shot Dead while taking Picture of First Snowfall
By RFE/RL | - Police in Dallas have released surveillance footage on March 7 of four suspects in the shooting and killing of an Iraqi man. Police are not ruling out that…
Tel Aviv: Tens of Thousands Rally against Netanyahu
By IMEMC News | - Tens of thousands of Israelis rallied on Saturday evening, in Yitzhak Rabin Square, Tel Aviv, calling for the current Israeli Prime Minister to be replaced in the…
African-Americans still struggle for Full Citizenship Rights, Voting Rights
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - 50 years after the Selma march to Montgomery, African-Americans still face substantial impediments to their full citizenship in the United States. We all saw the…
Families See Hope for Justice in Palestinian Membership of ICC
By Khaled Alashqar | - GAZA CITY (IPS) - “I have lost all meaning in life after the death of my child, I will never forgive anyone who caused the tearing apart…
Some Good News from the Middle East: Obama could end 36-yr U.S.-Iran standoff
By Chris Toensing | (Foreign Policy in Focus) - There’s not much good news coming out of the Middle East these days. But one reason to take heart is the progress of…
Palestinian from Occupied E. Jerusalem injures 5 Israeli Police in Car Attack
JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian ran his vehicle into a group of Israeli officers in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Friday, Israeli sources said. The driver was Muhammad Mahmoud…
50 Yrs after Selma – Good News: Black President; Bad News: Asks for Return of Voting Rights
Barack Obama | (Whitehouse.gov) - The White House: "President Obama Delivers Remarks on the 50th Anniversary of the Selma Marches" Full text of President Obama's speech at Selma: It is a rare…
The “Hindenburg Trap”: Dump Oil, Coal & Gas Stocks if you Want to Retire
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - What is the actual value of the oil, gas and coal fields owned by big energy corporations, which gives them their stock price and allows…
ISIS Vs Climate Change – Which Kills More? Russell Brand The Trews
Russell Brand | (The Trewes) - "Reaction to the news that President Obama has said the media “absolutely” overstates the threat of terrorism in comparison to the threat of climate change. Head…
Iraq: What is the meaning of the Assyrian capital ISIL just demolished?
Channel 4 News | - "[So-called] Islamic State [group] militants looted and bulldozed the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud in northern Iraq, government officials say." Channel 4 News: "ISIS militants demolish ancient…
ISIL vs the Graven Idols of History
By Elliott Colla | (Baghdad Central) - ISIS's destruction of antiquities at the Mosul Museum and the ancient city of Nimrud has generated a lot of discussion and disgust, all of it…
Insulting Netanyahu: How Bibi got Everything Wrong and called you Stupid
By Farhang Jahanpour | (TFF) After all the huffing and puffing and all the aroused expectations about the speech by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the joint session of US…
Iraq: 30,000 Sunnis flee as Shiite Militias, Army, approach Tikrit
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) The Iraqi military and allied Shiite militias are mounting a campaign to take the largely Sunni town of Tikrit (original pop. 300,000), which is alleged to…
Iran and America’s Memory Hole
By Dr. Arnold J. Oliver | (Informed Comment) Although Israeli Prime Minister Netenyahu in his speech to Congress painted Iran as a threat to peace, he left out important details concerning the…
Chart: Refuting the lie that Germany’s Green Energy Switch Hasn’t reduced CO2
Renewablesinternational.net | - Courtesy Renewables International
Gaza Power Plant Closes Due to Lack of Fuel
By IMEMC News & Agencies The Gaza Strip's sole power plant was shut down, Wednesday evening, as Qatari-donated fuel supplies finally ran out, a Gaza power authority said. "The power plant stopped…
Drone program Crashing as Spiritually Damaged Pilots quit in Droves
By Pratap Chatterjee | (Tomdispatch.com) - The U.S. drone war across much of the Greater Middle East and parts of Africa is in crisis and not because civilians are dying or the…
Syria: As al-Qaeda defeats ‘moderate’ US allies, will US ally with al-Qaeda?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - President Obama's impossibly complicated plan for dealing with ISIL involves a de facto alliance with Iran in Iraq, and training up a 'third force,' essentially…
IRAQ – Child soldiers forced into combat alongside ISIL Fighters
France24 | - "[So-called] ISLAMIC STATE - In Iraq, little boys are sent to the frontlines. Seen by the Islamic State group as devil worshipers, and not even fit to convert to…
US Gen.: Iran’s Role In Iraq’s Fight Against Islamic State Might be Positive
By Frud Bezhan | (RFE/RL) The Iraqi government has launched an offensive against Islamic State militants (IS) in the northern city of Tikrit, but Iran appears to be leading the charge. The…
Keystone XL Opponents Interrogated by FBI
TheLipTV | - "Keystone XL pipeline opponents are being interrogated by the FBI who are using what one lawyer called “intimidation” and “force," according to recent reports. This comes after President Barack…
Netanyahu Doesn’t Speak For These Jews
AJ+ | - "Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he came to Congress to share his fears about Iran on behalf of all Jewish people. But these protesters and artists say “Bibi…
Iran Reformers – Talks will Succeed: Netanyahu ‘not Influential,’ like Iran Hardliners
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - How did Iranian politicians react to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's anti-Iran speech to the US Congress? Iran's first woman vice president, who has the…
Snowden will return to US if fair trial guaranteed – NSA whistleblower’s lawyer
RT | - "Edward Snowden would go to the US if he was sure that he would face a fair trial there, the former NSA contractor’s lawyer Anatoly Kucherena says." RT: "Snowden…
Climate Change helped Provoke Syrian Conflict & it won’t be the Last
By Thalif Deen | - UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - Was the four-year-old military conflict in Syria, which has claimed the lives of over 200,000 people, mostly civilians, triggered at least in part…
Earth’s Fate: The Obama Administration, Shell, and Drilling the Arctic
By Subhankar Banerjee | (Tomdispatch.com) - Here’s a Jeopardy!-style question for you: “Eight different species of whales can be seen in these two American seas.” Unless you’re an Iñupiaq, a marine biologist,…
Israel’s Squatter Settlements on Palestinian Land Undermine its Security
Bill Van Esveld | (Human Rights Watch) - Israel’s prime minister has set the agenda for his visit to Washington, DC: the impact on Israel’s security of the Obama administration’s approach to…
4 Things more Dangerous to Israel than Iran’s civilian Nuclear Enrichment
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's strident and continual harping on the alleged dangers of Iran to Israel's security has become like an old song. Netanyahu…
Palestine to take Israel to Int’l Criminal Court for War Crimes
RT | - A Palestinian man stands at his makeshift shelter near the ruins of his house that witnesses said was destroyed by Israeli shelling during a 50-day war last summer, on…
Gaza’s sole power plant to close as funding runs out
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Gaza's only power plant is due to shut down by the end of this week as donor funding for fuel in the coastal territory has run out, officials…
The problem with Iraq’s offensive against the Islamic State
BAGHDAD (IRIN) - As the Iraqi army and affiliated militias sweep into northern Iraq to try to re-take the city of Tikrit from so-called Islamic State (IS), the local civilians are fearful they…
“Kiss Me!” Bibi Tells Boehner: Bibi and Boehner as Mario and the Magician
By Raouf J. Halaby | (LeMonde Diplomatique) - Published in 1929, German author Thomas Mann’s novella Mario and the Magician is not only Mann’s evocatively compelling and poignantly potent comment on the…
What does Iran think of Netanyahu’s Interference in Talks?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - As Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu makes a bid to thwart President Barack Obama's foreign policy toward Iran, the Iranian press is reacting to the…
Gaza’s Food Insecurity made even worse by Environmental Damage of Israel’s War, Blockade
By Mel Frykberg BEIT LAHIYA, Northern Gaza Strip (IPS) - Extensive damage to Gaza’s environment as a result of the Israeli blockade and its devastating military campaign against the coastal territory during…
British University SOAS Votes to Boycott Israeli Academic Institutions
By Alternative Information Center | - A historic victory for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement was achieved Friday in the referendum on the academic boycott of Israel, at the School…
It’s Climate Change: Under-30s have never seen a Month cooler than 20th Century Average
Richard B Rood, University of Michigan | (The Conversation) - If you’re younger than 30, you’ve never experienced a month in which the average surface temperature of the Earth was below average.…
180 Frmr Israeli Security Officials to PM Netanyahu: Cancel US Speech, which pushes Iran toward Bomb
RT | - More than 180 former leaders from Israel’s security apparatus urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel his planned speech to Congress on Tuesday, fearing it may bring Iran closer…
5 Things Benjamin Netanyahu Won’t Tell Congress
AJ+ | - "He's back. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu – questing to win hearts, minds and votes back home during election season – will be speaking to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday,…
Iranian Cleric Says ‘Final Steps’ Being Taken In Nuclear Talks
By Golnaz Esfandiari | (RFE/RL) Tehran's provisional Friday Prayers leader says the "final steps" are being taken in Iran's talks with six global powers aimed at reaching an agreement curbing Tehran's disputed…
Israel to demolish homes of dozens of Bedouins in Abu Dis
JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Dozens of Palestinian Bedouins from the al-Jahalin community in eastern Abu Dis have received orders from Israeli forces to demolish their homes themselves. The steel structures in which the…
Some U.S. leaders to refuse meeting with Israeli PM during Washington trip
CCTV America | -- "Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet with lawmakers a few weeks before elections in Israel. CCTV America's Nathan King filed this report from Washington." CCTV: "Some U.S. leaders…