Monday, July 13, 2009 7:30 pm The Brecht Forum, 451 West Street (between Bank & Bethune Streets), New York Please join us for a roundtable discussion with three leading Iranian analysts: Ervand Abrahamian, Hamid Dabashi, and Arang Keshavarzian. The discussion will be moderated by Leili Kashani and be opened up to the public. Come […]
Archive | Commentary
Monthly Review Magazine
War, Islamists, and the Left
The US war machine continues to inflict untold miseries on the people of the world and particularly those of the Muslim faith. Barack Obama, the first black president in the history of the United States, has repeatedly promised to repair some of the damage wreaked by his predecessor on the international stage. But the […]
Israeli Parliament Bill Aims to Punish Those Who Help “Illegal” Immigrants and Refugees
Israelis caught assisting “illegal” immigrants could soon receive the same punishment as the people they help. If a bill being discussed in the Knesset (the Israeli parliament) becomes law, it would be the only legislation in the world that mandates equal punishment for both parties, a leading Communist Party member MK Dov Khenin says. The […]
Honduras: The Moment of Truth for the Obama Administration
The military coup currently underway in Honduras is a hard coup accompanied by various vain attempts to make it appear soft and “constitutionalist.” Behind the coup are diverse social, economic, and political forces, of which the most important is the administration of President Barack Obama. No important change can happen in Honduras without Washington’s […]
President Zelaya: De Facto Government’s Military Repression Is a Criminal Act
Caracas, 5 July 2009, ABN — The legitimate president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, said this Sunday from El Salvador that the repression that the de facto government of Honduras carried out against demonstrators, who were peacefully calling for the return of the constitutional president, is a criminal act. “The acts of violence committed on Sunday […]
Reflections on the Left
Perhaps the most significant feature of the recent Indian election is the loss suffered by the Left. The BJP’s defeat was more or less anticipated, except by the psephologists, as was some loss by the Left; but the actual extent of the Left’s loss has been quite staggering. True, its vote share has fallen only […]
Maimonides: Turn Him Over and Over Again for Everything Is in Him
Arthur Hyman, Alfred Ivry, ed. Maimonidean Studies. Volume 5. Jersey City: KTAV Publishing House, 2008. 442 pp. $49.50 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-88125-941-4. The fifth volume of Maimonidean Studies is an eclectic amalgam of studies, the majority of which are based on papers delivered at a conference in New York City commemorating the 800th anniversary of […]
Putschist (and Racist) Foreign Minister of Honduras
The putschist foreign minister of Honduras, Enrique Ortez Colindres, in the midst of negotiations to restore the legitimate president, Manuel Zelaya, to the government, fulminated on television against virtually the entire world. Ortez Colindres referred to US President Barack Obama as “that Black boy who doesn’t know anything about anything.” Asked about the international condemnation […]
Russian Public Wary of Obama
Questionnaire/Methodology (PDF) When President Obama arrives in Russia for the Moscow summit he may face a cool reception. A new poll of Russians, conducted by the Levada Center as part of a larger WorldPublicOpinion.org poll, finds that just 23 percent of Russians have confidence in Obama to do the right thing in international affairs, while […]
Morocco: An Alternative to Iran?
A recent article by Anne Applebaum, published under two separate titles in the Washington Post (“Morocco, an Alternative to Iran”) and Slate (“Morocco Makes Peace with Its Past”), has caused quite a stir amongst Moroccan bloggers, as well as on Twitter and in forums. The article, which suggests Morocco as a model for democracy coexisting […]
Joint Statement of Iranian Documentary Filmmakers on Iran Today
Iranian Documentary Filmmakers’ Declaration Déclaration des documentaristes du cinéma iranien بیانیه جمعی از مستندسازان سینمای ایران درباره ایران امروز We say this as a warning: depriving citizens of peaceful and respectful communication in the midst of the tense circumstances of the present time can lead to a violent reaction on the part of society, […]
It’s Not about Zelaya
Manuel “Mel” Zelaya is a rancher and business owner who wears large cowboy hats and, in November 2005, was elected president of Honduras, an impoverished Central American country with a population of 7.5 million. On June 28 of this year the Honduran military, backed by the country’s elite, removed Zelaya from power. He instantly became […]
The Israeli Idea of a “Palestinian State”
To judge by the next day’s headlines, Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy speech last month was a great success. “Israeli Premier Backs State for Palestinians,” declared the New York Times. “Israel Endorses Two-State Goal,” said the Washington Post. “Netanyahu Backs Palestinian State,” announced the Guardian. He did no such thing, of course, unless by “state” one understands […]
The Desert Is Covered with Fog
“The Desert Is Covered with Fog,” based on Ahmad Shamlou’s poem “Fog,” performed by Mohsen Namjoo: vimeo.com/5429764. This video clip is a work of Mostafa Heravi in collaboration with Radio Zamaneh. It is dedicated by Mohsen Namjoo, Mostafa Heravi, Kaveh Modiri, Sina Karim Khani, Sohrab Bayat, and Aboozar Amini to all the Iranians who […]
Iran: The Game of Nations
There is a difference between the outlook of a secular generation of Iranian youth, yearning for a life in which religion (in the form of a clergy directing a theological state) refrains from meddling in their personal lives and individual fates as citizens, and the foreign and domestic policy considerations of the reformist trend. A […]
Economy Loses 467,000 Jobs in June, Unemployment Edges Up to 9.5 Percent
Unemployment among men is near its all-time high on record. The economy shed another 467,000 jobs in June, as the unemployment rate edged up to 9.5 percent. The rise in unemployment would have been higher except 155,000 people left the workforce, pushing down the employed percentage of the population (EPOP) by 0.2 percentage points to […]
The United States Is the Only Remaining Country in the Americas Still Maintaining Diplomatic Relations with Honduras after Sunday’s Coup
Thursday, July 2, 2009 DAY 5: MASS PROTESTS IN HONDURAS AGAINST COUP; TENS OF THOUSANDS MARCHING ON THE CAPITAL TO AWAIT PRESIDENT ZELAYA’S RETURN Despite the suspension of constitutional rights in place as of yesterday, per a decree by the Honduran congress in support of the coup government, tens of thousands of Hondurans are mobilizing […]
Honduran Popular Movements Wait for Insulza outside OAS in Tegucigalpa
Tegucigalpa, 3 July 2009, ABN — Thousands of Hondurans who marched this Friday from the Francisco Morazán National Pedagogical University, at the heart of the city of Tegucigalpa, to the headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS) in the Central American nation of Honduras are waiting for the meeting of José Miguel Insulza and […]
Al Jazeera Returns to Streets of Tehran
“About 4 kilometers behind me, there is a square in Tehran called Enqelab Square, which means revolution. A couple of hundreds of meters that way is the famous monument of Azadi Square, which means freedom. The road between Revolution and Freedom Squares has been the scene of some of the greatest rallies in Iran. Freedom […]
Repression in Honduras
The director of “Llaguno Bridge, Keys to a Massacre,” Angel Palacios, is in Tegucigalpa, from where he sent this video. Angel Palacios, the director of “Llaguno Bridge, Keys to a Massacre,” is in Honduras, recording repression during the coup d’état. Uploaded to YouTube on 30 June 2009. Published by Radio Nacional de Venezuela and YVKE […]
