Geography Archives: Middle East

The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation revealed today the text of a secret anti-Palestinian resolution to be voted on by the House of Representatives later in the day.  The full text of the draft resolution, not yet made public officially, is reprinted below.* The resolution, introduced by Rep. Howard Berman, Chair of the […]

Scarcely a day after the WikiLeaks disclosures of U.S. State Department cables the U.S. political establishment went ballistic.  Some called for the assassination of WikiLeaks’ spokesperson, Julian Assange, whereas others wanted to amend the 1917 Espionage Act to target the website.  Targeted “denial of service” attacks shut down the web site, and then the political […]

  “The silent vigils started with the disappearance of Hasan Ocak, who was detained by police in Istanbul on March 21, 1995.  55 days later, his tortured body was uncovered in a graveyard for unidentified people.  Ocak’s family and friends led the first sit-down protest. . . .” Bijoyeta Das is an independent multimedia journalist […]

Israeli police have been criticized over their treatment of hundreds of Palestinian children, some as young as seven, arrested and interrogated on suspicion of stone throwing in East Jerusalem. In the past year, criminal investigations have been opened against more than 1,200 Palestinian minors in Jerusalem on stone-throwing charges, according to police statistics gathered by […]

  On Sunday, 12 December, the Iran Committee organized a demonstration in Amsterdam against “human rights violations” in Iran.  This committee was initiated by the Centre for Information and Documentation about Israel (CIDI), which is an influential pro-Israel lobby.  The leadership of this committee consists of right-wing politicians, Christian fundamentalists, anti-Muslim racists, and unfortunately a […]

  Hooman Majd: Most average Americans, if they only follow the news on Iran the way it is presented, wouldn’t even know that there is a parliament, wouldn’t even know that there are three branches of government in Iran, like America: there’s the executive; there’s the legislative, which is the parliament; and there’s the judiciary.  […]

  Reed Lindsay: It’s election day in Egypt, the second round of parliamentary balloting.  But in this working-class suburb of Cairo, few people seem to care. “There are no free and fair elections.  All the opposition parties withdrew.  A lot of us are unemployed.  So why should we vote?” “All we are seeing is corruption, […]

  “When you are in love with two persons at the same time. . . .” “I could have married the both of you if I were a man.” “Well, of course I wouldn’t have accepted your proposal while another woman named Ahmad was also involved. . . .” Written, edited, and directed by Saeed […]

  Reference ID Date Classification Origin 08BEIRUT1348 2008-09-15 02:18 SECRET/NOFORN Embassy Beirut VZCZCXRO3042 PP RUEHAG RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV DE RUEHLB #1348/01 2591418 ZNY SSSSS ZZH P 151418Z SEP 08 FM AMEMBASSY BEIRUT TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3034 INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY RUEAIIA/CIA […]

“My name is Bassam ‘Aramin. I am a resident of the town of Anata. . . . At 9:30 am on 16 January 2007, an Israeli Border Guard soldier shot my daughter ‘Abeer in the head from a distance of 15 meters. She died two days later in the hospital. . . . The soldier who killed my daughter is still free.”

Fall 2010 was marked by a drastic rise in attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians. . . . According to a report published by the United Nation’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, during the olive harvest 50 such attacks against Palestinians were reported.  127 Palestinians were injured in these incidents, and over 3,700 […]

December 3, 2010 Dear President Obama, A week ago, I wrote you on this same subject but since I’ve not yet received a reply either personal or automated, I felt I should try again. As president of Veterans For Peace (VFP), a national organization of military veterans, I want to convey to you our serious […]

Reformist actions on Student Day in Iran, 7 December 2010 (16 Azar 1389). . . . The 16 Azar assembly of the Islamic Student Association, Tehran University and Tehran University of Medical Sciences Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan Islamic Azad University, Behbahan Amir Kabir University Amir Kabir University […]

After September 11th, 2001, one of the liberal justifications for the military intervention against Afghanistan was the oppression of women, but also of gays, by the Taliban.  People in Europe and the USA received with shock the news that same-sex couples were publicly executed in the Kabul Stadium by bringing down a wall upon them […]

UAW President Bob King and his corporate partners at GM, Ford, and Chrysler-Fiat will blame the competition they’ve rigged on workers and relentlessly degrade them into believing they are worth less and less as profits rise.  That’s not a guess, it’s the drill. History lessons must be revised before the profiteers of war and labor […]

  To His Excellency Mahmoud Abbas President of the Palestinian National Authority Mr. President, I have carefully read the letter of 24 November, by which Your Excellency asks Brazil to recognize the Palestinian state on the 1967 borders. As Your Excellency knows, Brazil has historically advocated, particularly under my government, the achievement of the legitimate […]

In the run-up to a new round of nuclear talks between the P5+1 and Iran on Monday, Western commentators are re-hashing old arguments that the Islamic Republic is either too politically divided or too dependent on hostility toward the United States for its legitimacy to be seriously interested in a nuclear deal.  From this perspective, […]

On December 5th one or two hundred people left a movie theater in Berlin, mostly silent and deeply moved though the film they had seen was first released in 1930.  This American-made epic had lost none of its extremely emotional appeal.  It was All Quiet on the Western Front and the date of its showing […]

Dear Mr. Stewart, Remember your “Rally to Restore Sanity” in DC last October?  I’m sorry, but my sanity remains unrestored.  In fact, I’ve been feeling increasingly deranged.  It’s like I’m speeding down Life’s superhighway at 666 miles per hour, headed for Nut City, where I am due to give my inaugural speech as Mayor. At […]

Participate and Vote . . . . . . if you can break through the Central Security Forces. Doaa Eladl is a cartoonist in Cairo, Egypt.  This cartoon was published by Al-Masry Al-Youm on 27 November 2010 under a Creative Commons license.  Cf. “Opposition Protest Parliamentary Vote Rigging” (Ahram Online, 4 December 2010); “Poca participación […]