Geography Archives: Middle East

Nous appelons, alors que le Moyen-Orient est plongé dans sa crise la plus grave depuis des années, à une action urgente de la part de la communauté internationale en vue d’un règlement global au conflit israélo-arabe. Nous sommes tous perdants dans ce conflit, à l’exception des extrémistes, qui prospèrent à travers le monde en exploitant […]

General William Tecumseh Sherman declared that “War is hell,” but every grunt or swab that has ever served knows that, more than anything else, war is work.  Staging operations, killing people, breaking their things, and sometimes cleaning up the mess, all involve tremendous amounts of human labor. Current estimates are that there are at least […]

Oiseau terrorisé par l’enfer tombant du ciel, Muhammad se niche dans l’étreinte de son père : Protège-moi De l’envol, père, mon aile est encore Petite pour le vent . . . et la lumière est noire Muhammad Voudrait rentrer à la maison, Sans vélo . . . ou chemise neuve. Il voudrait retrouver le banc […]

On Friday the Senate is expected to vote on legislation passed Thursday by the House that would tighten U.S. sanctions on Iran and on our allies who trade with Iran.  This legislation would undermine the negotiations with Iran that are currently taking place in Europe.  Press reports have indicated that the talks in Europe could […]

  Face à l’évènement, certains veulent faire supporter à la Résistance tout le poids de cette guerre.  C’est endosser l’erreur.  La grande majorité des analystes politiques internationaux savent que cette guerre était prévue à courte échéance, avec ou sans prétexte ; Israël ne manque pas d’en créer au besoin.  Souvenons-nous de l’invasion de 1982 : […]

WE ARE NOT WHAT WE SEEM: Black Nationalism and Class Struggle in the American Century by Roderick D. BushBUY THIS BOOK Roderick Bush is an Associate Professor in the Sociology Department at St. John’s University in New York.  He is the author of We Are Not What We Seem: Black Nationalism and Class Struggle in […]

  Nearly 45 religious leaders from Christian and Muslim faith backgrounds met with the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Sept. 20, in an open discussion about the role religious communities can play in reversing the deepening crisis between Iran and the United States. This was the first face-to-face meeting between the Iranian leader and leaders from […]

  “We believe the production or use of nuclear weapons is immoral.” — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Hours after he spoke to the United Nations, the Iranian president made this clear, unequivocal statement to a group of us during a private meeting in New York.  The Mennonite Central Committee organized an extraordinary, private session for […]

  Madam President, Distinguished Heads of State and Government, Distinguished Heads of Delegation, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen I praise the merciful, all-knowing and almighty God for blessing me with another opportunity to address this Assembly on behalf of the great nation of Iran and to bring a number of issues to the attention of the […]

I was branded and factory-stamped into this world in 1959, a miniature Golem for American girlhood.  I was a plastic anorexic girl-on-the-go, long legs, diamond-pointy breasts, and blonde, blonde, blonde — designed to protect you kiddies from Communism.  Go to my website.  I’ve been a model, an astronaut, a doctor, lawyer, politician, nurse, princess, rock […]

  Prodded by Amnesty International (AI), the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Asian Human Rights Commission, Reporters Without Borders, and other international organizations, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo recently cobbled a group to look into the allegations of massive human rights violations — over 729 victims of extrajudicial killings, and 180 involuntary “disappearances,” by the latest count — during her […]

Coordinatrice des Campagnes civiles internationales pour la protection du peuple palestinien (CCIPPP), Nahla Chahal est chercheur à Paris.  Elle fut l’une des dirigeantes, dans les années 1970, de l’Organisation d’action communiste du Liban (OACL).  De retour du Liban, où elle a passé plus d’un mois pendant l’offensive israélienne, elle raconte et analyse ces événements. Quel […]

“A critical component of the overall strategy is to contain expenditures within revenues and available financing, by prioritizing expenditures, controlling the wage and pensions bill, reducing subsidies on petroleum products, and expanding the participation of the private sector in the domestic market for petroleum products. . . . The authorities have recently increased prices of […]

  I am honored to write this preface to the Turkish edition of my book, Naming the System: Inequality and Work in the Global Economy.  I thank Neset Kutlug and everyone else who helped bring this edition to fruition.  I wrote the book with an international audience in mind, so it is gratifying to see […]

Praise/Protest your Senator for voting for/against the use of cluster bombs in Lebanon. In response to Israel’s use of American-made cluster bombs in heavily populated areas of Lebanon, Senators Feinstein and Leahy introduced legislation that would require recipients of such munitions not to use them in or near civilian centers.  The Cluster Munitions Amendment failed […]

“I was born by the river in a little tent And just like the river, I’ve been running ever since It’s been a long time coming But I know a change is gonna come.” — Sam Cooke Dear family & friends, “A Change Is Gonna Come” was one of my favorite anthems back in the […]

  In the Name of God Ladies and Gentlemen, Distinguished Guests, “As-Salam-u-‘Alaikum” — Peace be upon you. Knowledge of the human soul has been one of the most significant debates in philosophical discourse throughout history.  A part of this tale was written in the Orient and another part in the Occident.  It is important to […]

  A small kitten scampers up the steps of ivy-laden Cobb Hall at the University of Chicago.  Nearby, a mohawked student attempts to spear a stale, “dumpstered,” bagel mid-air with a PVC pipe.  He’s surrounded by dozens of other young radicals mingling in the school’s immaculate green courtyard, chatting about music, activism, and revolution.  Just […]

1. Introduction This commentary is offered as a contribution to the ongoing debate on the Bamako Appeal.  On the 18th of January, on the day preceding the start of the Polycentric World Social Forum in Bamako, Mali, a conference was held in the same capital, commemorating the holding of the Bandung Conference 50 years back.  […]

Racism against Arabs and Muslims long preceded the 9-11 terrorist attacks and has much of its roots in Western imperialism in the Middle East, especially Israel’s colonization of Palestine.  Yet, the escalation that we witness today can be traced to the war on terror launched after 9-11 by Bush and his neoconservative ideologues with the […]