Geography Archives: Middle East

Ben & Jerry’s decision to halt its operations in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in Jerusalem has pro-Israel editors working overtime.

Michael Ratner personally changed human rights law, and in doing so he let go childhood views of Israel. “I thought of [Israel] as the home of my people. I had my bedroom ceiling painted with the seven wonders of the world and a huge map of Israel. I had no idea how my view of Israel would change later in life.”

Comments by the former British ambassador to Syria came hours after the chairwoman of the Syrian mission to the OPCW said the U.S. and its allies had lowered the status of the international watchdog, and turned it into a political tool to level baseless accusations against Damascus and exert pressure on it.

The Israeli military forcibly entered the Palestinian village to demolish homes. During the operation, they destroyed tents, water tanks, and food supplies.

Out of close to 250,000 Palestinian Beduin in the Naqab, about half live in “unrecognized villages.” This means they get no roads, no electricity or running water, no schools or medical facilities—no services at all.

Zionism has not yet murdered Judaism but it has undermined its moral and historical integrity. By intentionally fanning antisemitism, Israel is a major contributor to Jewish insecurity.

As part of the ongoing Nakba, Israel has once again unleashed its latest reign of terror on Palestine, in response to resistance by Palestinians against ethnic cleansing of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem (meant to eviscerate both Palestinian social and cultural life from the city).

The war in Afghanistan has looked a lot like the war on drugs in Latin America and previous colonial campaigns in Asia, with a rapid militarization of the area and the empowerment of pliant local elites.

The story is getting wide coverage in Palestine but not in the United States, though these lands are the supposed basis of a “Palestinian state”–and again, five Palestinians have been killed defending their rights.

More signs that support for Israel is cracking among U.S. progressives.

Over the past few weeks, a video has gone viral of a man named Yaakov Fauci, in a New York accent, asserting to a Palestinian woman whose house that he has forcibly taken, “If I don’t steal it, someone else is going to steal it.”

A PBS Frontline special is the latest vehicle in a PR campaign to legitimize rebranded Syrian al-Qaeda, HTS, and market its leader Mohammad Jolani as a competent American “asset.”

The world watched aghast last month as Israeli forces during Ramadan stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, attacking and injuring hundreds of worshipers.

Known as the “Red Dance,” the systematic murder of the Patriotic Union remains one of the most extreme cases of political violence in Latin America and new evidence suggests that it was concocted by one of the most decorated spies in Israeli history.

Even Human Rights Watch says Israel is committing crimes against humanity in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and in Gaza, and the idea of a Jewish state in the context of Palestine is not legitimate.

Thanks to a rapidly changing political context the new UN Human Rights Council commission announced on May 27th may be different from those in the past–this one may actually help hold Israel accountable.

The events of the last few weeks have provoked worldwide recognition of realities on the ground in Occupied Palestine, realities of systemic discrimination, of oppression, and of settler colonialism.The events of the last few weeks have provoked worldwide recognition of realities on the ground in Occupied Palestine, realities of systemic discrimination, of oppression, and of settler colonialism. We are at a new juncture regarding the Question of Palestine. The impunity that the Israeli government has long enjoyed is coming to an end.

Photos circulating on social media show Colombian government forces using Israeli weapons against protestors and Israeli-made Sand Cat armored vehicles patrolling the streets of Colombian cities. Alan Macleod investigates the growing ties between the unlikely allies.

We deepen our analysis by focusing on various regions. After Latin America and the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa, we continue with the Middle-East and North Africa (MENA).

We must not lose sight of what lies behind Israel’s unbridled use of force: American support.