Anger over unemployment and poverty continue driving people to protest. So far six people have died, and many more injured. Hundreds have been arrested, even journalists since Tuesday. . . . All eyes are on Friday, when various organizations are calling for the largest demonstration yet. This video was released by Daily News Egypt on […]
Geography Archives: Middle East
Lebanon: STL President Antonio Cassese, Promoter of Mojahedin-e Khalq
On 26 January 2011, Fars News, a semi-official news agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran, reported that Antonio Cassese, the president of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (commonly called “Hariri Tribunal”), was a legal adviser to a powerful committee to de-list Mojahedin-e Khalq (“People’s Mojahedin of Iran,” aka MEK, MKO, and PMOI) from the […]
Egypt Answers Tunisia!
25 January 2011 They do not belong to a political party, they do not follow a particular ideology, they make an appointment on Facebook, an appointment we all laughed about, telling them you cannot have a revolution like you have a blind date, but today in tens of thousands they came. . . . They […]
#Jan25: The Egyptian People Scores a Goal against Mubarak
Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist. | Print
The Strongest Protests in Egypt since 1977: Interview with Hossam el-Hamalawy
Listen to the interview with Hossam el-Hamalawy: Hossam el-Hamalawy: Egypt yesterday witnessed its strongest protests in probably four decades, since 1977: tens of thousands have taken to the streets in virtually all the cities of our country, chanting against Mubarak, chanting against the U.S., which is backing Mubarak, calling for internal reforms and for democracy. […]
Feltman in Tunisia
“We heard that [US Assistant Secretary of State] Jeffrey Feltman visited Tunisia. This is a bad omen. The Tunisian people should be on guard: when Feltman wants to discuss processes and elections with the interim Tunisian government,* it definitely means an American conspiracy in the making. Wherever this sorcerer Feltman appears, strife and ruin follow […]
Egypt: The Day of Wrath
Tahrir Square Amr Waked: “Change Is Coming” Shubra Matariyyah In Front of the Parliament In Front of the Dar Al Hekma Hospital Qasr El Aini Street Alexandria Smashing the NDP Headquarters, Mansoura The videos above were released by Al-Masry Al-Youm on 25 January 2011 under a Creative Commons license. Cf. “After violent clashes with […]
Lebanon: Has Hezbollah Outmaneuvered Saad Hariri?
Miqati to Be PM by Andrew Bossone Miqati and Hizbullah Out-play the Analysts by Nicholas Noe I must say I was also taken by surprise at the pace of events and the relative success THUS FAR of the opposition. Ever since the government fell, an almost UNIFORM consensus among the analysts was that there […]
Why Are We Still in Afghanistan?
Why Are We in Afghanistan? Written and directed by Michael Zweig. Illustrated by Mike Konopacki. Edited by Trish Dalton. Produced by Trish Dalton, Michael Zweig, and the Center for Study of Working Class Life. As we approach the 10-year anniversary of the US invasion of Afghanistan, polls show that 63% of Americans now oppose […]
Egypt: Jan25
Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist. Cf. We Are All Khaled Said; “#Jan25 Is Official Menace to the Regime” (Egyptian Chronicles, 23 January 2011). | Print
Crisis, Chains, Change: The American Exception to Marxism
A Plenary Address at the American Studies Association Presidential Panel, San Antonio, Texas, 18 November 2010 For Ruthie Gilmore. I am an imposter here: not a real American Studies scholar. I went to graduate school in the late 1980s to study History and Anthropology. My interest was in the contemporary history of India. When I […]
Tunisia: Interview with Dyab Abou Jahjah
Listen to the interview with Dyab Abou Jahjah: 4th World War: To what extent do you think this popular revolution can achieve not just democratic rights but also something else: social change? Dyab Abou Jahjah: After the dictator left the country, many people of what was the legalized opposition, the parties that were legal […]
After “Iran Engagement”: Bipartisan Voices Urge Obama to Embrace MEK
Predictably, the Istanbul talks have ended without positive results. And, it seems clear that the discussion came to a dead end over two issues: the Islamic Republic wanted explicit recognition of its right to enrich uranium which the United States (at least) was not prepared to do; and the United States proposed a plan for […]
Egypt: 25 January 2011
This cartoon was first published by Dostor (Egypt); it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes. Cf. We Are All Khaled Said; “#Jan25 Is Official Menace to the Regime” (Egyptian Chronicles, 23 January 2011). | Print
Tunisia: “RCD Out”
Calls are mounting for disbanding the Rassemblement constitutionnel démocratique (RCD) or at least banning it from participation in the transition government of Tunisia. Amid streets chants of “RCD out,” the RCD leadership (such as it still exists) first kept a low profile and then felt compelled to do “something.” That something translated into a […]
The Diary of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Former Tunisian President
Mubarak to Ben Ali: “I’m coming to stay with you in a few days. Get me reservations at a good place.” Le journal du ZABA / يوميات زين العابدين بن علي The videos above were released by Kharabeesh on 19 January 2011, 27 January 2011, and 3 February 2011. For more information about Kharabeesh, […]
The Lesson of the Tunisian Revolution
“Saad Hariri went to the United States and had meetings there. Right after that, the Saudis contacted the Syrians to tell them that they could no longer continue this initiative [of Syria and Saudi Arabia to broker a deal between Hezbollah and Hariri on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon]. . . . The Americans and […]
30,000 March in Tel Aviv against McCarthyism in Israel
30,000 activists, Jews and Arabs, from left-wing parties, movements, and human rights organizations marched in Tel Aviv on Saturday, 15 January 2011, in protest of the Knesset’s decision to set up a committee of inquiry to probe the funding sources of organizations that rightists allege “participate in delegitimization campaigns against Israel Defense Forces soldiers.” “Demonstration […]
Tunisia: The Logic of Revolution
The Tunisian revolution continues to dictate its own logic on all levels. . . . After attempts by regime leftovers to spread chaos by several techniques (cars driving through the streets shooting at people and houses randomly, destroying infrastructure, etc.), the Tunisian people organized itself in committees that spread all across the country, in every […]
The Political Economy of ‘Democracy Promotion’
14 January 2011 Where are the ‘democracy promoters’ on the Tunisian uprising?, asks Marc Lynch. It’s a fair question: Thus far, a month into the massive demonstrations rocking Tunisia, the Washington Post editorial page has published exactly zero editorials about Tunisia. For that matter, the Weekly Standard, another magazine which frequently claims the mantle of […]
