The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington, DC-based neoconservative “think tank” that has consistently promoted hard-line policies against the Islamic Republic, came out with what it describes as “a comprehensive report . . . identifying 10 major Chinese energy companies that continue to do business with Iran in spite of international sanctions.” According […]
Geography Archives: Middle East
I Protest (Remembrance)
Listen to MC Kash’s song “I Protest (Remembrance)”: They say when you run from darkness All you seek is light But when the blood spills over You’ll stand and fight Threads of deceit Woven around a word of plebiscite By treacherous puppet politicians Who have no soul inside My paradise is burning With troops […]
Abbas’s Negotiations
As Mahmoud Abbas chases after money, the Palestinian cause veers off course. Fahd Bahady is a Syrian cartoonist. This cartoon was published in his blog on 10 September 2010; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes. The text above is an interpretation of the cartoon by Yoshie Furuhashi. | Print
How Does the World Bank Function?
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) was established at Bretton Woods in July 1944, at the initiative of forty-five countries that had come together for the first monetary and financial conference of the United Nations. In 2010, it had 186 member countries, with Kosovo its latest addition (it joined in June 2009). The […]
Against the Stream: Interview with Gideon Levy
For decades Gideon Levy has used the platform provided by the liberal Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz to shine a light on the brutal realities of Israel’s occupation. His journalism, along with that of his colleague Amira Hass, has been an invaluable resource not only for Israeli readers but, through the Ha’aretz website, for international audiences seeking […]
Turkey: Constitutional Amendments
The Justice and Development Party (AKP) clips the wings of the military by constitutional amendments. Fahd Bahady is a Syrian cartoonist. This cartoon was published in his blog on 11 May 2010; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes. The text above is an interpretation of the cartoon by Yoshie Furuhashi. Turkish voters approved […]
Tony Blair, Europe, and the Prospect of a U.S. Attack on Iran
In connection with the release of his memoirs, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has given a number of interviews this week in which he endorses the first-use of military force to stop Iran’s nuclear development. Blair’s statements on the matter prompted us to reflect on where European policies toward the Islamic Republic are really […]
Class Struggle against Car Domination
A new political party, which won office in Montréal’s Plateau Mont-Royal borough last November, has begun to widen sidewalks, add bike paths and close some streets to traffic. Critics have accused them of engaging in class warfare. In a much discussed La Presse opinion piece, Luc Chartrand denigrated the “supposedly enlightened urban planning” measures […]
Israel/Palestine: Banquet of Peace
At the banquet of peace, Mahmoud Abbas asks, pointing to the last crumb of Palestine: “May I?” Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist. This cartoon is the cover art for the October issue of the progressive German Jewish magazine Der Semit. | Print
September 11
Uncle Sam reminds the world of the victims of September 11 while making war on Iraq and Afghanistan. Fahd Bahady is a Syrian cartoonist. This cartoon was published in his blog on 2 September 2010; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes. The text above is an interpretation of the cartoon by Yoshie Furuhashi. […]
Sanctions and Iran’s Regional and “Eastern” Options
We noticed a small news item, reported from Tehran, which we think deserves more media attention and reflection in the West than it received. According to the story, Chinese Transport Minister Liu Zhijun is expected to visit Iran Sunday to sign a $2 billion contract to build a 360-mile-long railway linking key Iranian destinations that […]
Take Action against Isolation — Free Ahmad Sa’adat! International Days of Action, October 5-15, 2010
Imprisoned Palestinian leader Ahmad Sa’adat will be returning to court in mid-October 2010 challenging his isolation and the isolation of Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons. Write letters today and take action from October 5-15, 2010 in support of Palestinian prisoners’ struggle for freedom — demand an end to isolation! Ahmad Sa’adat, the General […]
Blue and White: Where Uri Avnery Has It Wrong
Once again Uri Avnery is using his blog to criticize the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. Under the title “Red and Green,” Avnery comments on the long and interesting program recently broadcast on Israeli Channel 10 on the growing international isolation of Israel. Avnery, the veteran journalist and activist, repeats his main […]
The Obama Administration, Iran, and “Middle East Peacemaking”
There has, of course, been much commentary about the “re-launch” of the Middle East peace process last week in Washington. Actually, the process is, at best, an Arab-Israeli peace process. And, to be even more accurate, the process that was re-launched last week is really the highly conditioned Israeli-Palestinian “track” of old. Just giving an […]
“Combat Troop Withdrawal” from Iraq and the Threat of Another War: Interview with Arshin Adib-Moghaddam
In your view, does the combat troop withdrawal mean that the mission has been completed successfully? Viewed from all conceivable angles the war must be considered a strategic failure and a humanitarian disaster. True, the US government, together with its allies primarily the United Kingdom, managed to oust Saddam Hussein who was, by all […]
Hooman Majd on Normal Politics in Iran
Hooman Majd had another interesting piece in Foreign Policy. His article does something that is very necessary, but which we’ve not had an opportunity to do properly over the past couple of weeks — to take on the stream of recent Western commentary arguing that the Islamic Republic is “unraveling under the weight of economic […]
Prosperity or Plunder? Nigeria Slipping at an Oily Crossroads
“Disaster” doesn’t begin to describe the troubled oil scene in Nigeria. Last June, in the immediate wake of the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the New York Times ran an article exposing a crisis in Nigeria that should have been capable of piquing the conscience of even the most hardened oil barons. It […]
Obama’s Guantanamo
Obama brings “change” to Guantanamo Fahd Bahady is a Syrian cartoonist. This cartoon was published in his blog on 29 August 2010; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes. The text above is an interpretation of the cartoon by Yoshie Furuhashi. | Print
What Does Increased Palestinian Political Repression Say about the Prospects for Peace?
In the late 1980s, Robert Putnam‘s argument about multi-level games in international bargaining kicked off a rich debate over domestic constraints. The thesis, in essence, is that interlocutors in bargaining may choose to lend extra power to political opponents to argue that domestic constraints tie their hands and prevent them from making concessions beyond a […]
Report on UNCTAD Assistance to the Palestinian People: Developments in the Economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Highlights: 2010: Palestinian economy far from recovery The Palestinian economy held back by: The enduring cost of Israeli military operation in Gaza The closure policy in the West Bank The siege of Gaza A weakened tradable goods sector and an eroded productive base are at the heart of the Palestinian development bottleneck. Rehabilitation of […]
