Geography Archives: Middle East

What’s the origin of the Islamic Republic’s biggest banking scandal? The financial conglomerate Amir Mansour Arya Investment Development Company allegedly procured several letters of credit from domestic banks totaling $2.8 billion — far above the company’s available collateral.  The Arya Group, founded by Amir Mansour Khosravi and now controlled by his son Mah-Afarid, controlled around […]

“I’m just a soccer mom.  Well, a swimming mom, if you want to be exact.”  This is how the middle-aged women holding up the “Worked 1973-2003” sign at Saturday’s Occupy Wall Street rally at Times Square described herself to me.  She stood next to a young boy leaning against his dad, the son holding up […]

Uncle Sam, still pushing the world into the ring of multiple conflicts. . . . Hamid Karout is a Syrian cartoonist.  This cartoon was first published in Tishreen on 17 October 2011; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes. | Print

THE WILL OF STEEL (Part One) Two days ago on Friday October 14th, Granma and Juventud Rebelde, the Communist Party and Youth League newspapers, published a brave and energetic message from Rene Gonzalez, Hero of the Republic, to the people of Cuba, after the odious and unfair 13-year punishment had finished, separately, like the other […]

  In the wars currently waged on the backs of the Arab revolutions, one particular term stands out in the lexicon of Arab politicians and their columnist and media acolytes: the phrase “convergence of interests,” which has made a big comeback. In Tunisia, liberals of the worst kind, and Islamists of the opportunist variety, have […]

Calls by Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary Hillary Clinton to “unite the world in the isolation of and dealing with the Iranians,” in response to an alleged Iranian plot to kill Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador in Washington, reflect a hubristic misapprehension of reality. The Obama Administration mistakenly believes it can exploit the accusations for strategic […]

Yara Kassem is a cartoonist in Cairo, Egypt.  This cartoon was circulated via her Twitter account on 14 October 2011; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes.  Cf. “Egyptian elections sound increasingly like a disaster in the making almasryalyoum.com/en/node/504768” (Blake Hounshell, 13 October 2011); “Egypt’s Communist Party to Boycott Parliamentary Elections” (Ahram Online, 13 […]

There has been a lot of hand-wringing and moralizing about the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) blocking a resolution in the UN against the government of Syria last week.  China and Russia used a rare double veto as permanent members of the Security Council, and the other three abstained. “During this […]

John Bellamy Foster: Economic crises are functional to the system in that a crisis helps capital readjust its imbalances, disproportions, as Marxian theories often say, and it sets the basis for a renewed period of expansion.  So, regular business-cycle crises . . . help the system. . . .  But, in addition to cycles . […]

Saba Bahrat Square, Damascus, 12 October 2011 Baghdad Street, Damascus, 12 October 2011 Women and Youth, Damascus, 12 October 2011 Cf. “LOL AlJazeera is saying that tens of thousands were at the rally today while MILLIONS rally at the anti ones.  Da funk?” (Joud, 12 October 2011); “Notice that when demonstrations take place in support […]

I have been staring incredulously at my TV screen these past few hours as the story of Iran’s alleged assassination attempt of a Saudi diplomat in Washington unfolds in dramatic increments. Reporters keep repeating the theme “like out of a Hollywood script” as they eke out increasingly unlikely details about this “terror” plot. My immediate […]

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful No. 1110 11 October 2011 H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon Secretary General United Nations, New York Excellency, I am writing to you to express our outrage regarding the allegations leveled by the United States officials against the Islamic Republic of Iran on the involvement of my country […]

Dear friends, As you probably know, the Obama administration has just publicly charged that Iranian government agents have been plotting to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States.  Washington is now using this outrageous claim to try and rally support for new sanctions against the Islamic Republic, isolate it in the international arena, and […]

Oct. 15 is a day of nationally coordinated antiwar actions in cities across the U.S., the 10th anniversary of the massively destructive and criminal U.S. war on Afghanistan. When the U.S. government began its attack on Afghanistan 10 years ago, President Bush called it a “war on terror.”  It was followed by 8 years of […]

On October 7th, 2011, 10 days into hunger strikes across California State and Israeli occupation prisons, Palestinian, formerly incarcerated, Jewish Anti-Zionist, and other activists demonstrated in Chicago, San Francisco, and New York City. Solidarity with Prisoners, from California to Palestine For more information about the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, visit <www.ijsn.net/home/>, and about the US […]

  Bahraini and GCC security forces continue their systematic suppression of popular protests against the regime.  Feelings of tension mount in Manama, as signs of renewed protest become more evident. Manama — At the airport in Manama, there are fewer passengers than usual.  Most of the flights are operated by airlines from the Gulf — […]

  Trafalgar Square, London, 8 October 2011, Video by Harry Fear TV At the very moment we are here, the United States, Britain, and France are bombing a city in Libya called Sirte.  There are 100,000 people.  Day and night, residential buildings, clinics, schools have been hit with fragmentation bombs and Hellfire missiles. . . […]

“A march of 10,000 Copts began today from Shubra to the State TV building in Maspero turned violent when protesters were attacked by stone throwing mobs from on top of the surrounding walls while they were trying to cross the Shubra tunnel.  A 15-minute battle ensued as the Coptic protesters fought back and hurled stones […]

Michel Kilo has spent decades in the opposition, dedicated to politics despite his prison experiences.  Naturally he raised his voice for the Syrian intifada, and yet he has remained independent, distancing himself from many opposition parties and especially from the external opposition fronts formed abroad. Michel Kilo stands out in Syrian politics for his unfailing […]

(1) “We Call for Foreign Intervention” (2) But if the call gets answered. . . . Ibrahim Jaza is a Syrian cartoonist.  Cf. “US State Department tool Radwan Ziadeh today called for a war on Syria.  Speaking on Aljazeera’s prime-time, evening newscast ‘daily harvest’, Washington’s favorite Syrian ‘human rights activist’ did not actually utter the […]