Month: May 2019

“The supposed holiness of religious scholars has elevated them beyond the point where they can be questioned or criticized. Ending this immunity will allow the population to regain trust in their own reasoning”: The Enlightened Sheikhs of the New Saudi Arabia (Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington) The Trump administration’s updated travel warning for Iraq…

“Last year, in a bold statement about what they felt was the program’s one-sided narrative, Birthright [Israel] participants began walking off the trip—live-­streaming their actions on social media”: Why Young Jews Are Detouring from Israel to Palestine (Yes!) An unintended consequence of forcing India to end its Iranian oil purchases may be “Pakistan and China…

“Treaties, as defined by Article II of the Constitution, require a two-thirds majority of the Senate for ratification, so they have become almost unheard of” in Washington: Why Would Any Country Trust America Again? (Slate) “Our argument is basically that we cannot — and no one reasonably can — be expected to unilaterally honor a multilateral agreement” —…

“Anti-Semitism represents one of the biggest evils of our era. But to fight it, you should not become part of another injustice” — Saeb Erekat: Palestinians: Germany’s Anti-BDS Motion ‘Punishes Non-violent Resistance (Haaretz) Creeping shariah law? Warren would tweak the assessment from 2.5% to 2-3%, increase the nisab from $5,000 to $50 million, and move …

“Trump’s supporters and other advocates of a more restrained foreign policy seem inclined to blame the president’s advisers more than they do the president himself” … Guess Who Doesn’t Want War with Iran? Trump Supporters (The Guardian) … but “John Bolton wants regime change in Iran, and so does the cult that paid him” ……

American allies are skeptical … British General Contradicts US Claim of Increased Threats from Iran (MSNBC) U.S. Hard-line Stance on Iran Rattles Allies (Foreign Policy) War With Iran? Count Us Out, Europe Says (NY Times) … and among the few nations siding with Bolton’s designs on Iran are Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United Arab…

“More professional journalists have been imprisoned, often with life sentences, in Turkey than any other nation in the world”: Turkish Journalist from Opposition Newspaper Beaten with Baseball Bats Outside Home (Independent) Bolton envisions sending as many as 120,000 troops to the Middle East” but the new plans “do not call for a land invasion of…

“According to the UN, more Palestinians have been displaced in East Jerusalem in the first four months of 2019 than in all of 2018: 193 displaced persons, compared to 176”: Demolitions Spike in East Jerusalem, and UN Officials Call on Israel: ‘This Must Stop’ (Mondoweiss) For Jared Kushner “to claim [Palestinians] have received more aid…

“Nearly one third of coalition airstrikes have targeted civilians in schools, hospitals, and markets”: Making Sense of American-Made and Fueled Bombs in Yemen (The American Conservative) Rouhani warned that if Europe can’t rescue “the nuclear deal by restarting oil trade with Iran” within 60 days, Iran will “build up stockpiles of low enriched uranium and…