Month: July 2019

“[N]either the Saudi government nor the Saudi Embassy in Washington, DC, responded to multiple requests for comment about the disappearance and detention of various Saudi citizens”: No One Is Safe: How Saudi Arabia Makes Dissidents Disappear (Vanity Fair) “Authorities in the Chinese capital have ordered halal restaurants and food stalls to remove Arabic script and […]

MbS promotes a Saudi “strand of ultra-conservatism that preaches absolute obedience to the ruler … as a way of countering … the [Iranian] notion of an Islamic republic that recognizes a degree of popular sovereignty”: Kashmir: A Battleground for Middle Eastern Rivals (MidEast Soccer) A spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry says, “Intensification of security-policing approaches […]

In a bizarre statement Pressley defended her vote condemning non-violent anti-apartheid activism “as an expression of  solidarity … [against] hateful rhetoric from the Trump Administration”: ‘Progressive Except Palestine’? Khanna and Pressley Draw Fire over Vote Condemning Nonviolent BDS Movement (Common Dreams) “Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have heightened in recent days after the demolition […]

“The protest leaders were certain that as soon as the soldiers saw that the villagers had retreated, they would stop shooting. But the troops kept up their fire” … The Protest Dispersed. Then an Israeli Sniper Shot a 9-year-old Palestinian Boy in the Head (Haaretz) … “[T]he demolition of some 10 apartment buildings … left 17 […]

The Navy feared a drone a half mile away, but the Iranians say none of their drones are missing and accuse the British of smuggling oil: Iran Seizes ‘Fuel-smuggling’ Tanker in Gulf (BBC) “The signatories included the usual global rogue’s gallery — Cuba, Russia, North Korea, Venezuela. But a dozen Muslim governments also joined in […]

“Her relatives expressed serious concern …, saying it was ‘unusual for political prisoners to be guarded by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, rather than regular prison guards during hospital treatment’”: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe moved to Mental Health Ward in Iran (The Guardian) “Demonstrators on Tuesday also demanded the Lebanese ministry of labour overturn a rule that […]

Is this Trump’s big chance?  Is he smart enough to seize it? Iran’s President Said They Would Hold Talks with the US if It Returns to the 2015 Nuclear Deal (Business Insider) British FM Jeremy Hunt promised Javad Zarif to return the ship if Iran satisfies the Gibraltar court that the ship is not bound […]

Of Netanyahu’s eugenically tainted claims, archaeologist and University College London professor Dr. David Wengrow says, “There’s so much wrong here I almost don’t know where to start”: Archaeologists on Twitter Tear Down Netanyahu’s Claims that Palestinians Have ‘No Connection’ to Homeland (Mondoweiss) For Iran, as “for most of the developing world, the key events of […]

The root cause of the current Persian Gulf crisis is the US withdrawal in May 2018 from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action … Trump’s Zigzags on Iran Threaten US Alliance Structure (ASPI Strategist) … and here are five reasons why “the United States is in the wrong—politically, diplomatically, and even legally” in its dispute […]