The US-backed fight against ISIS in Iraq is gathering some unlikely allies, including a guerrilla force the State Dept. has labeled a terrorist organization. But when it comes to repelling the deadly insurgence of ISIS, is the enemy of the United States’ enemy its friend?
Jibril Rajoub, the head of the Palestinian Authority Sports Authority and the Deputy Secretary of the Fatah Central Committee, announced that Fatah has made a “political decision” to support slaughtering Jews who live in settlements, Palestinian Media Watch reported.
One of the biggest questions among analysts in 1991 was whether the five republics of Central Asia, after 70 years of Communism, would re-claim their historical faith and become a region of political Islam. Almost 25 years on, secular autocrats still rule and recognize Muslim traditions but keep faith out of governance.
ISIS poses a threat to the entire Middle East region. They seek to conquer Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Lebanon, and perhaps also Turkey after they are done with Iraq and Syria. Nevertheless, the official Palestinian Authority daily accuses the U.S. of establishing ISIS, instead of blaming their growth on sectarian tensions and the rise […]
On Sunday, for the first time ever, more than 41 million voters in Turkey went to polling stations to elect their president by popular vote. Despite turnout being low, with some suspecting the holiday season might be the reason, ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan handily beat both of his rivals with 52 percent of the vote.
Local authorities in China’s restive Xinjiang region are going all out in their efforts to fight terrorism, including those in the northwestern city of Karamay, who are now banning people who wear veils, head scarves, a loose-fitting garment called a jilbab, clothing with the crescent moon and star, and those with long beards, from boarding […]
The head of the Palestinian community in Jordan Mudar Zahran, who is presently living in the West Bank and reporting live what is happening in Operation Protective Edge, stresses that Gazans now hate Hamas more than Israel, but Palestinians in the West Bank now are increasingly supporting Hamas. JerusalemOnline reported this week that the mass […]
Within a few weeks of its bloody foray into northern and central Iraq, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which was rebranded by its top management as the Islamic State (IS), has built a global reputation for unbridled savagery and ruthlessness. The group’s ongoing use of social media channels and of professional video […]
Both Israeli and Palestinian civilians are suffering in the wake of Operation Protective Edge. However, both Canada and Australia offer different ideas from the U.S. on how best to respond to the situation. As Operation Protective Edge continues, both Israeli and Gazan civilians are suffering. Israeli civilians are living constantly under rocket fire. Too many […]
Noura Erakat is a human rights attorney, activist, educator, and an outspoken critic of U.S. policy in the Middle East. She is an Assistant Professor at George Mason University, teaching international human rights law in the Middle East. She is also a co-editor of Jadaliyya, an online magazine focused on the Middle East produced by the Arab Studies Institute […]
In an annual report released by the Department of State this week, the Obama administration has yet again pressed Turkey to live up to its commitment as a democracy to ensure religious freedom, citing the need to reopen an Eastern Orthodox seminary that’s been closed for decades. Turkey is a “tier 2” country according to the U.S. Commission on International […]
Marc Schulman is an app developer and contributing writer for the Times of Israel. His articles have most recently appeared in Newsweek. He is the editor of Historycentral.com and author a series of Multimedia History Apps and a biography of John F. Kennedy Jr. He currently lives in Tel Aviv. Mr. Schulman spoke with Allison […]
About two months ago, Mike Hudack, the Director of Product at Facebook, in a rant about the current state of our news consumption, posted this on his Facebook wall: …And we come to Ezra Klein. The great Ezra Klein of Wapo and msnbc. The man who, while a partisan, does not try to keep his […]
The renewed turmoil in Gaza — the third such clash since Hamas seized power there in 2007 — has elicited a great deal of commentary, as it deserves to do. Much of it, however, focuses on the facts of the moment rather than the underlying causes. Indeed, even the fairly numerous demands to address the […]
As the war between Israel and Hamas nears the two-week mark, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) released the results of a very relevant poll. A survey of Palestinians conducted from June 15 to June 17 found that 70 percent of Gaza respondents agreed that Hamas should maintain a cease-fire with Israel both in the […]