Juan Cole

Obama’s Speech: Is Era of ‘Perpetual War’ Closing?

Obama’s Speech: Is Era of ‘Perpetual War’ Closing?

JUAN COLE: President Obama’s inauguration speech is sure to trigger panic among the ‘we must have war’ crowd. But does he really mean it?

 Tabsir

For ‘Tribal Areas’ Read ‘Wild West’: Myth and Reality

For ‘Tribal Areas’ Read ‘Wild West’: Myth and Reality

KHALED FATTAH, TABSIR: There is a lazy shorthand in much Western reporting on the Middle East, particularly when it comes to describing the influence of tribes

 Tabsir

Forget the Debates: Let’s Just Play ‘Survivor’

Forget the Debates: Let’s Just Play ‘Survivor’

DANIEL M. VARISCO: The format is stale, it’s all so controlled and choreographed that very little of substance will be revealed. So why bother?

 Richard Silverstein

Western Liberals and their ‘Problem’ with “Muslim Rage”

Western Liberals and their ‘Problem’ with “Muslim Rage”

RICHARD SILVERSTEIN: We’re [Christians and Jews] above that sort of blood-letting. We solve our differences civilly through debate and the free exchange of ideas. As if…

 The View From Fez

Mali Islamist Threat That Could Engulf Morocco

Mali Islamist Threat That Could Engulf Morocco

THE VIEW FROM FEZ: While international attention is focused on Syria events in the Maghreb are threatening to spin out of control

 Jonathan Cook

Nazareth Machinations: The Long Game to “Jews Only”

Nazareth Machinations: The Long Game to “Jews Only”

JONATHAN COOK: … Expropriations would become a staple of life over the next three decades as more than 70 per cent of the land belonging to Palestinians was nationalized

 Richard Silverstein

Israel Facing a Harsher, Less Predictable World

Israel Facing a Harsher, Less Predictable World

RICHARD SILVERSTEIN: There are forces out there seeking to capitalize on the Arab Spring: It’s s a different world Israel is facing. A harsher world, one more difficult to control.

 David Roberts

Female Athletes Lead Teams: What Does It Mean?

Female Athletes Lead Teams: What Does It Mean?

DAVID ROBERTS: The Olympics Opening Ceremony was striking for many reasons not the least of which was the presence of so many women leading Arab teams.

 Mondoweiss

The Long and Tortured History of Islamophobia

The Long and Tortured History of Islamophobia

ALEX KANE, MONDOWEISS: Deepa Kumar has written a detailed study of Islamophobia which links it inextricably to the cause of Empire

 Tabsir

‘Blessed Are the Peacemakers’: But Where Are They?

‘Blessed Are the Peacemakers’: But Where Are They?

DANIEL M. VARISCO: Wherever you look around the Middle East there is conflict, death and horror. Where is our Ghandi?

 Ramzy Baroud

Starving and Broke: Yemen’s Renewed ‘War on Terror’

Starving and Broke: Yemen’s Renewed ‘War on Terror’

RAMZY BAROUD: The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is largely rooted in the fact that the country is an open field of competing interests…

 Tabsir

One Middle East Certainty: The Blood Keeps Flowing

One Middle East Certainty: The Blood Keeps Flowing

DANIEL M. VARISCO: Whether it’s Syria or Yemen the bloodshed just seems to go on. It’s always been so.

 James M. Dorsey

The $750,000 Guantanamo ‘Pitch’ to Cooperate

The $750,000 Guantanamo ‘Pitch’ to Cooperate

JAMES M. DORSEY: The $744,000 pitch outside a $39 million penitentiary-style building is intended to reward the most cooperative of the 120,171 inmates.

 James M. Dorsey

China Gets It Wrong in MidEast. Again.

China Gets It Wrong in MidEast. Again.

JAMES M. DORSEY: China’s veto of the U.N’s resolution condemning Syria is a watershed moment for its involvement in the Middle East.

 James M. Dorsey

Somali Jihadists Skewed Focus on Women Sports

Somali Jihadists Skewed Focus on Women Sports

JAMES M. DORSEY: While Al Qaeda is attempting to portray a gentler face, distributing aid to famine victims, Al Shabab, are ensuring strict adherence to a ban on women’s sports.

 Mondoweiss

Forget the Books, Just Send Us Punchbags

Forget the Books, Just Send Us Punchbags

JEHAN ALFARRA, MONDOWEISS: Anger and hopelessness are the predominant emotions in Gaza. We need a means to release the emotions and I have a plan.

 Ramzy Baroud

Gazans Respond Generously to Somali Disaster

Gazans Respond Generously to Somali Disaster

RAMZY BAROUD: There has been much criticism of the paltry response by the Muslim world to the famine in Somalia. Gazans show the way forward.

 mai abdul rahman

The Shame and Pain of this Sorrowful Ramadan

The Shame and Pain of this Sorrowful Ramadan

MAI ABDUL RAHMAN: Whenever I finish my fast I cannot help thinking of the plight of Somali mothers, fellow Muslims, who have no food for their children.

 Ramzy Baroud

Forget the Bombs, Africa Needs Food. Now.

Forget the Bombs, Africa Needs Food. Now.

RAMZY BAROUD: Maybe it’s time to save a few bombing runs on Libya and donate the proceeds to the humanitarian catastrophe that’s unfolding in the Horn of Africa?

 Michael J. Totten

First Impressions Again: An American Re-visits Cairo

First Impressions Again: An American Re-visits Cairo

MICHAEL J. TOTTEN: It’s my first trip back to the ‘Capital of the Arab World’ for a while and though much remains as ever there have been striking changes since the revolution.