Middle East
The continued battle to manufacture consent for War against Russia, via Syria
This week while attention in the Middle East was focused on talks between Iran and other world powers to re-establish the Iran Nuclear Deal and get the USA re-signed up to it, a report came out of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague,… »
Further allegations of chemical weapons use in Syria buckle under scrutiny
Interview with Piers Robinson of the Organisation for Propaganda Studies As the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons launched a report last week stating that there are “reasonable grounds to believe” that the Syrian government launched a chemical weapon attack in the town of Saraqib in February 2018, an… »
Kidnapped by ISIS, brainwashed and turned into a child soldier: A Yazidi’s story
By Jennifer Bell A former child soldier for ISIS has told Al Arabiya how he was kidnapped and recruited into the terrorist organization, revealing he was forced to convert to Islam and watch videos of brutal murders to train him how to kill on… »
The story of the Iranian new year, Nowruz, and why its themes of renewal and healing matter
ANCESTRAL CULTURE by Pardis Mahdavi As the days grow longer and the flowers start to bloom, my 5-year-old gets excited and exclaims, “Nowruz is coming.” Nowruz – or “new day” in English – is the Iranian new year. Celebrated at the exact moment of the spring… »
Erdoğan Starts a Political Earthquake in Turkey
By Vijay Prashad and E. Ahmet Tonak Significant developments are underway in Turkey. Most ominously, the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has moved toward the banning of one of the country’s main opposition parties, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). Erdoğan says that… »
The pope in Iraq
The Pope’s decision to visit Mesopotamia must be carefully considered, given the complexity of the geopolitical issues of the Near and Middle East. The Pope went to a place that is the scene of a geopolitical clash, where there are armies of foreign powers loathed by the local populations, where… »
Syria: The Start of a Long Night of Sorrow
On 13 March 2011 in Dara’a, in the south of Syria, 15 teenage boys were arrested by Syrian security police for having written hostile graffiti against President Bashar Al-Assad on a school wall. The arrests led to non-violent protests in Derra and by 15 March the protests had spread… »
Ten years of war: the world must talk about Syria again
The spotlight is elsewhere, but people are still dying in Syria and a whole generation of children does not know what it means to live in peace. On the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the conflict, we listen to the testimonies of those who live the horrors every day. »
ICRC: Millions of young Syrians paid heavy toll during “decade of savage loss”
As the crisis in Syria moves into its second decade, a survey commissioned by the International Committee of the Red Cross highlights the heavy price paid by young Syrians. 1,400 Syrians between the ages of 18-25 were surveyed in Syria, Lebanon and Germany. Across the three countries,… »
Policy Focus: Examining U.S. Contradictions in the Murder of Jamal Khashoggi – An Interview with John Kiriakou
On February 26, the Biden administration released a CIA report in which the intelligence agency concluded, in 2018, that Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), approved the assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi that year. By Edu Montesanti Never released by former President Donald Trump, the document cites the “absolute power” of Crown Prince MBS over… »