October 31 marked the tenth anniversary of the momentous UN resolution on women, peace and security—UNSCR 1325. This set a new international standard that requires all parties—the UN, states, and armed militias—to ensure that women participate fully in peace negotiations and post-conflict reconstruction. If this really worked, it would transform our militarized world.
Many Yemenis believe that al Qaeda’s presence in their country is a bogeyman conjured up by their government for its own agenda.
The most recent East Jerusalem protest ensued on October 25th after the Israeli police gave 231demolition orders to Palestinian families all across East Jerusalem, including Silwan, an Arab neighborhood in close proximity to the Old City. According to Human Rights Watch, Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes peaked this year, reaching 141 in July. This is the largest number of demolitions per month since 2005. Meanwhile, the Israeli government subsidizes Jewish settlements all over the occupied territories and in East Jerusalem as well.
Though Israel places most its inexcusable violent measures under the banner of “security,” this particular form of destruction is purely discriminatory and does not fall into the category of Israeli defense. If Israel intends to continue the peace process, it must stop demolishing Palestinian homes and building Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem.
Americans forget that the $3 billion a week it spends on Afghanistan and Iraq makes the bank bailout and stimulus look like chump change.
No matter how kind we are to our families, friends, and communities, ignoring what we did to Iraq leaves our ethical spreadsheets hopelessly unbalanced.
You’d think that insurgents who strike out at both Shia and Sunni would alienate most Middle-Easterners, but they may know what they’re doing.
Palestinian Arab citizens are a sizable minority in Israel who make up 20 percent of the country’s population. They experience institutionalized discrimination in their daily lives much like the African-American community before and during the U.S. civil rights movement. But consistent, trustworthy information about the problems and specific concerns of this community is in short supply.
Attempts by Iraqi insurgents to undermine confidence in the government only undermine confidence on the part of the public in their cause.
Were Rev. Terry Jones’s threats to burn the Koran enough to inspire the carnage that Islamic State of Iraq inflicted on the church in Baghdad?
Ever wonder why WikiLeaks has been the beneficiary of high-profile document dumps? Perhaps its leaker feared that the mainstream media would have left them to die on the vine.