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Middle East
Andalusian Uprising: The Empire that Unites the Arab Spring and European Anti-Austerity Protesters
| Greg Smithsimon | November 26, 2011 |
In the seventh century, Musa bin Nusair, born in Syria, traveled and fought his way through the Middle East and across North Africa, expanding the Muslim empire headquartered in Damascus, Syria. With his general Tariq bin Ziyad in the lead, he crossed the Mediterranean from Morocco with an army of several thousand, taking control of most of Spain. From 711 until 1031, the Umayyad Empire stretched from Córdoba to Damascus.
From #SidiBouzid to #OccupyWallStreet
| Anna Lekas Miller | October 7, 2011 |
On December 17th, 2010 Tunisian street vendor Mohammad Bouazizi lit himself on fire.
Mohammad Bouazizi was twenty-six years old. He held a university degree, but was unable to find work for himself besides selling fruits and vegetables on the streets of Sidi Bouzid. On Wednesday, December 17th, the Tunisian police confiscated his merchandise and threatened to put him in jail for selling without a license—instead of pleading for his goods and livelihood as he had in the past, Mohammad Bouazizi doused himself in gasoline and lit himself on fire.
The al-Awlaki Killing: Rights and Safety Blown to Smithereens
| Steve Shalom | October 4, 2011 |
The killing of Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen on Friday by a U.S. drone has elicited cheers from most mainstream politicians and pundits. Civil libertarians, however, have noted the terrible precedent this sets: here an American citizen has been targeted for assassination and executed solely on the say-so of the president, with no need to indict him, or present open evidence of his guilt. If the U.S. government had wanted to tap al-Awlaki's phone, judicial review would have been required.
Revolutionary Challenges in Tunisia and Egypt: Generations in Conflict
| by Stuart Schaar | Summer 2011 |
The great Syrian poet, Nizar Qabbani (1923-1998) more than four decades ago called on a new Arab generation to break with their dictatorial, bankrupt, and corrupt leaders and their supporters. Qabbani, from his London exile, hoped that young people would transform the Arab world into a new free and vibrant society where citizens could develop their full potential and flourish.
The Bard ISM Student Organization Controversy
| by Leon Botstein | Summer 2011 |
Over the past several weeks, Bard College and I as its president have been the object of unsubstantiated, exaggerated, and often vitriolic accusations regarding a student group on campus that has chosen to affiliate itself with an organization called the International Solidarity Movement. Some of those who have posted on blogs and written emails claim that ISM is a "terrorist" organization committed to the destruction of the State of Israel and its people.
CPD Statements on Syria and Israel
| Joanne Landy | June 11, 2011 |
The Campaign for Peace and Democracy issued two statements on June 9, one on the movement for democracy in Syria and the other on Israel's brutal response to unarmed demonstrators.
CPD Salutes Syria's Courageous Democratic Movement
June 9, 2011
Hundreds of Bahrainis join call to end US support for Bahrain gov't
| Joanne Landy | May 27, 2011 |
NEW YORK, N.Y., May 24 2011 -- In a response that surprised U.S. organizers of a campaign calling on the United States government to repudiate its partnership with the Al Khalifa regime in Bahrain, hundreds of people from Bahrain joined in signing the Campaign for Peace and Democracy's launching statement "End U.S. Support for Bahrain's Repressive Government."
End U.S. Support for Bahrain's Repressive Government
| Joanne Landy | May 18, 2011 |
[This sign-on statement organized by the Campaign for Peace and Democracy, "End U.S. Support for Bahrain's Repressive Government," will be of interest to many NP readers. Please support the statement by adding your name to the signer list by clicking here.]
End U.S. Support for Bahrain's Repressive Government
Statement by the Campaign for Peace and Democracy
May 2011
How the Islamic "virus" broke out of the imperialist laboratory
| Richard Greeman | May 1, 2011 |
[Editor's note: This article continues Richard Greeman's series about Islamism.]
Once Again on Libya
| Barry Finger | April 11, 2011 |
The basic issue for socialists in confronting the Libyan situation is this: we wish Qaddafi to be defeated, but we are not indifferent to who defeats him. That is because who defeats Qaddafi involves how the regime is brought down and the consequences of that downfall. We are not in support of capitalist imperialism being the agent of that defeat, even though almost any conceivable regime that replaces Qaddafi would most likely be a “lesser evil” to this, one of the world’s most horrific police states.