Iraq’s lessons and the Powell Doctrine: Why Americans question a new war with Iran
March 13th, 20260 In February 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell went to the United Nations to present the George W. Bush administration’s case against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. His remarks were directed at two audiences: reluctant allies and unconvinced Americans. Hawks who wanted this war termed Powell’s performance “compelling and...
Debunked and confirmed: Myths and realities from the war on Iran
March 6th, 20260 The war on Iran has not merely opened a new military front in the Middle East. It has shattered long-standing myths that have shaped U.S. policy and regional politics for decades. What has unfolded in the past days is not simply a battlefield confrontation; it is a historical rupture. Several narratives that once appeared unassailable...
Hezbollah targets military sites in Galilee in response to Israeli strikes across Lebanon
March 6th, 20260 On Thursday, Hezbollah said that it launched rockets at Israeli military positions in northern Israel, responding to ongoing Israeli attacks across Lebanon. The Lebanese group said in a statement that its militants targeted sites in the Galilee region with rocket barrages, describing the strikes as a “response to the criminal...
Who decides what is legitimate? Power, democracy and the war on Iran
March 6th, 20260 Democracy is invoked as moral legitimacy in war, while Iran’s authority rests on layered political, religious and historical foundations. Democracy, however, is not the enemy. Its manipulation is. For decades, Western political discourse has equated legitimacy with elections — numbers counted on a single day, certified by...
House rejects bid to halt Trump’s war on Iran as Congress confronts growing conflict
March 6th, 20260 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly rejected a resolution Thursday that would have forced President Trump to halt military operations against Iran without congressional authorization, highlighting deep divisions in Washington as the conflict threatens to expand across the Middle East. The measure failed...
Trump’s Board of Peace ignores Palestinian history and rights
February 27th, 20260 When President Trump convened his Board of Peace in Davos, Switzerland, a key agenda item was his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s extravagant (and detached from reality) plan for a “New Gaza.” The scheme’s rendering depicts more of a luxury resort for tourists than the foundation of a just future for the Palestinian victims of...
Ignoring Palestinian rights won’t bring peace
February 20th, 20260 When President Trump convened his so-called Board of Peace in Davos, Switzerland, a key item on the agenda was to endorse his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s extravagant (and, I might add, detached from reality) plan for a “New Gaza.” The rendering of Kushner’s scheme shows it to be more of a luxury resort for wealthy tourists than...Trump plans to announce Gaza funding plan, troops at first Board of Peace meeting, U.S. officials say
February 13th, 20260 WASHINGTON — President Trump will announce a multi-billion dollar reconstruction plan for Gaza and detail plans for a U.N.-authorized stabilization force for the Palestinian enclave at the first formal meeting of his Board of Peace next week, two senior U.S. officials said on Thursday. Delegations from at least 20 countries,...
Netanyahu says Trump may be creating conditions for Iran deal
February 13th, 20260 on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hoped that President Trump was creating the conditions to reach a deal with Iran that would avoid military action. Netanyahu, who met Trump for talks in Washington on Wednesday, said he had expressed "general skepticism" and said that if an agreement was reached, "it must...
After the headlines fade: Gaza, abandoned while the genocide persists
February 13th, 20260 A colleague, an editor at a widely read outlet that centered Gaza throughout the two-year genocide, recently voiced his frustration that Gaza is no longer a main focus in the news. He hardly needed to say it. It is evident that Gaza has already been pushed to the margins of coverage — not only by mainstream Western media, long known...
U.S. mercenary firm tied to notorious aid scheme is recruiting for new Gaza deployment
February 12th, 20260 UG Solutions, which provided security for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, has been interviewing ex-soldiers for potential “robust security” operations. By Sharif Abdel Kouddous UG Solutions, a leading U.S. military subcontractor that provided security for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), is...
Lebanese General Security Chief Hassan Choucair visits local community, speaks on Lebanon’s challenges and reforms, praises diaspora support
January 30th, 20260 DEARBORN — On the sidelines of his participation in a security conference in Las Vegas, Lebanese Director General of General Security Major General Hassan Ezzat Choucair made a point of visiting the Lebanese community in the Detroit area on Friday, January 23, where he addressed recent political developments in Lebanon at a private...
Trump’s “Board of Peace” and the reinvention of American power in Gaza and beyond
January 30th, 20260 The history of American power is, in many ways, the history of reinventing rules, or designing new ones, to fit U.S. strategic interests. This may sound harsh, but it is a necessary realization, particularly in light of President Trump’s latest political invention: the so-called Board of Peace. Some have hastily concluded that...
Trump’s Board of Peace is dividing countries in Europe and the Middle East
January 23rd, 20260 Divisions emerged Wednesday over U.S. President Trump’s Board of Peace as its ambitions have grown beyond Gaza, with some Western European countries declining to join, others remaining noncommittal and a group of Muslim countries agreeing to sign on. The developments underscored European concerns over the expanded and divisive scope...
People in Gaza dig through garbage for things to burn to keep warm, a far cry from Trump’s vision
January 23rd, 20260 Desperate Palestinians at a garbage dump in a Gaza neighborhood dug with their bare hands for plastic items to burn to fend off the cold and damp winter in the enclave, battered by two years of the Israeli war on the Strip. The scene in the Muwasi area of the city of Khan Younis contrasted starkly with the vision of the territory......
Israeli strikes kill two, wound 19 in Southern Lebanon, as ceasefire violations mount
January 23rd, 20260 On Wednesday, at least two people were killed and 19 others wounded, including journalists, in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, marking a new violation of a ceasefire agreement in effect since November 2024. Lebanon’s state news agency NNA said an Israeli drone strike hit a car on the Zahrani-Msayleh road in the Zahrani district...
A war without headlines: Israel’s shock-and-awe campaign in the West Bank
January 16th, 20260 A shock and awe. The phrase is apt in describing what Israel has done in the occupied West Bank almost immediately following the events of October 7, 2023, and the start of the Israeli genocide in Gaza. Naomi Klein defines “shock and awe” not merely as a military tactic, but as a political and economic strategy that exploits moments......
U.S. tells U.N. Security Council all options on table, Iran warns it will respond to any aggression
January 16th, 20260 The United States stands by the “brave people of Iran” and President Trump "has made it clear all options are on the table to stop the slaughter," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday. Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene in support of protesters in Iran, where...
When laughter becomes a crime: Amer Zahr speaks about his detention by the Israeli police after comedy show in Nazareth
January 9th, 20260 DETROIT / NAZARETH — Amer Zahr did not expect to be questioned about laughter. It never crossed his mind that a joke — one he had delivered on the same stages for years — would be treated that night as if it were a document requiring interpretation, or a position warranting investigation. He arrived in Nazareth carrying what he...
U.S. media coverage of Gaza continues to be disconnected from realities
January 8th, 20260 After more than two years of Israel’s assault on Gaza, one might think that there would be appreciable improvement in the way the Israeli/Palestinian issue is understood and presented. But U.S. press treatment of last week’s meeting between President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear we still have a...
The three narratives: Gaza as the last moral frontier against Israel’s policy of annihilation
December 25th, 20250 Three dominant narratives contend for the future of Gaza and occupied Palestine, yet only one is being translated into consequential action: the Israeli narrative of domination and genocide. This singular, violent vision is the only one backed by the brute force of policy and fact. The first narrative belongs to the Trump......
If Gaza resistance ends: What history tells us about the Palestinian fate
December 12th, 20250 President Trump’s “Board of Peace” is reportedly set to be announced before the year’s end. This news coincides with increasing reports that the U.S. administration is serious about pushing forward the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire. However, many critical questions remain unanswered. How can a governing council be...
Netanyahu’s pardon bid: How the war on Gaza, an ICC warrant and U.S. politics are reshaping accountability
December 5th, 20250 On November 30, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially submitted a request for a presidential pardon to Isaac Herzog, the president of Israel. This dramatic move seeks to end his long running corruption trial, a case that has hung over Israeli politics for years and has often reflected the deep fractures within the country.......
UNSC 2803: The U.S.-Israeli scheme to partition Gaza and break the Palestinian will
December 5th, 20250 United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803 is destined to fail. That failure will come at a price: more Palestinian deaths, extensive destruction and the expansion of Israeli violence to the West Bank and elsewhere in the Middle East. Why UNSC Resolution 2803 is doomed to fail The resolution, passed on November 14, was a...
Detroit Lebanese Consulate celebrates Lebanon’s 82nd Independence Day in Dearborn, honors leaders
November 30th, 20250 DEARBORN — After years of postponement due to financial difficulties and the devastating toll of Israel’s ongoing aggression against Lebanon, the Consulate General of Lebanon in Detroit revived its annual Independence Day celebration this past Tuesday at the Bint Jebail Cultural Center in Dearborn. The event drew an unexpectedly......
