Subjects of empire: Breaking the cycle of Arab dependence on U.S. elections
May 7th, 20260 Much of the current discourse on the Middle East remains fixated on the U.S. midterm congressional elections in November. This vote, in particular, is being framed as a pivotal turning point for everything from the survival of Gaza and Lebanon to the future of Iran and beyond. To a large extent, one can understand why U.S. corporate...
Five laws and standards that require the U.S. cut off weapons to Israel
May 1st, 20260 By Prem Thakker A new memo circulating on Capitol Hill details why the U.S. is obligated to cut weapons to Israel – even if Israel wants to buy them with its own money. A memo is circulating in Congress detailing five laws and international standards that obligate the United States to stop sending or selling weapons to...
“Never Again”?
April 24th, 20260 “I am human” — and so are they. I learned as a child that “wrong is wrong.” Historically Jewish people have been wronged; there is no doubt. Anti-Jewish sentiment is on the rise here at home and around the globe. What happened to Jewish people on Oct 7 was horrific and wrong. I have and will continue to stand up and...
Iran war has President Trump In a box
April 24th, 20260 With the apparent collapse of the U.S. talks with Iran, President Trump finds himself in a box with no easy way out. Polls are showing that key elements of his winning electoral coalition are growing weary of the war and frustrated with its domestic consequences. As we approach the midterm elections, Republicans in Congress are also...
The cowardice of qualification: When anti-war voices speak the language of empire
April 24th, 20260 A respected human rights activist has spoken repeatedly against the U.S.-Israeli aggression on Iran. She recognizes the illegality of the war and does not shy away from condemning it in clear terms. Yet, almost invariably, she feels compelled to qualify her position, reminding her audience that Iran has killed "tens of thousands of...
The Lebanon conspiracy: Massacres, negotiations and a new order
April 17th, 20260 Israel’s latest war on Lebanon is not only being waged from the air. It is being reinforced politically from within, as Beirut moves in step with U.S.-Israeli efforts to isolate Hezbollah and weaken Iran’s negotiating position. In a previous article, we examined the seven messages that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu...
Sending money to loved ones shouldn’t cost a fortune — or a risk
April 10th, 20260 By Abdul El-Sayed Every year, Arab Americans send billions of dollars to support family members abroad — to Teta in Beirut, Amu in Cairo or Khalo in Baghdad. These remittances can be lifelines. They cover rent, provide for school fees and underwrite medical bills. They are acts of love via Western Union. But sending that money is...
After Iran: Is this the unraveling of the U.S.-Israeli order?
April 10th, 20260 The knives are out — and this time they are not aimed at Tehran, but at Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. Even the ever morally flexible Chris Christie moved quickly. The former New Jersey governor and longtime Republican insider, speaking on CNN, did not merely criticize Trump; he used the moment to indict establishment...
Hard hits, unbroken resistance: Why Israel can’t win against Hezbollah
April 4th, 20260 Any serious forecast of the future of the Israel–Hezbollah war has to begin with a simple but uncomfortable truth: history does not repeat itself exactly, but in southern Lebanon it comes very close. Israel possesses overwhelming military and technological superiority, yet its past confrontations in Lebanon suggest that this advantage...
ACRL condemns misleading and dangerous framing by the Detroit News, community voices won’t be silenced
April 4th, 20260 The Arab American Civil Rights League (ACRL) strongly condemned the recent article published by the Detroit News and authored by George Hunter, which irresponsibly conflates constitutionally protected speech with criminal conduct and perpetuates harmful, stigmatizing narratives about the Arab and Muslim community in Metro Detroit. This...
AHRC calls for responsible journalism: Let us avoid painting with a broad brush
April 4th, 20260 The American Human Rights Council (AHRC‑USA) expresses deep concern regarding the intent and the possible negative backlash of the recent Detroit News article written by George Hunter and published on March 25, 2026, titled “Temple Israel fuels debate about Hezbollah threat in Detroit area.” The article’s framing, purpose and...
Trapped by his own image: Trump’s Iran war and the politics of ego
April 4th, 20260 The judgment on the Trump administration’s war on Iran is already largely settled across mainstream media, public opinion, and much of the analytical sphere. What remains supportive of the war is limited to two predictable camps: official government discourse and the president’s most loyal supporters, along with entrenched...
Yes, Iran is playing chess, but only after rewriting the rules of the game
March 27th, 20262 By Ramzy Baroud & Romana Rubeo The origins of chess are contested, but few dispute that while the game began in India, it was the Sassanian Persian Empire that refined it into a recognizable strategic system. It was Persia that codified its language, symbolism and intellectual framework: the shah (king), the rokh (rook) and...
From Palestine to Iran: What Arab and Muslim silence really reveals
March 26th, 20260 By Ramzy Baroud & Romana Rubeo I have always found it interesting, and at times revealing, when seasoned activists and intellectuals in the West, including those who see themselves as deeply committed to Palestine, raise the same familiar point: Arab governments must stand up to Israel and the United States in solidarity with their...
Trump and Hegseth cannot define the truth of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran
March 20th, 20260 U.S. "War Secretary" Pete Hegseth appears to have little patience for questions that do not conform to his preferred style of declaring unsubstantiated victories, whether against South Americans or in the Middle East. In a charged press conference on March 13, Hegseth did more than attack journalists for questioning his unverified......
Firing of Hamtramck’s clerk raises troubling question: Did the city follow the law?
March 20th, 20260 When Hamtramck officials announced they were searching for a new city clerk after firing Rana Faraj, the explanation offered to the public seemed straightforward. City officials suggested the termination stemmed from the controversy surrounding the 2025 election and a series of alleged workplace issues. But a closer look at the timeline...Congress can halt the Iran war by doing nothing. It should.
March 20th, 20260 U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wants $200 billion for the Trump administration's illegal, ill-advised, undeclared war on Iran. Well, maybe. "That number could move," he said, to get "properly funded for what's been done, for what we may have to do in the future, ensure that our ammunition is refilled, and not just refilled,......
No time for losers: Why the war meant to save Israel may destroy it
March 19th, 20260 When Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu launched their military aggression against Iran on February 28, they appeared convinced that the war would be swift. Netanyahu reportedly assured Washington that the campaign would deliver a decisive strategic victory — one capable of reordering the Middle East and restoring Israel’s battered...
The war Iran prepared for: How Tehran is raising the cost of war
March 13th, 20260 Iran is pursuing a multi-layered strategy—military, economic, political, and diplomatic—to raise the cost of war and prevent regime change. Iran’s strategy in the current war As the war on Iran continues to expand across multiple fronts, Tehran appears to be pursuing a complex strategy that combines military escalation, economic...
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......
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...
Polls show growing Democratic shift away from unconditional support for Israel
March 6th, 20260 A mini-brouhaha has erupted over whether or not the Democratic National Committee has buried an “autopsy” report on its party loss in the 2024 presidential election. Some fear that the report isn’t being released because it suggests the defeat was the Harris campaign’s failure to break with the Biden administration’s......
“Is the president working for you?” Spanberger asks in State of the Union response
February 27th, 20260 “Tonight, as we watched our nations lawmakers gather for a join session of Congress, we did not hear the truth from our president,” said Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who gave a 13-minute Democratic response to the State of the Union from Colonial Williamsburg. “So, let’s speak plainly and honestly. And let me ask you, the...
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......
