“State of the Swamp” will provide live rebuttal to the State of the Union
February 24th, 20260 On February 24, while President Trump delivers his State of the Union address, DEFIANCE.org, the Portland Frog Brigade and COURIER will host State of the Swamp: The Rebuttal to the State of the Union from 7 –11 p.m. EST at the National Press Club. The event will bring together elected officials, cultural figures, journalists,...
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...
“Regime cleavage”: How the “language of humiliation” is engineering a second American civil war
February 20th, 20260 A January 2026 Gallup poll showed that 89 percent of all Americans expect high levels of political conflict this year, as the country heads toward one of its most decisive midterm elections ever. Gallup, however, was stating the obvious. It is a surprise that not all Americans feel this way, judging by the coarse, often outright racist...
Understanding Donald Trump
February 13th, 20260 To understand how President Donald Trump promotes his presidency and policies, especially when challenged, one must understand the impact of Roy Cohn, the late New York attorney, on his approach to politics and power. Cohn was a behind-the-scenes player, a ruthless practitioner of “dirty tricks” and power politics who attached...
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...
War without strategy: Why a U.S. strike on Iran would backfire
February 6th, 20260 A U.S. military attack on Iran would not restore deterrence or strengthen American credibility. Instead, it would confirm a deeper failure: relying on force instead of strategy. After more than 20 years of wars labeled as necessary and manageable, Washington is again on the brink of a conflict it claims can handle but hasn’t fully...
On the menu: How the middle powers sacrificed Gaza to save themselves
February 6th, 20260 Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney sounded more like a populist leader than a former central banker during his address at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 20. Bemoaning the "fading" of the rules-based order, Carney delivered a surprisingly blunt speech. "The old order is not coming back," he declared. "We are in the midst of...
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 authoritarian dream is crumbling and America is paying the price
January 23rd, 20260 By Mohamad Ozeir This week marked the first anniversary of President Trump’s return to the White House for a second term, after a forced four-year interruption. That comeback was loaded — during those loud and turbulent years — with authoritarian promises, racist delusions, totalitarian programs, distorted ideas and hotheaded...
Trump’s military assault on Venezuela may not end well
January 23rd, 20260 President Trump might be popping corks, toasting “one of the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history.” Celebrations, however, are premature. In reality, the assault on Venezuela and kidnapping and transfer of President Maduro to stand trial in U.S. court are by no...
The Arab American News marks issue 2084, celebrating 41 years as the voice of Arab Americans in North America
January 23rd, 20260 Forty-one years ago, issue “zero” of The Arab American News was published on January 23, 1985, marking the start of a long journey in what is often called “the profession of troubles.” The burdens and challenges of this demanding field were softened only by the steady rise of the Arab American community — growing and thriving...
Let’s resolve to strengthen Congress
January 16th, 20261 The start of a new year is traditionally a time to reflect on past failures and make resolutions for doing better. Here’s a suggestion for members of Congress: They should resolve to start asserting their rightful role as a separate and coequal branch of government. Such a resolution will need to extend well past 2026. Congress has...
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...
We all breathe the same air, but someone else sets the terms
January 16th, 20260 By James Allen On June 10, 1963, standing at American University, John F. Kennedy said something that now feels almost radical in its simplicity: “We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.” It was not just rhetoric. It was a direct challenge to a way of thinking about war that had......
Inside Trump’s plans to protect killer ICE agents “no matter what”
January 9th, 20260 Minnesota officials want to investigate ICE’s killing of a mother in Minneapolis. Team Trump has been planning for a moment like this. By Asawin Suebsaeng and Prem Thakker Donald Trump and his administration have always known the time would come that they would have to protect one of their Immigration and...
America First or Israel First: Owen Shroyer’s break with Trump and the cost of dissent
January 9th, 20260 Owen Shroyer has never been a figure built for quiet loyalty. His rise came inside the loud and confrontational universe of populist media, a space where certainty is prized and compromise is treated as weakness. Yet in recent months, Shroyer has turned that confrontational style inward, directing it not at liberals or the political......
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...
Participating in civic life is our duty as American citizens
January 7th, 20260 It’s a fundamental premise of American democracy that our elected representatives will do what we expect them to do. That doesn’t mean we can dictate every action they take. Overall, however, their job is to represent their constituents, not anyone else. But here’s the catch. Politicians can only do what we want if they know what...
The silent takeover: How Iran will control the Arabian Gulf
December 26th, 20252 For decades, the Arab rulers of the Gulf have lived inside a fantasy — one in which their skyscrapers, oil wealth and American alliances somehow guarantee their dominance of the region. But the future of the Arabian Gulf will not belong to them. It will belong to Iran. And not because Iran is loved, admired or embraced, but because...
Why Zohran Mamdani won: Demographics, grassroots power and Gaza
December 26th, 20250 Analysts are still working to understand Zohran Mamdani’s decisive victory in last month’s New York mayoral race. Like the blind men in the old Indian story of the “Blind Men and the Elephant”, the explanations offered have been mostly accurate but incomplete. Mamdani’s focus on affordability was appealing, as was his......
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...
Washington analysts are misreading voters on Israel and Palestine
December 19th, 20250 U.S. voters’ attitudes towards the Israeli Palestinian conflict have changed, but media commentators and political consultants haven’t figured that out. They are stuck in the past with outdated assumptions about the electorate and as a result continue to operate from an old playbook. A feature article in last week’s Washington......
When comedy meets conscience: Tucker Carlson, Theo Von and the question America cannot avoid
December 19th, 20250 Tucker Carlson’s appearance on Theo Von’s podcast This Past Weekend unfolded less like a structured interview and more like a long unguarded conversation that drifted toward subjects most mainstream platforms approach cautiously. Theo Von’s curious and disarming style gave Carlson room to speak without the time limits or tonal...
Dismissing politics as “dirty” is wrong and self-defeating
December 19th, 20250 I’m often struck by how often I meet people who think that all politics are dirty. They view politics as innately unethical, something they should avoid altogether. They stereotype politicians as dishonest and corrupt. I spent decades working in politics, and I can say with confidence that this view is mistaken and deeply unfair.......
