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...
Michigan Governor Whitmer’s Davos trip courts investors abroad
January 23rd, 20260 DAVOS — In her fifth international trip within a year, Governor Whitmer participated in events at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where the Democratic governor joined “world leaders” to “tell Michigan’s story” on a range of issues including electric vehicles, innovation, workforce skills and...
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...
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...
Five takeaways from the Reuters interview with President Trump
January 16th, 20260 In a Reuters Oval Office interview, President Trump dismissed concerns about Greenland, the economy and a probe into Fed Chair Jerome Powell, offered limited clarity on Iran, acknowledged obstacles in the Gaza and Ukraine peace efforts, defended ICE operations and warned Republicans could lose seats in the midterms. Here are some...
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...
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...
The silent takeover: How Iran will control the Arabian Gulf
December 26th, 20251 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...
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......
Pope Leo XIV to visit Turkey and Lebanon on first foreign trip, focused on peace and unity
November 30th, 20250 Pope Leo XIV’s first foreign trip, to Turkey and Lebanon, will be packed with opportunities to advance relations with two of the Catholic Church’s top priorities: Orthodox Christians and Muslims. It will also give history’s first American pope the spotlight to speak in broader terms about peace in the Middle East in languages...
Netanyahu manipulates Gaza ceasefire, escalates in Lebanon and roams in Syria
November 22nd, 20250 Over the past week, significant developments unfolded on multiple fronts across the Middle East. As Tel Aviv escalated its attacks on Lebanon amid growing threats of launching a full-scale war in response to Hezbollah’s refusal to lay down its arms, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured the occupied Syrian south, accompanied......
No end in sight to Israel’s wars
November 21st, 20250 In the days after October 7, 2023, then-President Biden cautioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to make the same mistakes the U.S. made following 9/11. Biden never publicly spelled out his meaning, but it was understood as a warning to Netanyahu: Don’t overreact or overreach, as President George W. Bush had done by...
Palestinian deaths in Israeli custody have surged. A prison guard describes rampant abuse
November 20th, 20250 The number of Palestinians dying in Israeli custody surged to nearly 100 people since the start of the war on Gaza, according to a report published Monday by a human rights group that says systematic violence and denial of medical care at prisons and detention centers contributed to many of the deaths it examined. The picture that...
Polishing genocide: Israel’s desperate war to erase history
November 13th, 20250 Israel’s allies worldwide are desperately scrambling to help Tel Aviv re-establish a convincing narrative — not only about the Gaza genocide, but the entire legacy of Israeli colonialism in Palestine and the Middle East. The perfect little story, built on myths and outright fabrications — that of a small nation fighting for...
Arab American neurosurgeon Mohamad Bydon performs “miracle” surgery in Chicago
November 1st, 20250 Dr. Mohamad Bydon saves toddler after near-decapitation, in what experts call one of the most extraordinary spinal surgeries ever recorded CHICAGO — In a story that has stunned the medical world, Lebanese American neurosurgeon Dr. Mohamad Bydon, chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Chicago Medicine,......
How pro-Israel advocacy built an influence machine in the West and what It cost
October 31st, 20250 For more than 40 years, the bond between the United States and Israel has grown into one of the most enduring and politically insulated relationships in modern international affairs. What began as a partnership rooted in the language of democracy and shared values has transformed into a one-way alliance, with America serving as the...
U.S. court orders Israeli spyware firm NSO to stop spying on WhatsApp users
October 24th, 20250 SAN FRANCISCO — Last week, a federal court in Northern California issued an injunction prohibiting the Israeli spyware company NSO Group from targeting and spying on users of WhatsApp, one of the world’s most widely used communication platforms, according to Reuters. However, the ruling by Judge Phyllis Hamilton significantly......
Trump pressures Israel to maintain Gaza ceasefire and halt West Bank annexation, while letting it loose in bombing Lebanon
October 24th, 20250 Despite ongoing Israeli violations of the Gaza ceasefire, President Trump’s administration spent the past week showing some seriousness about consolidating the truce and reining in Israel’s far-right, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, not only in Gaza but also in the occupied West Bank, after the Knesset’s initial vote to annex it to...
Sharm el-Sheikh summit hails Gaza truce, but “Phase Two” threatens fragile peace
October 17th, 20250 SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt — Led by President Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the “Peace in the Middle East” Summit convened on Monday, October 13, in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, bringing together leaders and representatives from 30 countries to celebrate the signing of the Gaza ceasefire......
