Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed claims that US President Donald Trump
suggested deploying American troops to Gaza.
.................RATIONAL THINKING.................. مرا جهل در کامِ دیو میبَرَد.............از آن دوستی میکنم با خِرَد
Thursday, February 6, 2025
China’s economy in 2024 continued to far outgrow the U.S.
John Ross
(This is an
edited version of an article which originally appeared in Chinese at
Guancha.cn.)
China’s GDP
growth of 5.0% in 2024 meant it successfully hit its GDP goal of “about 5.0%”
for the year. More significantly for China’s strategic economic development,
Figure 1 shows that it means its economic growth continues to be ahead of the
target discussed at the time of the adoption of the 14th Five Year Plan of
doubling GDP between 2020 and 2035.1
Trump administration imposes first Iran sanctions since taking office
Washington, DC –
The United States has imposed the first batch of sanctions against Iran since
Donald Trump’s return to the White House, as the president pushes to reimpose
“maximum pressure” on Tehran.
Protesters burn pictures of Joe Biden and Donald Trump during a
demonstration against the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran's top
nuclear scientist, in Tehran, November 28, 2020 [File: Majid
Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters]
Wednesday, February 5, 2025
Israel's West Bank assault displaces 26,000 from Jenin and Tulkarm camps
Lubna Masarwa
and Heba Nasser
The Israeli
military has displaced 26,000 Palestinians from their homes in Jenin and
Tulkarm since launching its major assault on the occupied West Bank last month.
Smoke rises over buildings in Jenin refugee camp during an Israeli forces assault, 2 February 2025 (Mohammad Mansour/AFP)
یادشت‌های یک آدم بیسواد
والله این موهبتیه که آدم باسوادی مثل شما یادداشت‌های من بیسواد رومی‌خونین. حالا اگه اظهار فضل هم کردم به بزرگی خودتون ببخشین. به قول معروف، یارو رو تو ده راش نمیدادن سراغ خونهٔ کدخدا رو می‌گرفت. زیادم این بیسوادی تقصیر من نیست. تا اونجایی که یادم میاد، همیشه عادت داشتم همهٔ کارامو با دست چپ بکنم. تا اینکه یه روز آقامون این‌رو دید و هرچی تو دست چپم داشتم به دست راستم داد و سرم داد زد که آدم که با دست چپ کار نمی‌کنه. دست چپ واسهٔ تمیز کردنه و دست راست واسهٔ چیزی تو دست گرفتن. خیلی عذر می‌خوام منظورش تو توالت بود. ولی خوب دست چپ برام راحت‌تر بود، و وقتی که آقامون نیگا نمی‌کرد، با دست چپ کار می‌کردم.ا
Russia, Iran, and the Caucasian Chalk Circle
Pietro A.
Shakarian
It was only a
few weeks ago that Russian President Vladimir V. Putin and Iranian President
Masoud Pezeshkian met to ink the historic Russo-Iranian Treaty on Comprehensive
Strategic Partnership. The pact itself
was a milestone, so much so that commentators around the world are still widely
discussing its implications. Perhaps one
of the most striking elements of the treaty is the major focus on Eurasia. Although Western analysts tend to focus on
Russo-Iranian cooperation in the Middle East, the treaty indicates that Eurasia
is of even more immediate geopolitical significance to both Moscow and
Tehran. To historians and long-time
observers of Iran and Russia, this is hardly a surprise. The Eurasian region – that is, the Caucasus,
Central Asia, and the Caspian Sea – forms an integral part of the common
Russo-Iranian neighborhood.
Death penalty in the United States and Europe
This infographic compares Europe and the United States in terms of legality and applicability of the death penalty.
Tuesday, February 4, 2025
The Great March of Hope: Gaza’s Defiance against Erasure
Ramzy Baroud
( Middle East
Monitor ) – The return of one million Palestinians from southern Gaza to the
north on 27 January felt as if history was choreographing one of its most
earth-shattering events in recent memory.
Rosa Parks: How a Simple Act Sparked a Civil Rights Revolution
Helen Tarver
When we think of
the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, many iconic figures come to
mind: Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the legendary activists of the
era. But one of the most powerful and transformative moments came from an
ordinary woman who, by simply refusing to give up her seat on a bus, sparked a
revolution. That woman was Rosa Parks, whose act of defiance became a powerful
symbol of resistance and catalyzed one of the most significant movements in
American history.
Elon Musk is in Your Underwear
Dean Baker
Okay, as far as
I know Elon Musk is not literally in your underwear, but it seems that he is in
your tax, Social Security, and Medicare records. This probably also means that
Musk has access to your banking information since tens of millions of people pay
their taxes through a bank transfer and get Social Security checks through
direct deposit.
In Syria, the lunatics are running the asylum
Fuad Walid
Itayim
For years, many
speculated what Syria—a country with deep religious and cultural
diversity—would look like if the armed, extremist-dominated opposition managed
to overthrow Bashar al-Assad’s government.
Monday, February 3, 2025
Israeli forces killed 70 in West Bank this year, Health Ministry says Read more: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/3/israel-kills-70-in-west-bank-this-year-pa-condemns-ethnic-cleansing#ixzz8zEdqsgcl
Israeli forces
have killed 70 people, including 10 children, in the occupied West Bank since
the start of the year, the Palestinian Ministry of Health says.
Mourners react during the funeral of Palestinians killed in an Israeli
raid, in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, February 3 [Raneen
Sawafta/Reuters]
As Trump’s War on Migrants Transcends Borders, Resistance Grows in Latin America
Camilo
Pérez-Bustillo
Colombia, along
with Mexico, Brazil and Honduras, are already resisting the Trump
administration’s neo-imperial regional aspirations.
Colombia's
President Gustavo Petro (L) speaks next to Honduras's President Xiomara
Castro during the CELAC Summit in Buccament Bay, Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines, on March 1, 2024. RANDY BROOKS / AFP via Getty Images
Sunday, February 2, 2025
Israel destroys neighbourhood in Jenin refugee camp, damaging hospital
Alex MacDonald
and Fayha Shalash
Israel has
pounded Jenin refugee camp and destroyed residential buildings as part of its
ongoing large-scale operations in the occupied West Bank.
Smoke billows from the site of multiple explosions during an Israeli
raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on 2 February 2025
(Mohammad Mansour/AFP)
On the 46th Anniversary of Iranian Revolution: An Interview with Amb. John Limbert
Fariba Amini
Ambassador John
Limbert is a career foreign service official who was taken hostage by student
radicals in Iran in 1979 and held for 444 days. He emerged in Washington as a
voice of reason and dialogue on Iran. The interview has been edited regarding
the order of the anecdotes and observations.
Saturday, February 1, 2025
Over 180 Palestinians freed from Israeli prisons, many show signs of 'torture, starvation'
Israel released
183 Palestinian detainees in exchange for three Israeli captives on 1 February
as part of the fourth prisoner swap under the ceasefire agreement underway in
Gaza.
Rebuilding our homes and ourselves
Noor Alyacoubi
It’s been almost
two weeks since the ceasefire came into effect in Gaza City, yet I haven’t
adjusted to the calm we were deprived of for so many months.
A Palestinian man surveys the rubble of destroyed buildings in the
al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on January 30, 2025. (Photo: Omar
Ashtawy/APA Images)
Friday, January 31, 2025
The Israelis Left behind in 50 mn. Tons of Bomb-Infested Rubble in Gaza, as Hundreds of Thousands Stream Home
Juan Cole
Ann Arbor
(Informed Comment) – The Israeli systemic destruction of civilian building
infrastructure in Gaza generated over 50 million tons of debris by 1 December
2024.
“Unexploded Munitions,” Digital, Dream / Dreamland v3 / Clip2Comic, 2024
Trump's Big, Bad, Destructive, and Unpeaceful Imperialism
Phyllis Bennis
Even as Donald
Trump and his MAGA movement have seized virtually complete control of the
Republican Party, there remain at least two factions competing for dominance of
foreign policy: an isolationist gang and a warmongering interventionist cabal.
The strains between them seemingly remain unresolved, and there are real
strategic debates and disagreements about what direction Trump’s foreign policy
should take.
U.S. President Donald Trump (looks on as
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks about the mid-air crash
between American Airlines and a military helicopter, at the White House
on January 30, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chen Mengtong/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)
Thursday, January 30, 2025
A Fools Paradise: Thomas Friedman and the Middle East
Melvin Goodman
Thomas Friedman,
the New York Times’ most influential columnist, has comprehensively recorded
his dreamscape for the Middle East. It
tells Donald Trump that “you have a chance to reshape this region in ways that
could fundamentally enhance the peace and prosperity of Israelis, Palestinians
and all the region’s people, as well as the national security interests of
America.” Friedman believes that
Benjamin Netanyahu is “ready to complete Israel’s withdrawal and finalize the
border” with Lebanon, and that the United States has an “enormous opportunity
to truly end the civil war [in Lebanon] and put the country back
together.” Finally, he produces a
threat: Iran’s nuclear program and malign regional strategy need to be eliminated,
and if Trump can’t do this through “peaceful negotiations,” it needs to be
“done kinetically.” That’s right:
Friedman is willing to commit the United States to a war against Iran.
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