Tag: News
Can Cannabis Fix the Lebanese Economy? On Tuesday, the Lebanese parliament passed legislation to legalize cannabis cultivation for medical and industrial purposes. The move had been recommended by economic advisers even before the coronavirus pandemic dealt yet another blow to the country’s struggling economy. Although the plant has long been widely and openly grown and […]
The U.S. military is prohibiting the travel of American troops to the West Bank over security concerns following Monday’s White House reversal of a decades-old American policy that viewed Israeli settlements in the territory as a violation of international law. U.S. European Command was simply following State Department guidance on travel restrictions in Israel, said […]
On Monday morning, Turkey started sending detained foreign IS fighters back to their home countries. According to the New York Times, one of the deported detainees is an American who requested to be sent to Greece rather than the United States. Upon arriving in Greece, the former fighter was denied entry and sent back to […]
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made claims that Iran is planning to attack Israel. Netanyahu spoke On Tuesday, Netanyahu spoke to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and expressed that Israel is “in the midst of the war against terror — not only against extreme Sunnis… but also extreme Shiites led by Iran….” The […]
Over the past few years, the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a secessionist movement focused on gaining independence for South Yemen, has attempted to mediate peace talks warring factions in the country in order to bring an end to one aspect of the conflict. On Monday, Reuters announced that Saudi Arabia “has been hosting indirect talks […]
From Morocco to Turkey, rap music is a popular method of protest among the young generation of activists in the Middle East. Most recently, Amir al-Muarri, a 20-year-old Syrian rapper from Idlib, has been making headlines for his powerful, politically-charged single On All Fronts, which targets all actors in the Syrian conflict, but most notably […]
Among the historical treasures of southeastern Turkey, the ancient town of Hasankeyf is soon to disappear under water due to the creation of an artificial lake as part of the Ilisu hydroelectric dam project. On Monday, photographs were published of Kurdish residents relocating the graves of deceased family members, marking the next big step toward […]
On Monday, the Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen warned that the drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities, which they had claimed to be responsible for, could continue. Drone attacks on September 14 targeted Saudi Arabia’s national oil company facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais, which led to a 15% increase in oil prices a 5.7 million […]
On Thursday, September 5th, multiple news outlets reported that Jason Greenblatt, President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Middle East peace, had resigned —adding new obstacles to the “deal of the century” between Israel and the Palestinians that Trump and his team have been pushing since the beginning of his term. Vox reported that Greenblatt, whose previous job […]
With Labor Day behind us and fall on the horizon, summer break is officially over. As we head back into the classroom, these are some of the most significant topics and development to follow in U.S. foreign policy as well as in the Middle East. Be sure to follow us on Twitter for regular updates […]