Eric Walberg- The Middle East Eye In recent weeks there has been a spate of articles about western youth flocking to Syria and now Iraq to join the IS “caliphate.” An estimated 11,000 such fighters have already made the leap. Up to 130 Canadians have joined them, including Hamiltonian York University student, Mohamud Mohamed Mohamud, a Somalian Canadian, known to …

By Ramzy Baroud Consider this comical scene described by Peter Van Buren, a former US diplomat, who was deployed to Iraq on a 12-month assignment in 2009-10: Van Buren led two Department of State teams assigned with the abstract mission of the ‘reconstruction’ of Iraq, which was destroyed in the US-led wars and sanctions. He describes the reconstruction of Iraq …

On Wednesday, Israeli policemen and Palestinian protesters clashed in Jerusalem after the authorities limited access to Muslim worshippers in at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound. Four Palestinians were held by the police, as three policemen were injured during the clashes, Luba Samri, a spokeswoman for the police, said. The police also reportedly used stun grenades at a crowd of around 400 …

Islamic State (IS) militants on Wednesday came closer to seizing control of Syrian Kurdish town Kobane and the Iraqi town Amriyat al-Fallujah, as the US warned that the fight against the group will be long and arduous. Kurdish militia have been able to resist the IS press in Kobane thanks to help from US-led air strikes, which seem to be …

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Monday warned against “provocations” as clashes broke out at Jerusalem’s holy sites, before condemning Israel for its settlement activity and calling for talks with the Palestinians. Ban was speaking at Jerusalem and Ramallah,where he met with Israeli and Palestinianleaders a day after the donor conference for Gaza was held in Egypt, where international donors …

UN official Anthony Banbury, in charge of their Ebola Emergency response program, on Tuesday said that the world is losing the race to stop the outbreak of Ebola, amid dire predictions of several thousands of new Ebola infections before the year ends. “Ebola got a head start on us. It is far ahead of us, it is running faster than …

Prominent Saudi Shiite cleric and anti-government protester Nimr al-Nimr was condemned to death by a Saudi court on Wednesday on charges of sedition. He has been on trial since March 2013. According to his family, Nimr, who was one of the leaders in the protests against Sunni authorities in 2011 and Shiite protests in neighbor Bahrain, was convicted of seeking …

On Monday, British parliamentarians voted in favor of recognizing Palestinian statehood in a non-binding motion. The vote is unlikely to change UK government policy but is considered a symbol of the growing voice for recognizing Palestinian statehood. The motion was passed after 274 lawmakers voted in favor and 12 voted against, to “recognize the state of Palestine alongside the state …

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal on Monday said that Iran should withdraw its “occupying” forces in Syria in order to resolve the conflict in the war-torn country. “Our reservations are about Iran’s policy in the region, not about Iran as a country or people”, Prince Saud said at a joint conference in Jeddah after meeting with German Foreign Minister …

By Natalie Shooter – REORIENT In the midst of a nascent film industry, a handful of female filmmakers have emerged in the Arabian Peninsula, pioneering film in the region and using it as a tool to fight for change. Saudi Arabia and Yemen both present volatile environments for any director; in the former, cinemas are illegal, and in both, authorisation …