Tag Archives: Syria

Russia Ukraine Syria Israel Palestine

Posted on March 2, 2022 by zjb

On one hand, there are in the United States and Europe fish to fry on the international and domestic arenas that are bigger than Israel and Palestine. Taking into account Russia and Syria, Russia and Ukraine, and Iranian involvements in … Continue reading →

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Syria (The End)

Posted on December 15, 2016 by zjb

As Russian and Iranian-Hezbollah  backed Syria regime forces finish off the rebellion against a dictator, all we do is watch the slaughter as it unfolds towards the end. Michael Kimmelman posts these very powerful images and video and so-so reflections … Continue reading →

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Intersections (Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Israeli)

Posted on December 6, 2015 by zjb

Nicolas Kristof in this  week’s New York Times, which you can read here, writes about a teenager escaping ISIS controlled territory. The unexpected shout-out to an Israeli NGO offering assistance to refugees landing in Lesbos makes a strong point about … Continue reading →

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Catastrophe Affect & Human Values (Responding to the Middle East Today)

Posted on November 30, 2015 by zjb

I’m not sure about these confessional remarks. On the one hand, the thoughts reflected here cut what is probably too wide a swath through a highly reified and mediated conceptualizations of “Islam” and “the Middle East,” while reflecting my own … Continue reading →

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International Bystander (Syria)

Posted on September 30, 2015 by zjb

This in the Guardian. As Russia begins intentionally to bomb non-ISIS targets in Syria, I am ashamed to be an American. It’s not for me to provide definite answers. I’m just a concerned U.S. citizen who happens to spend a … Continue reading →

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Refugees & Population Transfer (European Ethics & Middle Eastern Politics)

Posted on September 4, 2015 by zjb

As often as not, it’s a mistake to confuse ethics and politics. But here’s where the politics and ethics of the current refugee crisis will undoubtedly intersect. There’s no way European and American moral conscience won’t prove as flimsy as … Continue reading →

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Disaster Aesthetics (Syria)

Posted on October 14, 2014 by zjb

Abstract and beautiful, the satellite images published here in the Atlantic show the devastating scale of the chaotic free-for-all in Syria that mars that country’s natural and urban landscapes. Without a human figure, they indicate from a distance a destructive human trace. … Continue reading →

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Telling Stories — Obama & The Banality (of Fighting) Evil

Posted on May 11, 2014 by zjb

Politically, maybe it’s true and there’s nothing the Unites States can do or wants to do in the world today. But the words used by President Obama and his spokespeople to save moral face don’t square with the desperate human … Continue reading →

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The Left in the Lurch — Syria Palestine Israel

Posted on May 11, 2014 by zjb

Fairly regularly I used to enjoy reading Palestinian activist Ramzy Baroud at the Palestine Chronicle. But I stopped reading after awhile because the perspectives seemed to me to be one-sided, monotonous, and predictable. I read him now at Al-Arabiya English … Continue reading →

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Bubbles & Circles — Scarlett Johansson Syria Soda Stream

Posted on January 23, 2014 by zjb

I’m of mixed mind about the rolling brouhaha regarding movie star Scarlett Johansson’s transformation into the public face of SodaStream and “Apartheid Israel.” If there is a larger and genuine political meaning to what can be viewed as a little … Continue reading →

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